Zechariah 3-5

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.”