Sixth Vision: A Flying Scroll

5 When I looked the next time, I saw a flying scroll,^{[a] 2} and the angel asked, “What do you see?”

“A flying scroll,” I answered. “About nine meters long and four and a half meters wide.”

³ Then he told me:

This scroll puts a curse on everyone in the land who steals or tells lies. The writing on one side tells about the destruction of those who steal, while the writing on the other side tells about the destruction of those who lie.

⁴ The Lord All-Powerful has said, “I am sending this scroll into the house of everyone who is a robber or tells lies in my name, and it will remain there until every piece of wood and stone in that house crumbles.”

Seventh Vision: A Woman in a Basket

⁵ Now the angel who was there to explain the visions came over and said, “Look up and tell me what you see coming.”

⁶ “I don't know what it is,” was my reply.

“It's a big basket,” he said. “And it shows what everyone in the land has in mind.”^[b]

⁷ The lead cover of the basket was opened, and in the basket was a woman. ⁸ “This woman represents evil,” the angel explained. Then he threw her back into the basket and slammed the heavy cover down tight.

⁹ Right after this I saw two women coming through the sky with wings outstretched like a stork in the wind. Suddenly they lifted the basket into the air, ¹⁰ and I asked the angel, “Where are they taking the basket?”

¹¹ “To Babylonia,”^[c] he answered, “where they will build a house for the basket and set it down inside.”

Eighth Vision: Four Chariots

6 Finally, I looked up and saw four chariots coming from between two bronze mountains. ^2 (A) The first chariot was pulled by red horses, and the second by black horses; ^3 (B) the third chariot was pulled by white horses, and the fourth by spotted gray^[d] horses.

⁴ “Sir,” I asked the angel. “What do these stand for?”

^5 (C) Then he explained, “These are the four winds^[e] of heaven, and now they are going out, after presenting themselves to the Lord of all the earth. ⁶ The chariot with black horses goes toward the north, the chariot with white horses goes toward the west,^[f] and the one with spotted horses goes toward the south.”

⁷ The horses came out eager to patrol the earth, and the angel told them, “Start patrolling the earth.”

When they had gone on their way, ⁸ he shouted to me, “Those that have gone to the country in the north will do what the Lord's Spirit^[g] wants them to do there.”^[h]

The Chosen Leader

⁹ The Lord said to me:

^10-11 Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah have returned from Babylonia. Collect enough silver and gold from them to make a crown.^[i] Then go with them to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah and put the crown on the head of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak.^{[j] 12-13 (D)} Tell him that I, the Lord All-Powerful, say, “Someone will reach out from here like a branch and build a temple for me. I will name him ‘Branch,’ and he will rule with royal honors. A priest will stand beside his throne,^[k] and the two of them will be good friends. ¹⁴ This crown will be kept in my temple as a reminder and will be taken care of by Heldai,^[l] Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah.”^[m]

¹⁵ When people from distant lands come and help build the temple of the Lord All-Powerful, you will know that the Lord is the one who sent me. And this will happen, if you truly obey the Lord your God.

A Question about Going without Eating

7 On the fourth day of Chislev, the ninth month of the fourth year that Darius was king of Persia,^[n] the Lord again spoke to me. ^2-3 It happened after the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer with Regem-Melech and his men to ask the priests in the Lord's temple and the prophets to pray for them. So they prayed, “Should we mourn and go without eating during the fifth month,^[o] as we have done for many years?”

^4-5 It was then that the Lord All-Powerful told me to say to everyone in the country, including the priests:

For 70 years you have gone without eating during the fifth and seventh months of the year. But did you really do it for me? ⁶ And when you eat and drink, isn't it for your own enjoyment? ⁷ My message today is the same one I commanded the earlier prophets^[p] to speak to Jerusalem and its villages when they were prosperous, and when all of Judah, including the Southern Desert and the hill country, was filled with people.

^8-9 So once again, I, the Lord All-Powerful, tell you, “See that justice is done and be kind and merciful to one another! ¹⁰ Don't mistreat widows or orphans or foreigners or anyone who is poor, and stop making plans to hurt each other.”

^11-12 But everyone who heard those prophets, stubbornly refused to obey. Instead, they turned their backs on everything my Spirit^[q] had commanded the earlier prophets to preach. So I, the Lord, became angry ¹³ and said, “You people paid no attention when I called out to you, and now I'll pay no attention when you call out to me.”

¹⁴ That's why I came with a whirlwind and scattered them among foreign nations, leaving their lovely country empty of people and in ruins.^[r]

The Lord's Promises to Zion

8 The Lord All-Powerful said to me:

² I love Zion so much that her enemies make me angry. ³ I will return to Jerusalem and live there on Mount Zion. Then Jerusalem will be known as my faithful city, and Zion will be known as my holy mountain.

⁴ Very old people with walking sticks will once again sit around in Jerusalem, ⁵ while boys and girls play in the streets. ⁶ This may seem impossible for my people who are left, but it isn't impossible for me, the Lord All-Powerful. ⁷ I will save those who were taken to lands in the east and the west, ⁸ and I will bring them to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, faithful to bring about justice.

⁹ I am the Lord All-Powerful! So don't give up. Think about the message my prophets spoke when the foundation of my temple was laid. ¹⁰ Before that time, neither people nor animals were rewarded for their work, and no one was safe anywhere, because I had turned them against each other.

¹¹ My people, only a few of you are left, and I promise not to punish you as I did before. ¹² Instead, I will make sure that your crops are planted in peace and your vineyards are fruitful, that your fields are fertile, and the dew falls from the sky. ¹³ People of Judah and Israel, you have been a curse to the nations, but I will save you and make you a blessing to them. So don't be afraid or lose courage.

¹⁴ When your ancestors made me angry, I decided to punish you with disasters, and I didn't hold back. ¹⁵ Now you no longer need to be afraid. I have decided to treat Jerusalem and Judah with kindness. ^16 (E) But you must be truthful with each other, and in court you must give fair decisions that lead to peace. ¹⁷ Don't ever plan evil things against others or tell lies under oath. I, the Lord, hate such things.

A Time of Celebration

¹⁸ The Lord All-Powerful told me to say:

¹⁹ People of Judah, I, the Lord, demand that whenever you go without food as a way of worshiping me, it should become a time of celebration. No matter if it's the fourth month, the fifth month, the seventh month, or the tenth month, you should have a joyful festival. So love truth and live at peace.

²⁰ I tell you that people will come here from cities everywhere. ²¹ Those of one town will go to another and say, “We're going to ask the Lord All-Powerful to treat us with kindness. Come and join us.”

²² Many people from strong nations will come to Jerusalem to worship me and to ask me to treat them with kindness. ²³ When this happens, ten people from nations with different languages will grab a Jew by his clothes and say, “Let us go with you. We've heard that God is on your side.” I, the Lord All-Powerful, have spoken!

19 After this, I heard what sounded like a lot of voices in heaven, and they were shouting,

^3 (B) Then the crowd shouted,

⁴ After this, the 24 elders and the four living creatures all knelt before the throne of God and worshiped him. They said, “Amen! Praise the Lord!”

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

^5 (C) From the throne a voice said,

^6 (D) Then I heard what seemed to be a large crowd that sounded like a roaring flood and loud thunder all mixed together. They were saying,

^9 (E) Then the angel told me, “Put this in writing. God will bless everyone who is invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” The angel also said, “These things God has said are true.”

¹⁰ I knelt at the feet of the angel and began to worship him. But the angel said, “Don't do that! I am a servant, just like you and everyone else who tells about Jesus. Don't worship anyone but God. Everyone who tells about Jesus does it by the power of the Spirit.”

The Rider on the White Horse

^11 (F) I looked and saw heaven was open, and a white horse was there. Its rider was called Faithful and True, and he is always fair when he judges or goes to war. ^12 (G) He had eyes like flames of fire, and he was wearing a lot of crowns. His name was written on him, but he was the only one who knew what the name meant.

^13 (H) The rider wore a robe that was covered with^[a] blood, and he was known as “The Word of God.” ¹⁴ He was followed by armies from heaven that rode on white horses and were dressed in pure white linen. ^15 (I) From his mouth a sharp sword went out to attack the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod and will show the fierce anger of God All-Powerful by trampling the grapes in the pit where wine is made. ¹⁶ On the part of the robe that covered his thigh was written, “KING OF KINGS AND Lord OF LordS.”

^17 (J) I then saw an angel standing on the sun, and he shouted to all the birds flying in the sky, “Come and join in God's great feast! ¹⁸ You can eat the flesh of kings, rulers, leaders, horses, riders, free people, slaves, important people, and everyone else.”

¹⁹ I also saw the beast and all kings of the earth come together. They fought against the rider on the white horse and against his army. ^20 (K) But the beast was captured and so was the false prophet. This is the same prophet who had worked miracles for the beast, so he could fool everyone who had the mark of the beast and worshiped the idol. The beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into a lake of burning sulfur. ²¹ But the rest of their army was killed by the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse. Then birds stuffed themselves on the dead bodies.