First Vision: The Horsemen

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo: ⁸ In the night I saw a man mounted on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the shadows,^[a] and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.^{(A) 9} Then I said, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who spoke with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.”^{(B) 10} So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, “They are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.”^{(C) 11} Then they spoke to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and the whole earth remains at peace.”^{(D) 12} Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of hosts, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry these seventy years?”^{(E) 13} Then the Lord replied with gracious and comforting words to the angel who spoke with me.^{(F) 14} So the angel who spoke with me said to me, “Proclaim this message: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am very zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion,^{(G) 15} and I am extremely angry with the nations that are at ease, for while I was only a little angry, they made the disaster worse.^{(H) 16} Therefore, thus says the Lord: I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it, says the Lord of hosts, and a measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.^{(I) 17} Proclaim further: Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity; the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”^(J)

The Message to Philadelphia

⁷ “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

⁸ “I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door that no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.^{(B) 9} I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not but are lying—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.^{(C) 10} Because you have kept my word of endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.^{(D) 11} I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one takes away your crown. ¹² If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.^{(E) 13} Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

The Desolating Sacrilege

¹⁵ “So when you see the desolating sacrilege, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),^{(A) 16} then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; ¹⁷ the one on the housetop must not go down to take things from the house; ¹⁸ the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. ¹⁹ Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! ²⁰ Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.^{(B) 22} And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved, but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.^{(C) 23} Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’^[a] or ‘There he is!’—do not believe it.^{(D) 24} For false messiahs^[b] and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.^{(E) 25} Take note, I have told you beforehand. ²⁶ So, if they say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look! He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.^{(F) 28} Wherever the corpse is, there the eagles will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁹ “Immediately after the suffering of those days

³⁰ “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory.^{(H) 31} And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.^(I)