Zechariah 3:1-8:17
English Standard Version
A Vision of Joshua the High Priest
3 Then he showed me (A)Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and (B)Satan[a] standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, (C)“The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has (D)chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this (E)a brand[b] plucked from the fire?” 3 Now (F)Joshua was standing before the angel, (G)clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to (H)those who were standing before him, (I)“Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, (J)I have taken your iniquity away from you, and (K)I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, (L)“Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.
6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured (M)Joshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and (N)keep my charge, then you shall (O)rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among (P)those who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for (Q)they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring (R)my servant (S)the Branch. 9 For behold, on (T)the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with (U)seven eyes,[c] I will (V)engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and (W)I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come (X)under his vine and under his fig tree.”
A Vision of a Golden Lampstand
4 And (Y)the angel who talked with me came again (Z)and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, (AA)a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and (AB)seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are (AC)two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to (AD)the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, (AE)“Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to (AF)Zerubbabel: (AG)Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, (AH)O great mountain? Before (AI)Zerubbabel (AJ)you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward (AK)the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 (AL)“The hands of (AM)Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also (AN)complete it. (AO)Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 (AP)For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see (AQ)the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
(AR)“These seven (AS)are the eyes of the Lord, (AT)which range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these (AU)two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these (AV)two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil[d] is poured out?” 13 He said to me, (AW)“Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, (AX)“These are the two anointed ones[e] who stand by (AY)the Lord of the whole earth.”
A Vision of a Flying Scroll
5 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying (AZ)scroll! 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying (BA)scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”[f] 3 Then he said to me, “This is (BB)the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who (BC)steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who (BD)swears falsely[g] shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. 4 I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of (BE)him who swears falsely by my name. And (BF)it shall remain in his house and (BG)consume it, both timber and stones.”
A Vision of a Woman in a Basket
5 (BH)Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, (BI)“Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” 6 And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is (BJ)the basket[h] that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity[i] in all the land.” 7 And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down (BK)the leaden weight on its opening.
9 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! (BL)The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11 He said to me, “To the (BM)land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”
A Vision of Four Chariots
6 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of (BN)bronze. 2 The first chariot had (BO)red horses, the second (BP)black horses, 3 the third (BQ)white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong.[j] 4 Then I answered and said to (BR)the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 And the angel answered and said to me, (BS)“These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after (BT)presenting themselves before (BU)the Lord of all the earth. 6 The chariot with the black horses goes toward (BV)the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward (BW)the south country.” 7 When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and (BX)patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, (BY)patrol the earth.” (BZ)So they patrolled the earth. 8 Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward (CA)the north country have set my Spirit at rest in (CB)the north country.”
The Crown and the Temple
9 And the word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take from the exiles (CC)Heldai, Tobijah, and (CD)Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of (CE)Zephaniah. 11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, (CF)and set it on the head of (CG)Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is (CH)the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and (CI)he shall build the temple of the Lord. 13 (CJ)It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord (CK)and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there[k] shall be a (CL)priest on his throne, (CM)and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ 14 And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as (CN)a reminder to (CO)Helem,[l] (CP)Tobijah, (CQ)Jedaiah, and Hen (CR)the son of Zephaniah.
15 (CS)“And those who are far off shall come and (CT)help to build the temple of the Lord. (CU)And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. (CV)And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
A Call for Justice and Mercy
7 (CW)In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is (CX)Chislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men (CY)to entreat the favor of the Lord, 3 (CZ)saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and (DA)the prophets, “Should I weep and (DB)abstain in (DC)the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in (DD)the fifth month and in (DE)the seventh, for these (DF)seventy years, (DG)was it (DH)for me that you fasted? 6 (DI)And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 (DJ)Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed (DK)by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, (DL)with her cities around her, and the (DM)South and the (DN)lowland were inhabited?’”
8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, (DO)Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 (DP)do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, (DQ)or the poor, and (DR)let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But (DS)they refused to pay attention (DT)and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.[m] 12 (DU)They made their hearts diamond-hard (DV)lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent (DW)by his Spirit through (DX)the former prophets. (DY)Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 (DZ)“As I[n] called, and they would not hear, (EA)so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14 (EB)“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all (EC)the nations that they had not known. (ED)Thus the land they left was desolate, (EE)so that no one went to and fro, (EF)and the pleasant land was made desolate.”
The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion
8 And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: (EG)I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3 Thus says the Lord: (EH)I have returned to Zion and (EI)will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, (EJ)and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, (EK)and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: (EL)Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. 6 Thus says the Lord of hosts: (EM)If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, (EN)should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, (EO)I will save my people (EP)from the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. (EQ)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, (ER)in faithfulness and in righteousness.”
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: (ES)“Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of (ET)the prophets who were present on (EU)the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days (EV)there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. 12 (EW)For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, (EX)and the heavens shall give their dew. (EY)And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And as (EZ)you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, (FA)so will I save you, and (FB)you shall be a blessing. (FC)Fear not, but (FD)let your hands be strong.”
14 For thus says the Lord of hosts: (FE)“As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, 15 so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; (FF)fear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do: (FG)Speak the truth to one another; (FH)render in your gates judgments (FI)that are true and make for peace; 17 (FJ)do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and (FK)love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 3:1 Hebrew the Accuser or the Adversary
- Zechariah 3:2 That is, a burning stick
- Zechariah 3:9 Or facets
- Zechariah 4:12 Hebrew lacks oil
- Zechariah 4:14 Hebrew two sons of new oil
- Zechariah 5:2 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
- Zechariah 5:3 Hebrew lacks falsely (supplied from verse 4)
- Zechariah 5:6 Hebrew ephah; also verses 7–11. An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
- Zechariah 5:6 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts eye
- Zechariah 6:3 Or and the fourth chariot strong dappled horses
- Zechariah 6:13 Or he
- Zechariah 6:14 An alternate spelling of Heldai (verse 10)
- Zechariah 7:11 Hebrew and made their ears too heavy to hear
- Zechariah 7:13 Hebrew he
Zechariah 3:1-8:17
King James Version
3 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2 And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by.
6 And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying,
7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch.
9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.
4 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep.
2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
8 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.
10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?
13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
5 Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.
2 And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.
3 Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.
4 I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.
6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.
7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.
8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.
9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.
10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?
11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.
6 And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.
2 In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;
3 And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.
4 Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?
5 And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country.
7 And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.
8 Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.
9 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
10 Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;
11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;
12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord:
13 Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
14 And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the Lord.
15 And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.
7 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;
2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the Lord,
3 And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
4 Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying,
5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
7 Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?
8 And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying,
9 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.
13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts:
14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.
8 Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying,
2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
3 Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.
4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.
5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.
6 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.
7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.
10 For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.
11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the Lord of hosts.
12 For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.
13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.
14 For thus saith the Lord of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, and I repented not:
15 So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.
16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
