Bible in 90 Days
1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
The prophet complains
2 Lord, how long will I call for help and you not listen?
I cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you don’t deliver us.
3 Why do you show me injustice and look at anguish
so that devastation and violence are before me?
There is strife, and conflict abounds.
4 The Instruction is ineffective.
Justice does not endure
because the wicked surround the righteous.
Justice becomes warped.
The Lord responds
5 Look among the nations and watch!
Be astonished and stare
because something is happening in your days
that you wouldn’t believe even if told.
6 I am about to rouse the Chaldeans,
that bitter and impetuous nation,
which travels throughout the earth to possess dwelling places it does not own.
7 The Chaldean is dreadful and fearful.
He makes his own justice and dignity.[a]
8 His horses are faster than leopards;
they are quicker than wolves of the evening.
His horsemen charge forward;
his horsemen come from far away.
They fly in to devour, swiftly, like an eagle.[b]
9 They come for violence,
the horde with all their faces set toward the desert.[c]
He takes captives like sand.
10 He makes fun of kings;
rulers are ridiculous to him.
He laughs at every fortress,
then he piles up dirt and takes it.
11 He passes through like the wind and invades;
but he will be held guilty,
the one whose strength is his god.
The prophet questions the Lord
12 Lord, aren’t you ancient, my God, my holy one?
Don’t let us die.[d]
Lord, you put the Chaldean here for judgment.
Rock, you established him as a rebuke.
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you are unable to look at disaster.
Why would you look at the treacherous
or keep silent when the wicked swallows one who is more righteous?
14 You made humans like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things with no one to rule over them.
15 The Chaldean brings all of them up with a fishhook.
He drags them away with a net;
he collects them in his fishing net,
then he rejoices and celebrates.
16 Therefore, he sacrifices to his net;
he burns incense to his fishing nets,
because due to them his portion grows fat
and his food becomes luxurious.
17 Should he continue to empty his net
and continue to slay nations without sparing them?
2 I will take my post;
I will position myself on the fortress.
I will keep watch to see what the Lord says to me
and how he[e] will respond to my complaint.
The Lord responds
2 Then the Lord answered me and said,
Write a vision, and make it plain upon a tablet
so that a runner can read it.[f]
3 There is still a vision for the appointed time;
it testifies to the end;
it does not deceive.[g]
If it delays, wait for it;
for it is surely coming; it will not be late.
4 Some people’s desires are truly audacious;[h]
they don’t do the right thing.
But the righteous person will live honestly.
5 Moreover, wine betrays an arrogant man.
He doesn’t rest.
He opens his jaws[i] like the grave;[j]
like death, he is never satisfied.
He gathers all nations to himself
and collects all peoples for himself.
6 Won’t everyone tell parables about him
or mocking poems concerning him?
They will say:
Doom to the one who multiplies what doesn’t belong to him
and who increases his own burden.
How long?
7 Won’t they suddenly rise up to bite you?
Those who frighten you will awaken;
you will become plunder for them.
8 Since you yourself have plundered many nations,
all the rest of the peoples will plunder you
because of the human bloodshed
and the violence done to the earth,
to every village, and to all its inhabitants.
9 Doom to the one making evil gain for his own house,
for putting his own nest up high,
for delivering himself from the grasp of calamity.
10 You plan shame for your own house,
cutting off many peoples
and sinning against your own life.
11 A stone will cry out from a village wall,
and a tree branch will respond.
12 Pity the one building a city with bloodshed
and founding a village with injustice.
13 Look, isn’t this from the Lord of heavenly forces?
Peoples grow weary from making just enough fire;
nations become tired for nothing.[k]
14 But the land will be full of the knowledge of the Lord’s glory,
just as water covers the sea.
15 Doom to the one who makes his companions drunk,
pouring out your wrath in order to see them naked.[l]
16 You have drunk your fill of dishonor rather than glory.
So drink and stagger.[m]
The cup of the Lord’s strong hand will come around to you;
disgrace will engulf you.
17 Because of the violence done to Lebanon, he will overwhelm you;
the destruction of animals will terrify you,
as will human bloodshed and violence throughout the land, the villages,
and all their inhabitants.[n]
18 Of what value is an idol, when its potter carves it,
or a cast image that has been shaped?
It is a teacher of lies,
for the potter trusts the pottery, though it is incapable of speaking.
19 Doom to the one saying to the tree, “Wake up!”
or “Get up” to the silent stone.
Does it teach?
Look, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
but there is no breath within it.
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before him.
The Lord’s victory
3 The prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth:
2 Lord, I have heard your reputation.
I have seen your work.
Over time, revive it.
Over time, make it known.
Though angry, remember compassion.
3 God comes from Teman
and the holy one from the mountain of Paran. Selah
His majesty covers the heavens
and his praise fills the earth.
4 His radiance is like the sunlight,
with rays flashing from his hand.
That is the hiding place of his power.
5 Pestilence walks in front of him.
Plague marches at his feet.
6 He stops and measures the earth.
He looks and sets out against the nations.
The everlasting mountains collapse;
the eternal hills bow down;
the eternal paths belong to him.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan under duress.
The curtains of the land of Midian were quaking.
8 Was the Lord raging against the rivers?
Or was your anger directed against the rivers?
Or was your fury directed against the sea
when you rode on your horses
or rode your chariots to victory?
9 You raise up your empty bow,
uttering curses for the arrows.[o] Selah
With rivers you split open the earth.
10 The mountains see you and writhe.
A flood of water rushes through.
The deep utters its voice;
it raises its hands aloft.[p]
11 Sun and moon stand still high above.
With the light, your arrows shoot,
your spear at the flash of lightning.
12 In fury, you stride the earth;
in anger you tread the nations.
13 You go out to save your people.
For the salvation of your anointed
you smashed the head of the house of wickedness,
laying bare the foundation up to the neck. Selah
14 You pierce the head of his warrior with his own spear.
His warriors are driven off,
those who take delight in oppressing us,[q]
those who take pleasure in secretly devouring the poor.
15 You make your horses tread on the sea;
turbulent waters foam.
The prophet responds
16 I hear and my insides tremble.
My lips quiver at the sound.
Rottenness enters my bones.
I tremble while I stand,[r]
while I wait for the day of distress to come against the people who attack us.
17 Though the fig tree doesn’t bloom,
and there’s no produce on the vine;
though the olive crop withers,
and the fields don’t provide food;
though the sheep are cut off from the pen,
and there are no cattle in the stalls;
18 I will rejoice in the Lord.
I will rejoice in the God of my deliverance.
19 The Lord God is my strength.
He will set my feet like the deer.
He will let me walk upon the heights.[s]
To the director, with stringed instruments
1 The Lord’s word that came to Zephaniah, Cushi’s son, Gedaliah’s grandson, Amariah’s great-grandson, and Hezekiah’s great-great-grandson in the days of Judah’s King Josiah, Amon’s son.
Judgment on the world and Judah
2 I will wipe out everything from the earth, says the Lord.
3 I will destroy humanity and the beasts;
I will destroy the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea.
I will make the wicked into a heap of ruins;
I will eliminate humanity from the earth, says the Lord.
4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I will eliminate what’s left of Baal from this place
and the names of the priests of foreign gods,[t]
5 those bowing down to the forces of heaven on the rooftops,
those swearing by the Lord along with those swearing by Milcom,
6 those turning away from the Lord,
those who don’t seek the Lord and don’t pursue him.
The day of the Lord
7 Hush before the Lord God,
for the day of the Lord is near!
The Lord has established a sacrifice;
he has made holy those he has summoned.
8 On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
I will punish the princes, the king’s sons,
and all those wearing foreign clothes.
9 I will punish the one leaping on the threshold on that day,
those filling the house of their master with violence and deceit.
10 On that day—says the Lord—
an outcry will resound from the Fish Gate,
wailing from the second quarter,
a loud crash from the hills.
11 The ones who grind the grain[u] will wail;
all the merchants will be silenced.
I will eliminate all those weighing out silver.
12 At that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps;
I will punish the men growing fat on the sediment in their wine,
those saying to themselves, The Lord won’t do good or evil.
13 Their wealth will be looted and their houses destroyed.
They will rebuild houses, but not live in them;
they will plant vineyards, but not drink the wine.
14 The great day of the Lord is near;
it is near and coming very quickly.
The sound of the day of the Lord is bitter.
A warrior screams there.
15 That day is a day of fury,
a day of distress and anxiety,
a day of desolation and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and deep darkness,
16 a day for blowing the trumpet and alarm against their invincible cities
and against their high towers.
17 I will make humanity suffer;
they will walk like the blind
because they sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their intestines like manure.
18 Moreover, their silver and their gold won’t be able to deliver them
on the day of the Lord’s fury.
His jealousy will devour the entire land with fire;
he will make an end,
a truly horrible one,
for all the inhabitants of the land.
2 Gather together and assemble yourselves, shameless nation,
2 before the decision is made—the day vanishes like chaff[v]—
before the burning anger of the Lord comes against you,
before the day of the Lord’s anger comes against you.
3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land who practice his justice;
seek righteousness;
seek humility.
Maybe you will be hidden on the day of the Lord’s anger.
Oracles against foreign nations
4 Gaza will certainly be abandoned;
and Ashkelon destroyed.
Ashdod will be driven out at noon;
Ekron will be uprooted.
5 Doom, inhabitants of the seacoast,
nation of Cretans.
The Lord’s word is against you,
Canaan, land of the Philistines.
I will exterminate you, leaving no inhabitant.
6 The seacoast will become pastureland,
with wells for shepherds and pens for the flocks.
7 The coast will belong to the survivors from the house of Judah;
they will pasture beside the sea;[w]
in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening.
The Lord their God will visit them and restore their possessions.
8 I have heard the taunting of Moab
and the defamation of the Ammonites;
they taunted my people
and enlarged their borders.
9 Therefore, as I live—
says the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel—
Moab will become like Sodom
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah:
a plot of weeds, salt pits, and devastation forever.
The few remaining from my people will plunder them;
the rest of my nation will possess them.
10 This will happen on account of their pride,
because they taunted and boasted over the people of the Lord of heavenly forces.
11 The Lord will terrify them;
he will make all the gods of the earth disappear.
All the coastlands of the nations will bow down to the Lord,
each one in its own place.
12 Moreover, you too, Cushites, will be pierced by my sword.
13 He will stretch out his hand against the north
and will cause Assyria to perish.
Let him make Nineveh a desolation,
a desolate place like the wilderness.
14 Flocks will lie down in its midst,
every living thing of the nation.
Moreover, the owl and the porcupine will spend the night on its columns.
A bird’s call will resound from the window.
Desolation will be on the sill,
for the cedar will be stripped bare.
15 This is the jubilant city,
the one dwelling securely,
the one saying in her heart,
I, and no one else, will endure forever.
How she has become a desolation,
a resting place for the wild animals.
All those who pass through her hiss and shake their fist.
Judgment against Jerusalem
3 Doom, obstinate one,
the defiled one,
the violent city.
2 She listened to no voice;
she accepted no discipline.
She didn’t trust in the Lord,
nor did she draw near to her God.
3 The princes in her midst are roaring lions.
Her judges are wolves of the evening;
they leave nothing for the morning.
4 Her prophets are reckless, men of treachery.
Her priests pollute that which is holy;
they do violence to the Instruction.
5 The Lord is righteous in her midst.
He does nothing unjust.
Morning by morning he renders justice,
but the unrighteous one knows no shame.
6 I will cut off nations;
their towers will be destroyed;
I will devastate their streets.
No one will pass through.
Their cities will be laid waste.
There will be no person, no inhabitant left.
7 I said, “Surely, she will fear me;
she will take instruction
so that her habitation won’t be cut off[x]
because of everything I did to her.”
However, they rose early to corrupt their deeds.
8 Therefore, wait for me, says the Lord,
wait for the day when I rise up as a witness,[y]
when I decide to gather nations,
to collect kingdoms,
to pour out my indignation upon them,
all the heat of my anger.
In the fire of my jealousy,
all the earth will be devoured.
Restoration of the nations and Jerusalem
9 Then I will change the speech of the peoples into pure speech,
that all of them will call on the name of the Lord
and will serve him as one.[z]
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush,
my daughter, my dispersed ones, will bring me offerings.
11 On that day, you won’t be ashamed of all your deeds
with which you sinned against me;
then I will remove from your midst those boasting with pride.
No longer will you be haughty on my holy mountain,
12 but I will cause a humble and powerless people to remain in your midst;
they will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.
13 The few remaining from Israel won’t commit injustice;
they won’t tell lies;
a deceitful tongue won’t be found on their lips.
They will graze and lie down;
no one will make them afraid.
14 Rejoice, Daughter Zion! Shout, Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem.
15 The Lord has removed your judgment;
he has turned away your enemy.
The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst;
you will no longer fear evil.
16 On that day, it will be said to Jerusalem:
Don’t fear, Zion.
Don’t let your hands fall.
17 The Lord your God is in your midst—a warrior bringing victory.
He will create calm with his love;
he will rejoice over you with singing.
18 I will remove from you those worried about the appointed feasts.[aa]
They have been a burden for her, a reproach.
19 Watch what I am about to do to all your oppressors at that time.
I will deliver the lame;
I will gather the outcast.
I will change their shame into praise and fame throughout the earth.
20 At that time, I will bring all of you back,
at the time when I gather you.
I will give you fame and praise among all the neighboring peoples
when I restore your possessions and you can see them[ab]—says the Lord.
The challenge to rebuild
1 The Lord’s word came through Haggai the prophet in the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month on the first day of the month, to Judah’s governor Zerubbabel, Shealtiel’s son, and to the high priest Joshua, Jehozadak’s son:
2 This is what the Lord of heavenly forces says:
These people say, “The time hasn’t come,
the time to rebuild the Lord’s house.”
3 Then the Lord’s word came through Haggai the prophet:
4 Is it time for you to dwell in your own paneled houses
while this house lies in ruins?
5 So now, this is what the Lord of heavenly forces says:
Take your ways to heart.
6 You have sown much, but it has brought little.
You eat, but there’s not enough to satisfy.
You drink, but not enough to get drunk.
There is clothing, but not enough to keep warm.
Anyone earning wages puts those wages into a bag with holes.
7 This is what the Lord of heavenly forces says:
Take your ways to heart.
8 Go up to the highlands and bring back wood.
Rebuild the temple so that I may enjoy it
and that I may be honored, says the Lord.
9 You expect a surplus, but look how it shrinks.
You bring it home, and I blow it away, says the Lord of heavenly forces,
because my house lies in ruins.
But all of you hurry to your own houses.
10 Therefore, the skies above you have withheld the dew,
and the earth has withheld its produce because of you.
11 I have called for drought on the earth,
on the mountains, on the grain,
on the wine, on the olive oil,
on that which comes forth from the fertile ground,
on humanity, on beasts,
and upon everything that handles produce.
12 Zerubbabel, Shealtiel’s son, and the high priest Joshua, Jehozadak’s son, along with all who remained among the people, listened to the voice of the Lord God and to the words of Haggai the prophet because the Lord their God sent him. Then the people feared the Lord.
13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the Lord’s message to the people:
I am with you, says the Lord.
14 The Lord moved the spirit of Judah’s governor Zerubbabel, Shealtiel’s son, and the spirit of the high priest Joshua, Jehozadak’s son, and the spirit of all the rest of the people. Then they came and did work on the house of the Lord of heavenly forces, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.
Encouraging the people
2 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the Lord’s word came through Haggai the prophet: 2 Say to Judah’s governor Zerubbabel, Shealtiel’s son, and to the chief priest Joshua, Jehozadak’s son, and to the rest of the people:
3 Who among you is left who saw this house in its former glory?
How does it look to you now?
Doesn’t it appear as nothing to you?
4 So now, be strong, Zerubbabel, says the Lord.
Be strong, High Priest Joshua, Jehozadak’s son,
and be strong, all you people of the land, says the Lord.
Work, for I am with you, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
5 As with our agreement when you came out of Egypt,
my spirit stands in your midst.
Don’t fear.
6 This is what the Lord of heavenly forces says:
In just a little while, I will make the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land quake.
7 I will make all the nations quake.
The wealth of all the nations will come.
I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
8 The silver and the gold belong to me, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
9 This house will be more glorious than its predecessor, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
I will provide prosperity in this place, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
Cleansing the work
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month in the second year of Darius, the Lord’s word came to Haggai the prophet:
11 This is what the Lord of heavenly forces says:
Go ahead and ask the priests for a ruling:
12 “If someone lifts holy meat into the hem of one’s garment and that hem touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any kind of food, will it be made holy?”
And the priests responded, “No.”
13 Haggai said,
“If an unclean person touches any of these things, will it become unclean?”
And the priests responded, “It will be unclean.”
14 Then Haggai responded:
Thus has this people and this nation become to me, says the Lord,
and everything that they do with their hands.
Whatever they offer is unclean.
15 So now, take it to heart from this day forward.
Before stone was placed on stone in the Lord’s temple,
16 when one came to the granary for twenty measures,
there were only ten;
and when one came to the wine vat for fifty measures,
there were only twenty.
17 I struck you—everything you do with your hands—
with blight and mildew and hail;
but you didn’t return to me.[ac]
18 So take it to heart from this day forward,
from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month.
Take it to heart from the day when the foundation for the Lord’s temple was laid.
19 Is the seed yet in the granary—
or the vine, the fig tree, or the pomegranate—
or has the olive tree not borne fruit?
From this day forward, I will bless you.
Royal expectations
20 And the Lord’s word came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth of the month, saying:
21 Speak to Judah’s governor Zerubbabel:
I am about to make the heavens and the earth quake.
22 I will overthrow the thrones of the kingdoms;
I will destroy the strength of the nations.[ad]
I will overthrow chariot and rider;
horses and riders will fall.
Each one will fall by the sword of his companion.
23 On that day, says the Lord of heavenly forces:
I will take you, Zerubbabel, Shealtiel’s son, my servant, says the Lord;
I will make you like a signet ring
because I have chosen you, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
The people change
1 In the eighth month in the second year of Darius, the Lord’s word came to Zechariah the prophet, Berechiah’s son and Iddo’s grandson:
2 The Lord was terribly angry with your ancestors.
3 But you must say to the people,
The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims: Return to me,
says the Lord of heavenly forces,
and I will return to you, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
4 Don’t be like your ancestors to whom the former prophets preached:
The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims: Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds.
But they didn’t listen;
they didn’t draw near to me.
5 So where are your ancestors?
Do the prophets live forever?
6 In fact, didn’t my words and laws,
which I gave to my servants, the prophets,
pursue your ancestors?
And then the people changed their hearts, and they said,
The Lord of heavenly forces has treated us according to
what we have done,[ae]
exactly as he planned.
First night vision
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month (the month of Shebat[af]) in the second year of Darius, the Lord’s word came to Zechariah the prophet, Berechiah’s son and Iddo’s grandson:
8 Tonight I looked and saw a man riding on a red horse,
which was standing among the myrtle trees in the valley;
and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.
9 I said, “What are these, sir?”
The messenger speaking with me said,
“I will show you what they are.”
10 The man standing among the myrtles responded,
“These are the ones the Lord sent to patrol the earth.”
11 Then they responded to the Lord’s messenger,
who was standing among the myrtles,
“We have patrolled the earth. The whole earth is peaceful and quiet.”
12 Then the Lord’s messenger, who was speaking with me, said:
“Lord of heavenly forces,
how long will you withhold compassion from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah,
with whom you have been angry these seventy years?”
13 The Lord responded to the messenger who was speaking with me
with kind and compassionate words.
14 The messenger speaking with me called out,
“This is what the Lord of heavenly forces says:
I care passionately about Jerusalem and Zion.
15 And I am exceedingly angry with those carefree nations.
Though I was somewhat angry, they added to the violence.”
16 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion.
My house will be built in it, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
Let a measuring line be stretched over Jerusalem.
17 “Call out again,
The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
My cities will again overflow with prosperity.
The Lord will again show compassion to Zion
and will again choose Jerusalem.”
Second night vision
18 [ag] Then I looked up and saw four horns.
19 I said to the messenger speaking with me,
“What are these?”
He said to me,
“These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed me four metalworkers.
21 I said,
“What are they coming to do?”
And he said,
“These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head.
The metalworkers have come to terrify them and to destroy the horns of the nations, those who were attacking the land of Judah with[ah] their horns to scatter it.”
Third night vision
2 [ai] Then I looked up and saw a man.
In his hand was a measuring line.
2 I said, “Where are you going?”
He said to me,
“To measure Jerusalem to see how wide and long it will be.”
3 As I watched, the messenger speaking with me went ahead and another messenger came to meet him.
4 He said to him,
“Run! Say to this young man:
Jerusalem will be inhabited like open fields
because of the throngs of people and cattle inside it.
5 But I will be a wall of fire around it, says the Lord,
and I will be glorious inside it.
6 Look out; look out! Flee from the land of the north, says the Lord,
for I will scatter you like the four winds of heaven, says the Lord.
7 Look out, Zion.
Flee, you who dwell with Daughter Babylon!
8 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims (after his glory sent me)[aj]
concerning the nations plundering you:
Those who strike you strike the pupil of my eye.
9 But look, I am about to raise my hand against them;
they will become prey to their own slaves,
so you will know that the Lord of heavenly forces sent me.
10 Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Zion,
because I am about to come and dwell among you, says the Lord.
11 Many nations will be joined to the Lord on that day.
They will become my people,
and I will dwell among you
so you will know that the Lord of heavenly forces sent me to you.”
12 The Lord will possess Judah as his inheritance upon the holy land;
he will again choose Jerusalem.
13 Be silent, everyone, in the Lord’s
presence, because he has moved from his holy habitation!
Fourth night vision
3 Then the Lord showed me the high priest Joshua, standing before the messenger from the Lord,
and the Adversary[ak] was standing by his right side to accuse him.
2 And the Lord said to the Adversary:
“The Lord rebukes you, Adversary.
The Lord, the one choosing Jerusalem, rebukes you.
Is this one not a log snatched from the fire?”
3 Joshua was wearing filthy clothes and standing before the messenger.
4 He responded to those standing before him,
“Take off his filthy clothes.”
And he said to Joshua,
“Look, I have removed your guilt from you.
Put on priestly robes.”
5 He[al] said, “Put a clean turban upon his head.”
So they put the clean turban upon his head,
and they dressed him in garments while the Lord’s messenger stood by.
6 Then the Lord’s messenger admonished Joshua:
7 “The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
If you will walk in my paths,
if you will keep my charge,
then you will lead my house and guard my courts,
and I will allow you to walk among those standing here.
8 Now listen, High Priest Joshua,
you and your companions sitting before you—
for these men are a sign—
look, I am about to bring my servant, Branch.
9 See this stone that I have put before Joshua.
Upon one stone, there are seven facets.
I am about to engrave an inscription on it,
says the Lord of heavenly forces.
I will remove the guilt of that land in one day.
10 On that day, says the Lord of heavenly forces,
everyone will invite their neighbors to sit beneath their vines and the fig trees.”
Fifth night vision
4 The messenger speaking with me returned and woke me like one who awakens someone who is asleep.
2 Then he said to me, “What do you see?”
I said, “I see a lampstand
made entirely of gold.
It has a bowl on top.
The bowl has seven lamps on top
and seven metal pipes for those lamps.
3 It has two olive trees beside the lampstand,
one to the right of its bowl and one to the left.”
4 I responded to the messenger speaking with me,
“What are these, sir?”
5 The messenger responded to me:
“Don’t you know what these are?”
I said, “No, sir. I don’t.”
6 He answered me:
“This is the Lord’s word to Zerubbabel:
Neither by power, nor by strength,
but by my spirit, says the Lord of heavenly forces.”
7 Who are you, great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain.
He will present the capstone to shouts of great gratitude.
8 The Lord’s word came to me:
9 The hands of Zerubbabel laid the foundation of this house,
and his hands will finish it
so that you will know that the Lord of heavenly forces has sent me to you.
10 Those who despise a time of little things will rejoice when they see the plumb line[am] in Zerubbabel’s hand.
These are the seven eyes of the Lord, surveying the entire earth.
11 I responded to him,
“What are these two olive trees on the right and left sides of the lampstand?”
12 Then I responded a second time,
“What are these two olive branches that empty out golden oil through the two gold pipes?”
13 He said to me, “Don’t you know what these are?”
I said, “No, sir.”
14 He said,
“These are the two anointed ones[an] standing beside the Lord of all the earth.”
Sixth night vision
5 I looked up again and saw a flying scroll.
2 And he said to me, “What do you see?”
I said, “I see a flying scroll, thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.”
3 He said to me, “This is the curse going out across all the land.
Anyone stealing will be purged according to what’s on one side of the scroll,[ao]
and anyone swearing lies[ap] will be purged according to what’s on the other side.
4 I sent it out, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
It will come to the house of the thief and the one swearing lies in my name.
It will lodge in their house and destroy the wood and stones of that house.”
Seventh night vision
5 Then the messenger speaking with me came forward and said,
“Look up and see what’s approaching.”
6 I said, “What’s this?”
He said, “This is the basket[aq] that is going out.
This is how it appears[ar] throughout the entire land.”[as]
7 Then a lead cover was lifted,
showing a woman sitting in the middle of the basket.
8 He said, “This is wickedness.”
He shoved her back into the basket,
and he put the lead stone over its opening.
9 I looked up again and saw two women going out.
There was a wind in their wings;
their wings were like the wings of a stork.
They carried the basket between the earth and the sky.
10 I said to the messenger speaking with me,
“Where are they taking the basket?”
11 He said to me,
“To build a house for it in the land of Shinar.
It will be firmly placed there on its base.”
Eighth night vision
6 I looked up again
and saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains;
the mountains were made of bronze.
2 The first chariot had red horses,
and the second chariot had black horses.
3 The third chariot had white horses,
and the fourth chariot had horses that were heavily spotted.
4 I responded and said to the messenger speaking with me,
“What are these, sir?”
5 The messenger answered and said to me,
“These are the four winds of heaven that are going out
after presenting themselves to the Lord of all the earth.
6 The one with the black horses is going to the north country;
the white ones are going to the west;[at]
and the spotted ones are going south.”
7 Then the powerful ones approached, intent on going to patrol the earth.
He said, “Go! Patrol the earth!”
So they patrolled the earth.
8 Then he called out and said to me,
“Look, the ones going north have provided rest for my spirit in the north.”
9 The Lord’s word came to me:
10 Take silver and gold[au] from the exiles who came from Babylon,
from Heldai, from Tobijah, and from Jedaiah.
As for you, go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.
11 Take silver and gold and make a crown.[av]
Place it on the head of the high priest Joshua, Jehozadak’s son.
12 Say to him,
“The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
Here is a man.
His name is Branch, and he will branch out from his place;
he will build the Lord’s temple.
13 He will build the Lord’s temple.
He will be majestic;
he will sit and rule on his throne.
There will be a priest on his throne,
and the two of them will share a peaceable plan.
14 The crown will be a memorial in the Lord’s temple
for Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and for Hen, Zephaniah’s son.
15 People from far away will come and build the Lord’s temple
so you might know that the Lord of heavenly forces has sent me to you.
It will happen if you truly obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
Answering the Bethel delegation
7 In the fourth year of Darius the king, the Lord’s word came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, Kislev.[aw] 2 The people of[ax] Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech,[ay] along with his men, to seek the Lord’s favor, 3 saying to the priests who were in the house of the Lord of heavenly forces and to the prophets: “Should I weep in the fifth month and abstain as I have done for a number of years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of heavenly forces came to me: 5 Say to all the land’s people and to the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth month and the seventh month for these past seventy years, did you fast for me? 6 When you ate and drank, weren’t you the ones eating and drinking? 7 Weren’t these the words that the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem was dwelling quietly along with the surrounding cities, and when the arid southern plain and the western foothills were inhabited?
8 The Lord’s word came to Zechariah:
9 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
Make just and faithful decisions; show kindness and compassion to each other! 10 Don’t oppress the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor; don’t plan evil against each other! 11 But they refused to pay attention. They turned a cold shoulder and stopped listening.
12 They steeled their hearts against hearing the Instruction and the words that the Lord of heavenly forces sent by his spirit through the earlier prophets. As a result, the Lord of heavenly forces became enraged.
13 So just as he called and they didn’t listen, when they called, I didn’t listen, says the Lord of heavenly forces. 14 I scattered them throughout the nations whom they didn’t know. The land was devastated behind them, with no one leaving or returning. They turned a delightful land into a wasteland.
8 The word from the Lord of heavenly forces came to me:[az]
2 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
I care passionately about Zion; I burn with passion for her. 3 The Lord proclaims: I have returned to Zion; I will settle in Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be called the city of truth; the mountain of the Lord of heavenly forces will be the holy mountain.
4 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
Old men and old women will again dwell in the plazas of Jerusalem. Each of them will have a staff in their hand because of their great age. 5 The city will be full of boys and girls playing in its plazas.
6 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
Even though it may seem to be a miracle for the few remaining among this people in these days, should it seem to be a miracle for me? says the Lord of heavenly forces.
7 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
I’m about to deliver my people from the land of the east and the land of the west. 8 I’ll bring them back so they will dwell in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God—in truth and in righteousness.
9 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
Be strong, you who are now hearing these words from the mouths of the prophets spoken on the day when the foundations for the house of the Lord of heavenly forces were laid. 10 Before this time, there were no wages for people or animals; there was no relief from distress about going out or coming in, because I set everyone against their own neighbor. 11 But now, unlike those earlier days, I’ll be with the few remaining among this people, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
12 The seed is healthy:
the vine will give its fruit.
The land will give its produce;
the heavens will give its dew.
I will give the remnant of this people all these things.
13 Just as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel,
so now I will deliver you; you will be a blessing.
Don’t fear, but be strong.
14 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
Just as I planned evil against you when your ancestors angered me, says the Lord of heavenly forces, and did not relent, 15 so now I have changed course and again plan to do good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Don’t be afraid.
16 These are the things you should do: Speak the truth to each other; make truthful, just, and peaceable decisions within your gates. 17 Don’t plan evil for each other. Don’t adore swearing falsely, for all of these are things that I hate, says the Lord.
18 The word of the Lord of heavenly forces came to me:
19 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become times of joy and gladness, pleasant feasts for the house of Judah. Love truth and peace!
20 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
Peoples will still come, the inhabitants of many cities. 21 The inhabitants of one city will go to another saying, “Let’s go and seek the favor of the Lord, and look for the Lord of heavenly forces. I’m going too.” 22 Many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of heavenly forces in Jerusalem and to seek the favor of the Lord.
23 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
In those days ten men from nations with entirely different languages will grab hold of a Judean’s clothes and say, “Let’s go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”
Fate of the nations
9 A pronouncement. The Lord’s word is against the land of Hadrach,
and Damascus is its resting place,
for the city of Aram[ba] and all the tribes of Israel belong to the Lord.
2 Hamath also borders on it.
Tyre and Sidon, indeed, each is exceedingly wise.
3 Tyre built a fortress for herself.
She piled up silver like dust
and gold like mud in the streets,
4 but the Lord will take her possessions away
and knock her wealth into the sea.
She will be devoured with fire.
5 Ashkelon will look and be afraid.
Gaza will writhe in agony,
and also Ekron, because her hope has dried up.
The king will perish from Gaza;
Ashkelon won’t be inhabited.
6 An illegitimate child will dwell in Ashdod;
I will eliminate the pride of the Philistines.
7 I will remove bloody food from his mouth
and pieces of unclean food from between his teeth.
He will be a survivor who belongs to our God.
He will be like a chieftain in Judah;
Ekron will be like a Jebusite.
8 I will encamp before my house as a guard
against anyone departing or returning.
A slave driver will no longer pass through against them,
for I have seen you[bb] with my eyes.
Joy and protection for Judah and Ephraim
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion.
Sing aloud, Daughter Jerusalem.
Look, your king will come to you.
He is righteous and victorious.
He is humble and riding on an ass,
on a colt, the offspring of a donkey.
10 He[bc] will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the warhorse from Jerusalem.
The bow used in battle will be cut off;
he will speak peace to the nations.
His rule will stretch from sea to sea,
and from the river to the ends of the earth.
11 Moreover,[bd] by the blood of your covenant,
I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.
12 Return to the stronghold, prisoners of hope.
Moreover, declare today that I will return double to you.
13 Indeed, I myself will bend Judah as a bow;
I will fill it with Ephraim.
Zion, I will rouse your sons against your sons. Greece, I will make you
like a warrior’s sword.
14 The Lord will appear above them;
his arrow will go forth like lightning.
The Lord God will blow the horn;
he will march forth on the stormy winds of the south.
15 The Lord of heavenly forces will protect them.
They will devour and subdue like sling stones.[be]
They will drink, mumbling like one having wine.
They will be filled like a bowl, like the corners of the altar.
16 The Lord their God will deliver them on that day as the flock of his people;
they will be the jewels in a crown dotting his land.
17 What is his goodness,
and what is his beauty?
Grain will make his young men flourish;
so too wine his young women.
Fate of Judah and Ephraim
10 Ask the Lord for rain when it is time for the spring rain.
The Lord is the one who makes the thunderstorms.
He gives them rain showers.
He gives vegetation in the field to each of them.[bf]
2 The household divine images
speak idolatry, and diviners see lies.
They interpret dreams falsely
and provide empty comfort.
Therefore, they wander like sheep,
but they are oppressed because there is no shepherd.
3 My anger burns hot against the shepherds;
I will punish the goats.
The Lord of heavenly forces will take care of his splendor, the house of Judah.
He will make them like his majestic horse in battle.
4 The cornerstone, the tent peg, and the bow used in battle will come from Judah.
Every oppressor will leave Judah simultaneously.
5 Judah will be like warriors,
trampling through the muddy streets during battle.
They will do battle because the Lord is with them.
All the cavalry will be ashamed.
6 I will strengthen the house of Judah
and deliver the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back[bg] because I have compassion on them.
They will be as though I hadn’t rejected them, for I am the Lord their God;
I will respond to them.
7 Ephraim will be like a warrior.
They will be as glad as if they were drinking wine.
Their children will watch and be glad.
Their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.
8 I will whistle for them and gather them,
because I have ransomed them.
They will be as numerous as they were previously.
9 Though I sowed them among the peoples,
they will remember me in the distant places
where they are living with their children until they return.
10 I will bring them back from the land of Egypt;
I will collect them from Assyria.
I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon
until there is no more room for them.
11 They[bh] will pass through the sea of distress
and strike the sea with waves.[bi]
All the depths of the river will dry up.
The pride of Assyria will be brought down;
the scepter of Egypt will turn away.
12 I will strengthen them in the Lord,
and they will walk in his name, says the Lord.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible