Zechariah 1
Wycliffe Bible
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord was made to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, (the) prophet, and said,
2 The Lord is wroth on your fathers with wrathfulness. (The Lord was truly angry with your forefathers.)
3 And thou shalt say to them, The Lord of hosts saith these things. Be ye turned again to me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I shall be turned again to you, saith the Lord of hosts. (And thou shalt say to the people, The Lord of hosts saith these things. Return ye to me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I shall return to you/Come ye back to me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I shall come back to you.)
4 Be ye not as your fathers, to which the former prophets cried, saying, The Lord of hosts saith these things, Be ye converted from your evil ways, and your worst thoughts; and they heard not, neither took attention to me, saith the Lord of hosts. (Do not ye be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets, or the prophets of old, cried, saying, The Lord of hosts saith these things, Turn ye away from your evil ways, and your worst thoughts; and they did not listen, nor pay any attention to me, saith the Lord of hosts.)
5 Where be your fathers and (the) prophets? whether they shall live [into] without end? (And now where be your forefathers, and the prophets? do they live forever?)
6 Nevertheless my words and my lawful things, which I commanded to my servants (the) prophets, whether they caught not your fathers? And they were turned again, and said, As the Lord of hosts thought for to do to us by our ways, and by our findings, he did to us. (Nevertheless my words and my laws, which I commanded to my servants the prophets, did they not catch, or overtake, your forefathers? And then they repented, or turned, and said, As the Lord of hosts thought to do to us because of our ways, and our deeds, so he hath done to us.)
7 In the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month Sebat, that is, January, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord was made to Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, prophet, and said, (On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, that is, January, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord was made to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, and said,)
8 I saw by night, and lo! a man going on a red horse; and he stood betwixt places where myrtles waxed, that were in the depth, and after him were horses red, diverse (dappled), and white.
9 And I said, My lord, who be these? And an angel of the Lord said to me, that spake in me, I shall show to thee what these be. (And I said, My lord, what be these horses? And the angel of the Lord who spoke to me, said to me, I shall show thee what these horses be.)
10 And the man that stood betwixt places where myrtles waxed, answered, and said, These it be, which the Lord sent, that they walk through (the) earth. (And the man who stood between the places where the myrtles grew, answered, and said, These be they, which the Lord sent, to walk through the earth.)
11 And they answered to the angel of the Lord, that stood betwixt places where myrtles waxed, and said, We have walked through (the) earth, and lo! all (the) earth is inhabited, and resteth.
12 And the angel of the Lord answered, and said, Lord of hosts, how long shalt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on [the] cities of Judah, to which thou art wroth? (with whom thou art angry?) This now is the seventieth year.
13 And the Lord answered to the angel, that spake in me (who spoke to me), good words, and words of comfort.
14 And the angel that spake in me, said to me, Cry thou, saying, The Lord of hosts saith these things, I loved Jerusalem and Zion in great fervor; (And the angel who spoke to me, said to me, Cry thou, saying, The Lord of hosts saith these things, I loved Jerusalem and Zion with great fervor;)
15 and in great wrath I shall be wroth on rich folks; for I was wroth a little, forsooth they helped into evil. (and with great anger I shall rage against the rich nations; because before, when I was but a little angry, they helped evil to increase.)
16 Therefore the Lord saith these things, I shall turn again to Jerusalem in mercies. Mine house shall be builded in it, saith the Lord of hosts; and a plummet shall be stretched out on Jerusalem. (And so the Lord saith these things, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My House shall be rebuilt in it, saith the Lord of hosts; and a plumb line shall be stretched out upon Jerusalem.)
17 Yet cry thou, saying, The Lord of hosts saith these things, Yet my cities shall flow with goods, and yet the Lord shall comfort Zion, and yet he shall choose Jerusalem. (Once again cry thou, saying, The Lord of hosts saith these things, Once again my cities shall overflow with good things, and once again the Lord shall comfort Zion, and once again he shall choose Jerusalem.)
18 And I raised mine eyes, and I saw, and lo! four horns. (And I raised up my eyes, and I saw, and lo! four horns.)
19 And I said to the angel, that spake in me, What be these? (And I said to the angel, who spoke to me, What be these horns?) And he said to me, These be (the) horns that winnowed Judah, and Israel, and Jerusalem.
20 And the Lord showed to me four smiths. (And the Lord showed me four men with hammers.)
21 And I said, What come these for to do? Which spake, saying, These be the horns, that winnowed Judah by all men, and no man of them raised his head; and these came for to make them afeared, that they cast down the horns of heathen men, which raised the horn on the land of Judah, for to scatter it. (And I said, What do these smiths come to do? Who answered and said, These be the horns, that winnowed all the people of Judah, so that no one could raise up their head; and these smiths came to make the heathen afraid, yea, so that they cast down the horns of the heathen, who raised the horns upon the land of Judah, in order to scatter it.)
Zechariah 1
Common English Bible
The people change
1 In the eighth month in the second year of Darius, the Lord’s word came to Zechariah the prophet, Berechiah’s son and Iddo’s grandson:
2 The Lord was terribly angry with your ancestors.
3 But you must say to the people,
The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims: Return to me,
says the Lord of heavenly forces,
and I will return to you, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
4 Don’t be like your ancestors to whom the former prophets preached:
The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims: Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds.
But they didn’t listen;
they didn’t draw near to me.
5 So where are your ancestors?
Do the prophets live forever?
6 In fact, didn’t my words and laws,
which I gave to my servants, the prophets,
pursue your ancestors?
And then the people changed their hearts, and they said,
The Lord of heavenly forces has treated us according to
what we have done,[a]
exactly as he planned.
First night vision
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month (the month of Shebat[b]) in the second year of Darius, the Lord’s word came to Zechariah the prophet, Berechiah’s son and Iddo’s grandson:
8 Tonight I looked and saw a man riding on a red horse,
which was standing among the myrtle trees in the valley;
and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.
9 I said, “What are these, sir?”
The messenger speaking with me said,
“I will show you what they are.”
10 The man standing among the myrtles responded,
“These are the ones the Lord sent to patrol the earth.”
11 Then they responded to the Lord’s messenger,
who was standing among the myrtles,
“We have patrolled the earth. The whole earth is peaceful and quiet.”
12 Then the Lord’s messenger, who was speaking with me, said:
“Lord of heavenly forces,
how long will you withhold compassion from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah,
with whom you have been angry these seventy years?”
13 The Lord responded to the messenger who was speaking with me
with kind and compassionate words.
14 The messenger speaking with me called out,
“This is what the Lord of heavenly forces says:
I care passionately about Jerusalem and Zion.
15 And I am exceedingly angry with those carefree nations.
Though I was somewhat angry, they added to the violence.”
16 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion.
My house will be built in it, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
Let a measuring line be stretched over Jerusalem.
17 “Call out again,
The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
My cities will again overflow with prosperity.
The Lord will again show compassion to Zion
and will again choose Jerusalem.”
Second night vision
18 [c] Then I looked up and saw four horns.
19 I said to the messenger speaking with me,
“What are these?”
He said to me,
“These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed me four metalworkers.
21 I said,
“What are they coming to do?”
And he said,
“These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head.
The metalworkers have come to terrify them and to destroy the horns of the nations, those who were attacking the land of Judah with[d] their horns to scatter it.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 1:6 Or our ways and our actions
- Zechariah 1:7 January–February
- Zechariah 1:18 2:1 in Heb
- Zechariah 1:21 Or those lifting their horns toward Judah
2001 by Terence P. Noble
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible