Bible in 90 Days
1 The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
The Prophet’s Complaint
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?(A)
3 Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.(B)
4 So the law becomes slack,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous;
therefore judgment comes forth perverted.(C)
5 Look at the nations and see!
Be astonished! Be astounded!
For a work is being done in your days
that you would not believe if you were told.(D)
6 For I am rousing the Chaldeans,
that fierce and impetuous nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth
to seize dwellings not their own.(E)
7 Dread and fearsome are they;
their justice and dignity proceed from themselves.(F)
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more menacing than wolves at dusk;
their horses charge.
Their horsemen come from far away;
they fly like an eagle swift to devour.(G)
9 They all come for violence,
with faces pressing[a] forward;
they gather captives like sand.(H)
10 At kings they scoff,
and of rulers they make sport.
They laugh at every fortress
and heap up earth to take it.(I)
11 Then they sweep by like the wind;
they transgress and become guilty;
their own might is their god!(J)
12 Are you not from of old,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
You[b] shall not die.
O Lord, you have marked them for judgment,
and you, O Rock, have established them for punishment.(K)
13 Your eyes are too pure to behold evil,
and you cannot look on wrongdoing;
why do you look on the treacherous
and are silent when the wicked swallow
those more righteous than they?(L)
14 You have made people like the fish of the sea,
like crawling things that have no ruler.(M)
15 He brings all of them up with a hook;
he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his seine,
so he rejoices and exults.(N)
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and makes offerings to his seine,
for by them his portion is lavish,
and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net
and destroying nations without mercy?(O)
God’s Reply to the Prophet’s Complaint
2 I will stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me
and what he[c] will answer concerning my complaint.(P)
2 Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.(Q)
3 For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.(R)
4 Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faithfulness.(S)
5 Moreover, wealth[d] is treacherous;
the arrogant do not endure.
They open their throats wide as Sheol;
like Death they never have enough.
They gather all nations for themselves
and collect all peoples as their own.(T)
The Woes of the Wicked
6 Shall not everyone taunt such people and, with mocking riddles, say about them,
“Alas for you who heap up what is not your own!”
How long will you load yourselves with goods taken in pledge?(U)
7 Will not your own creditors suddenly rise
and those who make you tremble wake up?
Then you will be plunder for them.
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
all who survive of the peoples shall plunder you—
because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.(V)
9 “Alas for you who get evil gain for your house,
setting your nest on high
to be safe from the reach of harm!”(W)
10 You have devised shame for your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.(X)
11 The very stones will cry out from the wall,
and the rafter will respond from the woodwork.
12 “Alas for you who build a town by bloodshed
and found a city on iniquity!”(Y)
13 Is it not from the Lord of hosts
that peoples labor only to feed the flames
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 But the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.(Z)
15 “Alas for you who make your neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath until they are drunk,
in order to gaze on their nakedness!”(AA)
16 You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.
Drink, you yourself, and stagger![e]
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and shame will come upon your glory!(AB)
17 For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
the destruction of the animals will terrify you—[f]
because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.(AC)
18 What use is an idol
once its maker has shaped it—
a cast image, a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in what has been made,
though the product is only an idol that cannot speak!(AD)
19 Alas for you who say to the wood, “Wake up!”
to silent stone, “Rouse yourself!”
Can it teach?
See, it is gold and silver plated,
and there is no breath in it at all.(AE)
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him!(AF)
3 A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk according to Shigionoth.
The Prophet’s Prayer
2 O Lord, I have heard of your renown,
and I stand in awe, O Lord, of your work.
In our own time revive it;
in our own time make it known;
in wrath may you remember mercy.(AG)
3 God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.(AH)
4 The brightness was like the sun;
rays came forth from his hand,
where his power lay hidden.(AI)
5 Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed close behind.(AJ)
6 He stopped and shook the earth;
he looked and made the nations tremble.
The eternal mountains were shattered;
along his ancient pathways
the everlasting hills sank low.(AK)
7 I saw the tents of Cushan under affliction;
the tent curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8 Was your wrath against the rivers,[g] O Lord,
or your anger against the rivers[h]
or your rage against the sea,[i]
when you drove your horses,
your chariots to victory?(AL)
9 You brandished your naked bow;
sated[j] were the arrows at your command.[k] Selah
You split the earth with rivers.(AM)
10 The mountains saw you and writhed;
a torrent of water swept by;
the deep gave forth its voice.
The sun raised high its hands;(AN)
11 the moon stood still in its exalted place,
at the light of your arrows speeding by,
at the gleam of your flashing spear.(AO)
12 In fury you marched on the earth;
in anger you trampled nations.(AP)
13 You came forth to save your people,
to save your anointed.
You crushed the head of the wicked house,
laying it bare from foundation to roof.[l] Selah(AQ)
14 You pierced with their[m] own arrows the head of his warriors,[n]
who came like a whirlwind to scatter us,[o]
gloating as if ready to devour the poor who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the mighty waters.(AR)
16 I hear, and I tremble within;
my lips quiver at the sound.
Rottenness enters into my bones,
and my steps tremble[p] beneath me.
I wait quietly for the day of calamity
to come upon the people who attack us.(AS)
Trust and Joy in the Midst of Trouble
17 Though the fig tree does not blossom
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,(AT)
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.(AU)
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer
and makes me tread upon the heights.[q]
1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah.(AW)
The Coming Judgment on Judah
2 I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth, says the Lord.(AX)
3 I will sweep away humans and animals;
I will sweep away the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea.
I will make the wicked stumble.[s]
I will cut off humanity
from the face of the earth, says the Lord.(AY)
4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal
and the name of the idolatrous priests,[t](AZ)
5 those who bow down on the roofs
to the host of the heavens,
those who bow down and swear to the Lord
but also swear by Milcom,[u](BA)
6 those who have turned back from following the Lord,
who have not sought the Lord or inquired of him.(BB)
7 Be silent before the Lord God,
for the day of the Lord is at hand!
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;
he has consecrated his guests.(BC)
8 And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials and the king’s sons
and all who dress themselves in foreign attire.(BD)
9 On that day I will punish
all who leap over the threshold,
who fill their master’s house
with violence and fraud.(BE)
10 On that day, says the Lord,
a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second Quarter,
a loud crash from the hills.(BF)
11 The inhabitants of the Mortar wail,
for all the traders have perished;
all who weigh out silver are cut off.
12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the people
who settle like dregs in wine,
those who say in their hearts,
“The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do harm.”(BG)
13 Their wealth shall be plundered
and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses,
they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards,
they shall not drink wine from them.(BH)
The Great Day of the Lord
14 The great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
the warrior cries aloud there.(BI)
15 That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,(BJ)
16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.
17 I will bring such distress upon people
that they shall walk like the blind;
because they have sinned against the Lord,
their blood shall be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung.(BK)
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath;
in the fire of his passion
the whole earth shall be consumed,
for a full, a terrible end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.(BL)
Judgment on Israel’s Enemies
2 Gather together, gather,
O shameless nation,(BM)
2 before you are driven away[v]
like the drifting chaff,[w]
before there comes upon you
the fierce anger of the Lord,
before there comes upon you
the day of the Lord’s wrath.(BN)
3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land
who do his commands;
seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you may be hidden
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.(BO)
4 For Gaza shall be deserted,
and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.(BP)
5 Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines,
and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.(BQ)
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,
meadows for shepherds,
and folds for flocks.(BR)
7 The seacoast shall become the possession
of the remnant of the house of Judah,
on which they shall pasture,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will be mindful of them
and restore their fortunes.(BS)
8 I have heard the taunts of Moab
and the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts against their territory.(BT)
9 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
Moab shall become like Sodom
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits
and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.(BU)
10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride,
because they scoffed and boasted
against the people of the Lord of hosts.(BV)
11 The Lord will be terrible against them;
he will shrivel all the gods of the earth,
and to him shall bow down
each in its place,
all the coasts and islands of the nations.(BW)
12 You also, O Cushites,
shall be killed by my sword.(BX)
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria,
and he will make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.(BY)
14 Herds shall lie down in it,
every wild animal of the earth;[x]
the desert owl[y] and the screech owl[z]
shall lodge on its capitals;
the owl[aa] shall hoot at the window,
the raven[ab] croak on the threshold,
for its cedar work will be laid bare.(BZ)
15 Is this the exultant city
that lived secure,
that said to itself,
“I am, and there is no one else”?
What a desolation it has become,
a lair for wild animals!
Everyone who passes by it
hisses and shakes the fist.(CA)
The Wickedness of Jerusalem
3 Woe, soiled, defiled,
oppressing city!(CB)
2 It has listened to no voice;
it has accepted no correction.
It has not trusted in the Lord;
it has not drawn near to its God.(CC)
3 The officials within it
are roaring lions;
its judges are evening wolves
that leave nothing until the morning.(CD)
4 Its prophets are reckless,
faithless persons;
its priests have profaned what is sacred;
they have done violence to the law.(CE)
5 The Lord within it is righteous;
he does no wrong.
Every morning he renders his judgment,
each dawn without fail,
but the unjust knows no shame.(CF)
6 I have cut off nations;
their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
so that no one walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
without people, without inhabitants.(CG)
7 I said, “Surely the city[ac] will fear me;
it will accept correction;
it will not lose sight[ad]
of all that I have brought upon it.”
But they were the more eager
to make all their deeds corrupt.(CH)
Punishment and Conversion of the Nations
8 Therefore wait for me, says the Lord,
for the day when I arise as a witness.
For my decision is to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
all the heat of my anger,
for in the fire of my passion
all the earth shall be consumed.(CI)
9 At that time I will change the speech of the peoples
to a pure speech,
that all of them may call on the name of the Lord
and serve him with one accord.(CJ)
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush
my suppliants, my scattered ones,
shall bring my offering.(CK)
11 On that day you shall not be put to shame
because of all the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then I will remove from your midst
your proudly exultant ones,
and you shall no longer be haughty
in my holy mountain.(CL)
12 For I will leave in the midst of you
a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord—(CM)
13 the remnant of Israel;
they shall do no wrong
and utter no lies,
nor shall a deceitful tongue
be found in their mouths.
Then they will pasture and lie down,
and no one shall make them afraid.(CN)
A Song of Joy
14 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!(CO)
15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more.(CP)
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands grow weak.(CQ)
17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will renew you[ae] in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing(CR)
18 as on a day of festival.”[af]
I will remove disaster from you,[ag]
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
19 I will deal with all your oppressors
at that time.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.(CS)
20 At that time I will bring you home,
at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes, says the Lord.(CT)
The Command to Rebuild the Temple
1 In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:(CU) 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.” 3 Then the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?(CV) 5 Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared.(CW) 6 You have sown much and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.(CX)
7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord.(CY) 9 You have looked for much, but it came to little, and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses.(CZ) 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.(DA) 11 And I have called for a drought[ah] on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the soil produces, on humans and animals, and on all their labors.”(DB)
12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people feared the Lord.(DC) 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, saying, “I am with you, says the Lord.”(DD) 14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,(DE) 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month.
The Future Glory of the Temple
In the second year of King Darius, 2 1
A Rebuke and a Promise
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai, saying: 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests for a ruling:(DL) 12 If one carries consecrated meat in the fold of one’s garment and with the fold touches bread, or stew, or wine, or oil, or any kind of food, does it become holy?” The priests answered, “No.”(DM) 13 Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered, “Yes, it becomes unclean.”(DN) 14 Haggai then said, “So is it with this people and with this nation before me, says the Lord, and so with every work of their hands; what they offer there is unclean.(DO) 15 But now, consider what will come to pass from this day on. Before a stone was placed upon a stone in the Lord’s temple,(DP) 16 how did you fare?[ai] When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty.(DQ) 17 I struck you and every work of your hands with blight and mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me, says the Lord.(DR) 18 Consider from this day on, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider:(DS) 19 Is there any seed left in the barn? Do the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree still yield nothing? From this day on I will bless you.”
God’s Promise to Zerubbabel
20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month: 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying: I am about to shake the heavens and the earth(DT) 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations and overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders shall fall, every one by the sword of a comrade.(DU) 23 On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, son of Shealtiel, says the Lord, and make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts.”(DV)
Israel Urged to Repent
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo, saying:(DW) 2 “The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. 3 Therefore say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.(DX) 4 Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or heed me, says the Lord.(DY) 5 Your ancestors, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your ancestors? So they repented and said, ‘The Lord of hosts has dealt with us according to our ways and deeds, just as he planned to do.’ ”(DZ)
First Vision: The Horsemen
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo: 8 In the night I saw a man mounted on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the shadows,[aj] and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.(EA) 9 Then I said, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who spoke with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.”(EB) 10 So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, “They are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.”(EC) 11 Then they spoke to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and the whole earth remains at peace.”(ED) 12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of hosts, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry these seventy years?”(EE) 13 Then the Lord replied with gracious and comforting words to the angel who spoke with me.(EF) 14 So the angel who spoke with me said to me, “Proclaim this message: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am very zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion,(EG) 15 and I am extremely angry with the nations that are at ease, for while I was only a little angry, they made the disaster worse.(EH) 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord: I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it, says the Lord of hosts, and a measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.(EI) 17 Proclaim further: Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity; the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”(EJ)
Second Vision: The Horns and the Smiths
18 [ak]And I looked up and saw four horns. 19 I asked the angel who spoke with me, “What are those?” And he answered me, “Those are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 20 Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths. 21 And I asked, “What are they coming to do?” He answered, “Those are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no head could be raised, but these have come to terrify them, to strike down the horns of the nations that lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”[al](EK)
Third Vision: The Man with a Measuring Line
2 [am]I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.(EL) 2 Then I asked, “Where are you going?” He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide and how long it is.”(EM) 3 Then the angel who spoke with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him 4 and said to him, “Run, say to that young man: Jerusalem shall be inhabited like unwalled villages because of the multitude of people and animals in it.(EN) 5 For I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within it.”(EO)
Interlude: An Appeal to the Exiles
6 Up, up! Flee from the land of the north, says the Lord, for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven, says the Lord.(EP) 7 Up! Escape to Zion, you who live with daughter Babylon. 8 For thus said the Lord of hosts after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you: Truly, one who touches you touches the apple of my eye.[an](EQ) 9 For I am going to raise[ao] my hand against them, and they shall become plunder for their own slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me.(ER) 10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord.(ES) 11 Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day and shall be my people, and I will dwell in your midst. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.(ET)
13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.(EU)
Fourth Vision: Joshua and Satan
3 Then he showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord and the accuser[ap] standing at his right hand to accuse him.(EV) 2 And the Lord said to the accuser,[aq] “The Lord rebuke you, O accuser![ar] The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this man a brand plucked from the fire?”(EW) 3 Now Joshua was wearing filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel[as] said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” And to him he said, “See, I have taken your guilt away from you, and I will clothe you with festal apparel.”(EX) 5 And he said,[at] “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with apparel, and the angel of the Lord was standing by.(EY)
6 Then the angel of the Lord warned Joshua, saying 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here.(EZ) 8 Now listen, Joshua, high priest, you and your colleagues who sit before you! For they are an omen of things to come: I am going to bring my servant the Branch.(FA) 9 For on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven facets, I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day.(FB) 10 On that day, says the Lord of hosts, you shall invite each other to come under your vine and fig tree.”(FC)
Fifth Vision: The Lampstand and Olive Trees
4 The angel who spoke with me came again and wakened me, as one is wakened from sleep.(FD) 2 He said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it; there are seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it.(FE) 3 And by it there are two olive trees, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”(FF) 4 I said to the angel who spoke with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who spoke with me answered me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 He said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.(FG) 7 What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain, and he shall bring out the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ”(FH)
8 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.(FI) 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel.
“These seven are the eyes of the Lord that range through the whole earth.”(FJ) 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees that pour out the oil[au] through the two golden pipes?” 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”(FK)
Sixth Vision: The Flying Scroll
5 Again I looked up and saw a flying scroll.(FL) 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.” 3 Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land, for everyone who has stolen, as is forbidden on one side, has gone unpunished, and everyone who has sworn falsely,[av] as is forbidden on the other side, has gone unpunished.(FM) 4 I have sent it out, says the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name, and it shall abide in that house and consume it, both timber and stones.”(FN)
Seventh Vision: The Woman in a Basket
5 Then the angel who spoke with me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what this is that is coming out.” 6 I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is a basket[aw] coming out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity[ax] in the whole land.” 7 Then a leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket![ay] 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness.” So he thrust her back into the basket[az] and pressed the leaden weight down on its mouth.(FO) 9 Then I looked up and saw two women coming forward. The wind was in their wings; they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket[ba] between earth and sky. 10 Then I said to the angel who spoke with me, “Where are they taking the basket?”[bb] 11 He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it, and when this is prepared, they will set it down there on its base.”(FP)
Eighth Vision: Four Chariots
6 And again I looked up and saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses, the second chariot black horses,(FQ) 3 the third chariot white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled gray[bc] horses.(FR) 4 Then I said to the angel who spoke with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 The angel answered me, “These are the four winds[bd] of heaven going out, after presenting themselves before the Lord of the whole earth.(FS) 6 The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go toward the west country,[be] and the dappled ones go toward the south country.”(FT) 7 When the steeds came out, they were impatient to get off and patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth. 8 Then he cried out to me, “See, those who go toward the north country have set my spirit at rest in the north country.”(FU)
The Coronation of the Branch
9 The word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Collect silver and gold[bf] from the exiles—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah—who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.(FV) 11 Take the silver and gold and make a crown[bg] and set it on the head of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak;(FW) 12 say to him: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Here is a man whose name is Branch, for he shall branch out in his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord.(FX) 13 It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord; he shall bear royal honor and shall sit upon his throne and rule. There shall be a priest by his throne, with peaceful understanding between the two of them.(FY) 14 And the crown[bh] shall be in the care of Heldai,[bi] Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah[bj] son of Zephaniah, as a memorial in the temple of the Lord.
15 “Those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”(FZ)
Hypocritical Fasting Condemned
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 Chislev.(GA) 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord(GB) 3 and to ask the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, “Should I mourn and practice abstinence in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”(GC) 4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth month and in the seventh for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?(GD) 6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink only for yourselves? 7 Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, along with the towns around it, and when the Negeb and the Shephelah were inhabited?”
Punishment for Rejecting God’s Demands
8 The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another;(GE) 10 do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.(GF) 11 But they refused to listen and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears in order not to hear.(GG) 12 They made their hearts adamant in order not to hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.(GH) 13 Just as, when I[bk] called, they would not hear, so, when they called, I would not hear, says the Lord of hosts,(GI) 14 and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and a pleasant land was made desolate.”(GJ)
God’s Promises to Zion
8 The word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying: 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am zealous for Zion with great zeal, and I am zealous for her with great wrath.(GK) 3 Thus says the Lord: I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts shall be called the holy mountain.(GL) 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age.(GM) 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.(GN) 6 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Even though it seems impossible to the remnant of this people in these days, should it also seem impossible to me, says the Lord of hosts?(GO) 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: I will save my people from the east country and from the west country,(GP) 8 and I will bring them to live in Jerusalem. They shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”(GQ)
9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Let your hands be strong—you who have recently been hearing these words from the mouths of the prophets who were present when the foundation was laid for the rebuilding of the temple, the house of the Lord of hosts.(GR) 10 For before those days there were no wages for people or for animals, nor was there any safety from the foe for those who went out or came in, and I set them all against one another.(GS) 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, says the Lord of hosts. 12 For there shall be a sowing of peace; the vine shall yield its fruit, the ground shall give its produce, and the skies shall give their dew, and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.(GT) 13 Just as you have been a cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong.”(GU)
14 “For thus says the Lord of hosts: Just as I purposed to bring disaster upon you when your ancestors provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts,(GV) 15 so again I have purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; do not be afraid. 16 These are the things that you shall do: speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace,(GW) 17 do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord.”(GX)
Joyful Fasting
18 The word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying: 19 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall be seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah; therefore love truth and peace.”(GY)
Many Peoples Drawn to Jerusalem
20 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, the inhabitants of many cities; 21 the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Come, let us go to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’(GZ) 22 Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord.(HA) 23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from nations of every language shall take hold of a Jew, grasping his garment and saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ”(HB)
Judgment on Israel’s Enemies
9 An Oracle.
The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach
and will rest upon Damascus.
For to the Lord belongs the capital[bl] of Aram,[bm]
as do all the tribes of Israel;
2 Hamath also, which borders on it,
Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.(HC)
3 Tyre has built itself a rampart
and heaped up silver like dust
and gold like the dirt of the streets.(HD)
4 But now, the Lord will strip it of its possessions
and hurl its wealth into the sea,
and it shall be devoured by fire.(HE)
5 Ashkelon shall see it and be afraid;
Gaza, too, and shall writhe in anguish;
Ekron also, because its hopes are withered.
The king shall perish from Gaza;
Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;(HF)
6 a mongrel people shall settle in Ashdod,
and I will make an end of the pride of Philistia.(HG)
7 I will take away its blood from its mouth
and its abominations from between its teeth;
it, too, shall be a remnant for our God;
it shall be like a clan in Judah,
and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.(HH)
8 Then I will encamp at my house as a guard,
so that no one shall march to and fro;
no oppressor shall again overrun them,
for now I have seen with my own eyes.(HI)
The Coming Ruler of God’s People
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(HJ)
10 He[bn] will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall command peace to the nations;
his dominion shall be from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.(HK)
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.(HL)
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.(HM)
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow;
I have made Ephraim its arrow.[bo]
I will arouse your sons, O Zion,
against your sons, O Greece,
and wield you like a warrior’s sword.(HN)
14 Then the Lord will appear over them,
and his arrow go forth like lightning;
the Lord God will sound the trumpet
and march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.(HO)
15 The Lord of hosts will protect them,
and they shall consume and conquer the slingers;[bp]
they shall drink their blood[bq] like wine
and be full like a bowl,
drenched like the corners of the altar.(HP)
16 On that day the Lord their God will save them,
for they are the flock of his people,
for like the jewels of a crown
they shall shine on his land.(HQ)
17 For what goodness and beauty are his!
Grain shall make the young men flourish,
and new wine the young women.(HR)
Restoration of Judah and Israel
10 Ask rain from the Lord
in the season of the spring rain,
from the Lord who makes the storm clouds,
who gives showers of rain to you,[br]
the vegetation in the field to everyone.(HS)
2 For the teraphim[bs] utter nonsense,
and the diviners see lies;
the dreamers tell false dreams
and give empty consolation.
Therefore the people[bt] wander like sheep;
they suffer for lack of a shepherd.(HT)
3 My anger is hot against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders,[bu]
for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah,
and will make them like his proud war horse.(HU)
4 Out of them shall come the cornerstone,
out of them the tent peg,
out of them the battle bow,
out of them every commander.(HV)
5 Together they shall be like warriors in battle,
trampling the foe in the mud of the streets;
they shall fight, for the Lord is with them,
and they shall put to shame the riders on horses.(HW)
6 I will strengthen the house of Judah,
and I will save the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back because I have compassion on them,
and they shall be as though I had not rejected them,
for I am the Lord their God, and I will answer them.(HX)
7 Then the people of Ephraim shall become like warriors,
and their hearts shall be glad as with wine.
Their children shall see it and rejoice;
their hearts shall exult in the Lord.(HY)
8 I will signal for them and gather them in,
for I have redeemed them,
and they shall be as numerous as they were before.(HZ)
9 Though I scattered them among the nations,
yet in far countries they shall remember me,
and they shall rear their children and return.(IA)
10 I will bring them home from the land of Egypt
and gather them from Assyria;
I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon,
until there is no room for them.(IB)
11 They[bv] shall pass through the sea of distress,
and the waves of the sea shall be struck down,
and all the depths of the Nile dried up.
The pride of Assyria shall be laid low,
and the scepter of Egypt shall depart.(IC)
12 I will make them strong in the Lord,
and they shall walk in his name,
says the Lord.(ID)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.