A Call to Repentance^(A)

1 In the eighth month ^(B)of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came ^(C)to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of ^(D)Iddo the prophet, saying, ² “The Lord has been very angry with your fathers. ³ Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return ^(E)to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. ⁴ “Do not be like your fathers, ^(F)to whom the former prophets preached, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(G)“Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds.” ’ But they did not hear nor heed Me,” says the Lord.

“So they returned and said:

Vision of the Horses

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet: ⁸ I saw by night, and behold, ^(J)a man riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow; and behind him were ^(K)horses: red, sorrel, and white. ⁹ Then I said, ^(L)“My lord, what are these?” So the angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.”

¹⁰ And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, ^(M)“These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth.”

^11 (N)So they answered the Angel of the Lord, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is ^[a]resting quietly.”

The Lord Will Comfort Zion

¹² Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, “O Lord of hosts, ^(O)how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry ^(P)these seventy years?”

¹³ And the Lord answered the angel who talked to me, with ^(Q)good and comforting words. ¹⁴ So the angel who spoke with me said to me, ^[b]“Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:

¹⁶ ‘Therefore thus says the Lord:

¹⁷ “Again proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:

Vision of the Horns

¹⁸ Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four ^(Z)horns. ¹⁹ And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?”

So he answered me, ^(AA)“These are the ^[f]horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. ²¹ And I said, “What are these coming to do?”

So he said, “These are the ^(AB)horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but ^[g]the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that ^(AC)lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

12 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. ² Then being with child, she cried out ^(A)in labor and in pain to give birth.

³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, ^(B)a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. ^4 (C)His tail drew a third ^(D)of the stars of heaven ^(E)and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood ^(F)before the woman who was ready to give birth, ^(G)to devour her Child as soon as it was born. ⁵ She bore a male Child ^(H)who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was ^(I)caught up to God and His throne. ⁶ Then ^(J)the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there ^(K)one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Satan Thrown Out of Heaven

⁷ And war broke out in heaven: ^(L)Michael and his angels fought ^(M)with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, ⁸ but they ^[a]did not prevail, nor was a place found for ^[b]them in heaven any longer. ⁹ So ^(N)the great dragon was cast out, ^(O)that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, ^(P)who deceives the whole world; ^(Q)he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ^(R)“Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, ^(S)who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. ¹¹ And ^(T)they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, ^(U)and they did not love their lives to the death. ¹² Therefore ^(V)rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! ^(W)Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, ^(X)because he knows that he has a short time.”

The Woman Persecuted

¹³ Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted ^(Y)the woman who gave birth to the male Child. ^14 (Z)But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, ^(AA)that she might fly ^(AB)into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished ^(AC)for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. ¹⁵ So the serpent ^(AD)spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. ¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. ¹⁷ And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus ^[c]Christ.

Prayer for Deliverance from Evil Men

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.