The Four Chariots

6 Now I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, ^(A)four chariots were coming forth from between the two mountains; and the mountains were bronze mountains. ² With the first chariot were ^(B)red horses, with the second chariot ^(C)black horses, ³ with the third chariot ^(D)white horses, and with the fourth chariot strong ^(E)dappled horses. ⁴ Then I spoke and said to the angel who was speaking with me, “^(F)What are these, my lord?” ⁵ The angel replied to me, “These are the ^(G)four spirits of heaven, going forth after standing before the Lord of all the earth, ⁶ with one of which the black horses are going forth to the ^(H)north country; and the white ones go forth after them, while the dappled ones go forth to the ^(I)south country. ⁷ When the strong ones went out, they ^[a]were eager to go to ^[b](J)patrol the earth.” And He said, “Go, ^[c]patrol the earth.” So they ^[d]patrolled the earth. ⁸ Then He cried out to me and spoke to me saying, “See, those who are going to the land of the north have ^[e](K)appeased My wrath in the land of the north.”

⁹ The ^(L)word of the Lord also came to me, saying, ¹⁰ “^(M)Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah; and you go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon.

The Symbolic Crowns

¹¹ Take silver and gold, make an ornate ^(N)crown and set it on the head of ^(O)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ¹² Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is ^[f](P)Branch, for He will ^[g](Q)branch out from where He is; and He will ^(R)build the temple of the Lord. ¹³ Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will ^(S)bear the honor and sit and ^(T)rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a ^(U)priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two ^[h]offices.”’ ¹⁴ Now the ^(V)crown will become a reminder in the temple of the Lord to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah and ^[i]Hen the son of Zephaniah. ^15 (W)Those who are far off will come and ^[j]build the temple of the Lord.” Then you will ^(X)know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And it will take place if you completely ^(Y)obey the Lord your God.

Hearts like Flint

7 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 ^(Z)Chislev. ² Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and ^[k]their men to ^[l](AA)seek the favor of the Lord, ³ speaking to the ^(AB)priests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the ^(AC)fifth month ^[m]and abstain, as I have done these many years?” ⁴ Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ⁵ “Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months ^[n]these ^(AD)seventy years, was it actually for ^(AE)Me that you fasted? ⁶ When you eat and drink, ^[o]do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves? ⁷ Are not these the words which the Lord ^(AF)proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^[p](AG)prosperous along with its cities around it, and the ^[q](AH)Negev and the ^[r]foothills were inhabited?’”

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying, ⁹ “Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘^(AI)Dispense true justice and practice ^(AJ)kindness and compassion each to his brother; ¹⁰ and ^(AK)do not oppress the widow or the ^[s]orphan, the ^[t]stranger or the poor; and do ^(AL)not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ ¹¹ But they ^(AM)refused to pay attention and ^[u](AN)turned a stubborn shoulder and ^[v](AO)stopped their ears from hearing. ¹² They made their ^(AP)hearts like ^[w](AQ)flint ^[x]so that they could not hear the law and the ^(AR)words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the ^(AS)former prophets; therefore great ^(AT)wrath came from the Lord of hosts. ¹³ And just as ^(AU)He called and they would not listen, so ^(AV)they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts; ¹⁴ “but I ^[y](AW)scattered them with a ^(AX)storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is ^(AY)desolated behind them ^[z]so that ^(AZ)no one went back and forth, for they ^(BA)made the pleasant land desolate.”

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

8 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I am ^(BB)exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’ ³ Thus says the Lord, ‘I will return to Zion and will ^(BC)dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of ^(BD)Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’ ⁴ Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘^(BE)Old men and old women will again sit in the ^[aa]streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of ^[ab]age. ⁵ And the ^[ac]streets of the city will be filled with ^(BF)boys and girls playing in its ^[ad]streets.’ ⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘If it is ^[ae](BG)too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be ^[af](BH)too difficult in My sight?’ declares the Lord of hosts. ⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the ^[ag](BI)east and from the land of the ^[ah]west; ⁸ and I will ^(BJ)bring them back and they will ^(BK)live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be ^(BL)My people, and I will be their God in ^[ai]truth and righteousness.’

⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Let your hands be ^(BM)strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the ^(BN)prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be built. ¹⁰ For before those days there was ^(BO)no wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no ^[aj](BP)peace because of ^[ak]his enemies, and I ^(BQ)set all men one against another. ¹¹ But now I will ^(BR)not ^[al]treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the Lord of hosts. ¹² ‘For there will be ^(BS)peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their ^(BT)dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit ^(BU)all these things. ¹³ It will come about that just as you were a ^(BV)curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a ^(BW)blessing. Do not fear; let your ^(BX)hands be strong.’

¹⁴ “For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Just as I ^(BY)purposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and I have not ^(BZ)relented, ¹⁵ so I have again purposed in these days to ^(CA)do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. ^(CB)Do not fear! ¹⁶ These are the things which you should do: speak the ^(CC)truth to one another; ^(CD)judge with truth and judgment for peace in your ^[am]gates. ¹⁷ Also let none of you ^(CE)devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love ^[an](CF)perjury; for all these are what I ^(CG)hate,’ declares the Lord.”

¹⁸ Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ¹⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘The fast of the ^(CH)fourth, the fast of the ^(CI)fifth, the fast of the ^(CJ)seventh and the fast of the ^(CK)tenth months will become ^(CL)joy, gladness, and ^[ao]cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so ^(CM)love truth and peace.’

²⁰ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘It will yet be that ^(CN)peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. ²¹ The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to ^(CO)entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; ^[ap]I will also go.” ²² So ^(CP)many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to ^(CQ)entreat the favor of the Lord.’ ²³ Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the ^[aq]nations will ^[ar](CR)grasp the ^[as]garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”

Testing the Spirits

4 ^(A)Beloved, do not believe every ^(B)spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because ^(C)many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(D)every spirit that ^(E)confesses that ^(F)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; ³ and every spirit that ^(G)does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the ^(H)antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and ^(I)now it is already in the world. ⁴ You are from God, ^(J)little children, and ^(K)have overcome them; because ^(L)greater is He who is in you than ^(M)he who is in the world. ^5 (N)They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. ^6 (O)We are from God; ^(P)he who knows God listens to us; ^(Q)he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ^(R)the spirit of truth and ^(S)the spirit of error.

God Is Love

^7 (T)Beloved, let us ^(U)love one another, for love is from God; and ^(V)everyone who loves is ^[a](W)born of God and ^(X)knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for ^(Y)God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was manifested ^[b](Z)in us, that ^(AA)God has sent His ^[c]only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, ^(AB)not that we loved God, but that ^(AC)He loved us and sent His Son to be ^(AD)the propitiation for our sins. ^11 (AE)Beloved, if God so loved us, ^(AF)we also ought to love one another. ^12 (AG)No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His ^(AH)love is perfected in us. ^13 (AI)By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ We have seen and ^(AJ)testify that the Father has ^(AK)sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

^15 (AL)Whoever confesses that ^(AM)Jesus is the Son of God, God ^(AN)abides in him, and he in God. ^16 (AO)We have come to know and have believed the love which God has ^[d](AP)for us. ^(AQ)God is love, and the one who ^(AR)abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this, ^(AS)love is perfected with us, so that we may have ^(AT)confidence in ^(AU)the day of judgment; because ^(AV)as He is, so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but ^(AW)perfect love casts out fear, because fear ^[e]involves punishment, and the one who fears is not ^(AX)perfected in love. ^19 (AY)We love, because He first loved us. ^20 (AZ)If someone says, “I love God,” and ^(BA)hates his brother, he is a ^(BB)liar; for ^(BC)the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, ^(BD)cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And ^(BE)this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God ^(BF)should love his brother also.