Lament Over Fallen Babylon

18 After this I saw another angel^(A) coming down from heaven.^(B) He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.^{(C) 2} With a mighty voice he shouted:

Warning to Escape Babylon’s Judgment

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven say:

Threefold Woe Over Babylon’s Fall

⁹ “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her^(V) and shared her luxury^(W) see the smoke of her burning,^(X) they will weep and mourn over her.^{(Y) 10} Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off^(Z) and cry:

¹¹ “The merchants^(AC) of the earth will weep and mourn^(AD) over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore^(AE)— ¹² cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble;^{(AF) 13} cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.^(AG)

¹⁴ “They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’ ¹⁵ The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her^(AH) will stand far off,^(AI) terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn^{(AJ) 16} and cry out:

“Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea,^(AO) will stand far off.^{(AP) 18} When they see the smoke of her burning,^(AQ) they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city^(AR)?’^{(AS) 19} They will throw dust on their heads,^(AT) and with weeping and mourning^(AU) cry out:

The Finality of Babylon’s Doom

²¹ Then a mighty angel^(AZ) picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea,^(BA) and said:

The Flying Scroll

5 I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.^(A)

² He asked me, “What do you see?”^(B)

I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.^[a]”

³ And he said to me, “This is the curse^(C) that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief^(D) will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely^(E) will be banished. ⁴ The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely^(F) by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.^(G)’”

The Woman in a Basket

⁵ Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.”

⁶ I asked, “What is it?”

He replied, “It is a basket.^(H)” And he added, “This is the iniquity^[b] of the people throughout the land.”

⁷ Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! ⁸ He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.^(I)

⁹ Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork,^(J) and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.

¹⁰ “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.

¹¹ He replied, “To the country of Babylonia^[c](K) to build a house^(L) for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”^(M)

Four Chariots

6 I looked up again, and there before me were four chariots^(N) coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. ² The first chariot had red horses, the second black,^{(O) 3} the third white,^(P) and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. ⁴ I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”

⁵ The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits^[d](Q) of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world.^{(R) 6} The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west,^[e] and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

⁷ When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth.^(S) And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.

⁸ Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit^[f] rest^(T) in the land of the north.”^(U)

A Crown for Joshua

⁹ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁰ “Take silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon.^(V) Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. ¹¹ Take the silver and gold and make a crown,^(W) and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua^(X) son of Jozadak.^{[g](Y) 12} Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch,^(Z) and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord.^{(AA) 13} It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he^[h] will be a priest^(AB) on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’ ¹⁴ The crown will be given to Heldai,^[i] Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen^[j] son of Zephaniah as a memorial^(AC) in the temple of the Lord. ¹⁵ Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the Lord,^(AD) and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.^(AE) This will happen if you diligently obey^(AF) the Lord your God.”

Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting

7 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah^(AG) on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev.^{(AH) 2} The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat^(AI) the Lord^{(AJ) 3} by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn^(AK) and fast in the fifth^(AL) month, as I have done for so many years?”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: ⁵ “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted^(AM) and mourned in the fifth and seventh^(AN) months for the past seventy years,^(AO) was it really for me that you fasted? ⁶ And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?^{(AP) 7} Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets^(AQ) when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest^(AR) and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills^(AS) were settled?’”^(AT)

⁸ And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: ⁹ “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice;^(AU) show mercy and compassion to one another.^{(AV) 10} Do not oppress the widow^(AW) or the fatherless, the foreigner^(AX) or the poor.^(AY) Do not plot evil against each other.’^(AZ)

¹¹ “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly^(BA) they turned their backs^(BB) and covered their ears.^{(BC) 12} They made their hearts as hard as flint^(BD) and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.^(BE) So the Lord Almighty was very angry.^(BF)

¹³ “‘When I called, they did not listen;^(BG) so when they called, I would not listen,’^(BH) says the Lord Almighty.^{(BI) 14} ‘I scattered^(BJ) them with a whirlwind^(BK) among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it.^(BL) This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.^(BM)’”

BOOK IV

Psalms 90–106

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.