Patrol of the Earth

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, that is, the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, ^[a]as follows: ⁸ I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a ^(A)red horse, and he was standing among the ^(B)myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, ^[b]sorrel, and ^(C)white horses behind him. ⁹ Then I said, “What are these, my ^(D)lord?” And the ^(E)angel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.” ¹⁰ And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees responded and said, “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to ^[c](F)patrol the earth.” ¹¹ So they responded to the angel of the Lord who was ^(G)standing among the myrtle trees and said, “We have ^[d]patrolled the earth, and behold, ^(H)all the earth is ^[e]still and quiet.”

¹² Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord of armies, ^(I)how long will You ^(J)take no pity on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been ^(K)indignant for these ^(L)seventy years?” ¹³ And the Lord responded to the ^(M)angel who was speaking with me with ^[f]gracious words, ^(N)comforting words. ¹⁴ So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “^(O)Proclaim, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “I am ^(P)exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. ¹⁵ But I am very ^(Q)angry with the nations who are ^(R)carefree; for while I was only a little angry, they ^[g](S)furthered the disaster.” ¹⁶ Therefore the Lord says this: “I will ^(T)return to Jerusalem with compassion; My ^(U)house will be built in it,” declares the Lord of armies, “and a measuring ^(V)line will be stretched over Jerusalem.”’ ¹⁷ Again, proclaim, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “My ^(W)cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again ^(X)comfort Zion and again ^(Y)choose Jerusalem.”’”