Bible in 90 Days
Habakkuk has a problem
1 This is the message that God showed to his prophet Habakkuk.
2 Lord, how long must I call out to you for help?[a]
You do not listen to me!
I shout aloud to you, ‘Violence is everywhere!’
but you do nothing to make us safe.
3 You cause me to see many things that are not right.
You do not punish people who are doing wrong things.
Why do you let that happen?
People do cruel things and there is violence everywhere.
They argue and they fight and they quarrel.
4 The law has no power to make things right.
There is no justice in the courts.
Instead, wicked people win against good people.
The judges decide that bad people are good.
The Lord speaks
5 ‘All of you, look carefully at the other nations.
You will be very surprised at what is happening.
While you are still alive, I will do a very surprising thing.
You would not believe it even if someone told you.
6 I will give more power to the Babylonians.
They are a cruel nation with brave soldiers.
They march across the whole earth.
They take cities that do not belong to them.
7 They cause people to be very afraid.
They obey no laws except their own rules.
8 Their horses run faster than leopards.
They are more cruel than wolves
that attack in the evening.
Their riders come on fast horses
from places that are far away.
They quickly attack their enemies,
like hungry eagles that fly down to catch chickens.
9 Their whole army comes to do violent things.
They march forward like a wind from the desert.
They make people their prisoners,
as easily as if they are picking up sand.
10 They insult kings,
and they laugh at rulers.
They laugh at all the strong cities of their enemies.
They build heaps of earth against the walls,
and they take those cities for themselves.
11 Their army quickly moves on to another place,
like a wind that blows.
They think that their own god has made them strong,
and so they are guilty.’[b]
Habakkuk has another problem
12 Lord, you have always been God,
since the beginning.
You are the God that I worship as holy,
and you will never die.
Lord, you have chosen the Babylonians
as your weapon to punish your people.
You are a strong rock to protect us,
but you have decided to use them to punish us.
13 But you are too holy to accept anything that is evil.
You cannot agree with people who do wrong things.
So why do you let these wicked people live?
Why do you say nothing?
They are killing people who are more righteous than themselves.
14 It seems that you have made people like fish in the sea.
They are like animals that have no leader to rule them.
15 The Babylonians can easily catch them,
like people who catch fish with hooks.
They throw their nets into the water,
and they catch as many as they want.
When they store their fish in special nets,
they sing happy songs.
16 Their nets give them everything that they need,
so they offer sacrifices to their nets.
Their nets give them plenty of good food to eat,
so they burn incense to thank their nets.
17 Will you let them continue to do that?
Will they make their nets full of fish
as many times as they want to?
Will they continue to destroy other nations
and never stop?[c]
The Lord answers Habakkuk
2 I will stand at my place on the wall of the city. I will watch from there. I will wait to see what God will say to me. I have complained to him and now I will see how he answers me.
2 The Lord answered me. He said:
‘Write down what I will show to you. Make it very clear on the page where you write it. Then someone can easily read it, and he can tell the message to other people. 3 What I will show to you must happen at the time that I have decided. That is a future time, but it will certainly happen, as I have said. It may not happen very soon, but you must be patient. What I show to you will certainly happen at the right time, so wait for it.
4 Look now! The enemy is very proud. They do not want to do what is right.[d] But righteous people will live because of their faith in God.
5 Wine will destroy that proud enemy.[e] They do not stop attacking other people. They never have enough for themselves. They are like death that is so hungry that it eats as much as it can. The deep hole of death eats everything. The cruel enemy is like that! They want all the nations to belong to them. They catch everyone to be their prisoners.
6 But one day, their prisoners will laugh at them. The people will insult that proud nation with songs and proverbs. They will say, “You have stored for yourselves many valuable things that do not belong to you. It will be very bad for you! You have robbed other nations so that you can be rich. This will not continue much longer!”
7 The people that have lent their riches to you will suddenly attack. They will come to take back their things and you will be very afraid. Now they will come to rob you! 8 You have robbed many nations. You have murdered people in many lands. You have destroyed towns and the people who live in them. Now the people who remain will come to rob you.
9 It will be very bad for anyone who cheats other people so that he can make his family rich. He thinks that his riches will make him safe. He thinks that he is too high up for any trouble to reach him. 10 But the cruel things that you have done will bring shame to your family. You decided to destroy people from many countries. Because of that, you will pay with your own life. 11 The stones in the walls of your houses will cry out against you. The beams in your roof will also shout aloud.
12 It will be very bad for anyone who kills people so that he can build a city for himself. It will be bad for anyone who does wicked things to make his town great.
13 Listen! The Lord Almighty has commanded this: All the work that people do to get things for themselves is useless. The things that the nations work so hard to get will become smoke! 14 But people everywhere will one day recognize the Lord's great glory. Those people will fill the whole earth, as the waters fill the sea.
15 It will be very bad for you! You cause your neighbours to become drunk.[f] You are so angry that you make them drink too much wine. You are happy when they are so drunk that you can see their bare bodies. 16 But it is you who will become ashamed, not great. You will become drunk so that people see you with no clothes on! The Lord has a cup of wine in his right hand. He is ready to give it to you as a punishment. You will no longer be great, but you will be ashamed.
17 You have done cruel things to the people in Lebanon. You destroyed their animals. The Lord will punish you for the things that you have done, and you will be very afraid. You have murdered people. You have destroyed the land and the towns and the people who live in them.
18 What value does an idol have? What help can it give? Somebody has made it as the image of a false god. It can only tell false messages. Why should its maker trust it for help? He has used wood or metal to make it and it cannot speak!
19 It will be very bad for anyone who says to a piece of wood, “Wake up!” It will be bad for anyone who says to a stone that cannot speak, “Get up and help me!” It cannot teach you! It has gold or silver to make it look nice, but it is not alive.
20 But the Lord rules from his holy temple. Everybody on the earth should be quiet in front of him.’
Habakkuk prays
3 These are the words that the prophet Habakkuk prayed. He used special music to sing it.
2 Lord, I have heard the report about you.
I see the things that you have done, Lord,
and I respect your power.
Please do great things like that again.
Do them again now for us to see.
When you are angry with us,
please still remember to be kind!
3 God is coming from Teman!
The Holy God is coming from Paran mountain.[g]
Selah.
His beautiful power covers the whole sky!
People praise him all over the earth!
4 He is as bright as the sunrise.
His hands throw bright lightning!
That is where he hides his power.
5 As he marches to war,
bad disease marches with him.
6 God stands ready to fight,
and he causes the earth to shake.
He looks at the nations
and they shake with fear.
The very old mountains break into pieces.
The old hills fall down flat.
He travels on roads that have been there for ever.
7 I see the tents where Cushan's people live,
and the people are afraid.
The people in Midian are shaking with fear.
8 Was it the rivers that made you angry, Lord?
Did the sea make you so angry?
You rode on your chariots as horses pulled them!
You rode into battle to win against your enemies.
9 You have prepared your bow.
You are ready to shoot your arrows.
Selah.
You send rivers of water to cut the earth into pieces.
10 The mountains see you and they shake.
Rain pours down from the sky and it causes floods.
The deep sea roars
and it lifts its waves up high.
11 You shoot your bright arrows
so that the sun and the moon stand still in the sky.
Your bright spear flies like lightning,
and the sun and the moon do not move!
12 You angrily march across the earth.
You knock down the armies of the nations,
because you are so angry.
13 You have marched out to rescue your people,
and to save your special servant.[h]
You have knocked down the leader of the wicked nation.
You have removed all his clothes,
from head to foot.
Selah.
14 You threw his own spear into his head,
and you destroyed his army.
When his soldiers rushed out to attack us,
they were laughing.
They thought that they would easily win against us,
as if we were poor, weak people.
15 But you, Lord, marched across the sea with your horses.
You made the waters of the sea shake.
16 I listened to this
and I was very afraid.
My lips shook with fear
when I heard the sound.
My bones became weak.
My legs would not let me walk.
But I will be patient.
I will wait for the day of trouble that will come.
Yes, punishment will come to the people who are attacking us.
17 Whatever happens, I will continue to thank the Lord.
If there are no flowers on the fig trees,
if there are no grapes on the vines,
if there are no olives on the olive trees,
if there are no crops in the fields,
if the sheep are dying in the hills,
if there are no cows on the farms,
18 I will still sing to thank the Lord!
I will be happy because God is the one who makes me safe.[i]
19 The Lord God causes me to be strong.
He makes my feet run safely over the rocks and hills,
like a deer's feet.
This prayer is for the music leader. He must use stringed instruments.
The Lord will destroy Judah
1 This is the Lord's message, which he gave to Zephaniah, Cushi's son.[j] Cushi's father was Gedaliah. Gedaliah's father was Amariah, and Amariah's father was Hezekiah. The Lord gave this message to Zephaniah when Josiah was king. Josiah was the son of Amon, who was the king of Judah.
2 ‘It is the Lord who is speaking now.
I will remove everything from the ground.
3 I will remove men and animals.
I will remove the birds that fly in the air.
I will also remove the fish that live in the sea.
I will remove all the bad people.
Bad people cause trouble for other people.
Yes, I will remove all the people from the ground.
It is the Lord who is speaking.
4 I will destroy Judah.
I will remove all the people who live in Jerusalem.
I will remove all those who believe in the false god Baal.
I will remove Baal's priests.[k]
5 Some people stand on the roof tops to worship the sun, the moon and the stars.[l] I will remove those people.
Some people say that they love me. But they say also that they love Malcam (a false god). So I will remove them, too.’[m]
6 ‘I will remove those who have turned away from the Lord.
I will also remove those who decide things without the Lord.
7 Be quiet! The Lord God is here.
It will soon be the day of the Lord.[n]
The Lord has made his sacrifice ready.[o]
He has made the people ready who will give the sacrifice to him.’[p]
8 ‘When it is time for the Lord's sacrifice, I will punish the rulers and the king's sons.
I will punish everyone who wears clothes like foreign people do.’[q]
9 ‘I will also punish the people who rush into other people's houses. They do that because they want to rob those people.
On that same day, I will also punish other robbers. Those people fill their masters' houses with the things that they take.’
10 The Lord says, ‘On that day you will hear the noise of people who are shouting from one gate of the city. It is the gate called the Fish Gate.
And there will be sad sounds from the next gate.
There will be loud noises from the hills.
11 Shout out, you who live near Jerusalem's market! Weep!
The Lord will remove the traders from your town.
Some people have lots of money there. But all those people will be dead then.’[r]
12 ‘At that time,
I will look in all Jerusalem's dark corners. I will take lights with me.
I will find the drunks and I will punish them. These people say in their minds,
“The Lord will do neither good things nor bad things to us.”
13 So I will take away from them everything that they have.
I will take away their houses too.
They will build houses, but they will never live in them.
They will plant plants to get grapes. But they will never have wine from them.’
The great day of the Lord
14 The time for the great day of the Lord is coming very soon.
It will happen quickly.
Strong men will weep when they hear the noise of it.
15 The Lord will be very angry at that time.
It will be a time when there will be trouble.
On that day, he will destroy everything bad.
It will be very dark. At that time, there will be thick dark clouds.
16 At that time, people will make a noise with trumpets. They will shout when they go to fight in a war.
In the fight, they will try to destroy the strong walls of cities.
And they will try to destroy the strong high parts of the walls.
17 I will cause trouble for people.
So they will walk like people who cannot see.
This is because they have not obeyed the Lord.
Their blood will fall to the ground.
Yes, they will fall to the ground and they will die. After that, they will be nothing.
18 Their money will not save them,
on the day when the Lord is angry.
He watches.
And he is angry when his people love other gods.
So he will send fire on the earth.
Yes, he will quickly kill all the people who live in Judah.
2 Come together!
Yes, you people, come together and think.
You do not know how to be ashamed!
2-3 The wind takes away the dry parts of a plant that covered the seed.
It will be like that when I punish you.
Before it is the time for me to punish you, look for me.
Before this time is past, look for me.
Look for me, before I become very, very angry with you.
There will be a day when the Lord will be angry. Look for me, before that day.
Yes, look for the Lord, all you people who want to make him happy.
You have done what the Lord wants.
Continue to do what is good.
But do not think that you are great.
Perhaps you will find a safe place
on the day when the Lord is angry.
The Lord will destroy the Philistines
4 Then, the people who have lived in Gaza city and Ashkelon city will not be there.
Enemies will also send away the people in Ashdod city at midday. And those enemies will destroy Ekron city.
5 Terrible trouble will come to you people who came from Crete,
you people who live beside the sea!
The Lord has said this against you:
I will kill all you Philistines who live in the land of Canaan!
You will all die. So nobody will live there.
6 By the sea, there will be houses for people who feed sheep.
There will be safe places for their sheep.
7 Those people in Judah who love God will live there, by the sea.
They will have food there.
They will lie down to sleep in Ashkelon city's houses.
The Lord, their God, will be with them.
He will stop their troubles.
The Lord will destroy the people of other countries
8 The Lord of all his armies says, ‘I have heard the cruel people in the countries called Moab and Ammon.
They laugh about you and they say cruel things about you, my people.
They have thought that they were greater than you.
They have come against you.’
9 The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says,
‘You can be sure that I live.
In the same way, you can also be sure that my people will take everything for themselves.
God will destroy Moab as he destroyed Sodom.
He will destroy Ammon as he destroyed Gomorrah.
After this, the ground will have lots of salt on it. Weeds will grow there.
Nobody will build anything there again.
My people who are still alive will take for themselves the Ammonites' things and the Moabites' things.’
10 That will happen to all proud people.
The proud people said cruel words to God's people.
The cruel people thought that they were greater than the people of the Lord Almighty.
11 The Lord will make them afraid.
He will destroy all the false gods.
People will worship him instead. Every person, in his own place, will worship God.
They will also worship him in the places where the people now believe in false gods.
12 ‘I will also punish you people in the country called Ethiopia.
Other people will kill you with a big knife,’ the Lord says.
13 The Lord will go against the north.
There, he will destroy the country called Assyria.
He will also destroy Nineveh city. That place will become as dry as a desert.
14 Sheep will lie down there.
All the wild animals of that place will live together there.
Vultures and owls will rest on top of the high, thin parts of the buildings.
They will sing in the windows.
Bits of doors will lie on the ground.
The Lord will tear down all the things in the houses that they have made from valuable wood.
15 All this will happen to that city, the proud city.
That city's people said in their minds,
‘Here we are. We are greater than all the other people.’
But then, other people will destroy their city! Only bits of it will still be there.
Then wild animals will come and they will lie down in it. People will see this.
So any people who pass by the city will make noises with their lips.
And they will hold their fists up. In this way, they will show that they think bad things about the city.
The Lord will punish Jerusalem
3 It will be very bad for the city!
It is like something that is dirty.
Its people will not obey me. They like to fight weak people. They also like to do bad things.
2 They do not listen to anyone's voice.
Nobody can warn them that they are doing wrong things.
They do not trust in the Lord.
They do not come near to their God.
3 The rulers of the city make a very loud noise with their voices like big wild animals.
Its judges are like hungry wolves.
They are like wolves that have even eaten all an animal's bones before morning.
4 Its prophets do not know what to think.
People cannot trust them.
Its priests have done wrong things,
even in God's holy house.
They have also made changes to God's rules.
They have made changes that they want.
5 But the Lord is among all the people in the city.[s]
He will do what is right.
He is always the honest judge.
He never fails.
But the bad people do not know how to be ashamed.
6 ‘I have destroyed nations,’ the Lord says.
‘There is nobody in their strong towers now.
I have made their streets empty, so no people are there.
I have destroyed their cities.
So nobody lives in them now.
7 I said, “Now people in the city will respect me!
Now they will agree when people warn them.”
The people would have been safe if they had accepted it.
Then I would not have to destroy them.
But it did not happen. I had to punish them.
Still, the people got up early to do bad things.
8 So wait for me,
I will stand up and I will punish the nations.
I have decided to bring together the nations and the people that kings rule over.
Then I will punish them very, very much.
They will see how angry I am.
They will see it because, on that day, I will burn all the earth.’
That is what the Lord says.
The Lord will make the people pure
9 ‘Then I will give to people lips that I have made pure.
With those lips, they will call me Lord.[t]
And then, all the people will agree to work together for me.’
10 ‘Some people live a long way beyond the rivers of Cush.
Yes, my people who pray went away to many other countries.
They will return and they will carry their gifts to me.
11 At that time, you will not have to be ashamed
of the wrong things that you have done against me.
But I will take away those who do not see anything wrong in themselves.
Those people will not call each other
“the people who live on God's holy mountain”.
12 But I will let the poor people remain there.
These are the people who have had bad times.
These are the people who will trust me. And they will call me Lord.
13 I will let those people stay there.
They will not do any bad things.
They will only say things that are true.
They will say honest things.
They will eat well and they will sleep well.
Nobody will make them afraid.’
The Lord will be with his people
14 Sing, you people in Zion. You are my own people, like my own daughter.
Shout, you people in Israel!
Be very, very happy, my people in Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has not punished you as he would have done.
He has sent your enemy away.
I, the King of Israel, am with you!
The bad times have gone.
They will not happen again!
16 On that special day, this will be my message for Jerusalem.
‘Do not be afraid now! Do not be weak now!
17 The Lord, your God, is with you.
He is strong. He will save you.
He will be very happy about you!
He will quietly love you.
He will sing, because he is so happy about you!
18 I will bring together those people among you who want to meet together again.
You want to meet again to pray. And you want to meet again to praise God.
You have had enough cruel words from your enemies.
19 Look! At that time, I will punish
all those people who hurt you.
I will save those who cannot walk well.
I will bring back the people that the enemy has sent away.
I will cause people in every country to know about you. I will cause them to praise you.
20 At that time, I will bring you back to your home.
I will bring you back together.
I will give you a good name among all the people on the earth.
That is what I will do. I will stop your troubles. And you will see it happen.’
That is what the Lord says.
It is time to build the temple
1 1-2 The Lord spoke his message to Haggai, his prophet.[u] At that time, Darius was king of Persia.[v] He had been king for 1 year and five months. On the first day of the next month, the Lord told Haggai to speak to Zerubbabel, Judah's ruler, and to Joshua, the leader of God's priests. Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel. Joshua was the son of Jehozadak. This was the Almighty Lord's message: ‘Judah's people say that this is not the right time to build a temple for me.’
3 The Lord told his prophet Haggai to say this to the people:
4 ‘You people are living in beautiful houses. But my temple is still just a heap of stones! It is time for you to do something about it! 5 I, the Almighty Lord, tell you this: Think carefully about what is happening to you. 6 You plant seeds but not many plants grow to give you food. You never have enough to eat. You drink, but you are still thirsty. You have clothes to wear, but they do not keep you warm. When you receive money for your work, you soon need to spend it. Then you have no money left.
7 The Almighty Lord also says this: Think about how you live your lives. 8 Now go up to the hills to get wood to build my temple again. If you do that, I will be happy. You will worship me there as you should do. 9 You thought that you would get a lot of food from the crops that grow in your fields. But only a few plants grew. When you brought your food home, it quickly disappeared. I blew it away! Why do you think all this happened? It happened because my temple is still a heap of stones. At the same time, you all work hard to build your own houses. I, the Almighty Lord, am telling you this! 10 That is why there has been no rain on your fields. That is why your plants do not grow well. 11 I have stopped the rain, so that your fields and the hills have become dry. Your crops will not grow. There will be no grapes to make wine. You will not have olives to make oil. Nothing will grow in the ground. Your animals will not become fat. People and animals will all hurt. For all your work, you will get nothing.’
The people obey the Lord
12 Zerubbabel and Joshua, the leader of the priests, as well as all the people obeyed the Lord, their God. They were the people that the Lord had brought back to Jerusalem from Babylon. When they heard the message that Haggai spoke to them, they agreed that it was a message from the Lord. As a result, they respected the Lord and they decided to obey him. 13 Haggai, the Lord's prophet, then spoke this message from the Lord: ‘The Lord says, “I am with you.” ’
14 In that way, the Lord gave strength to Zerubbabel, Joshua and all the people who had returned to live in Jerusalem. They decided to work hard to build the temple of their God, the Almighty Lord. 15 They started to work on the 24th day of that same month, in the second year after Darius had become king.
The temple will be beautiful
2 On the 21st day of the seventh month, the Lord spoke again to Haggai, his prophet. 2 The Lord told Haggai that he must speak to Zerubbabel and to Joshua. Shealtiel's son, Zerubbabel, was the ruler of Judah. Jehozadak's son, Joshua was the leader of the priests. The Lord also told Haggai to speak his message to all the people who had returned to live in Jerusalem. The Lord told Haggai to say this to them all:
3 The Lord says, ‘Some of you will remember how beautiful my temple was in past times. Look at it now! It seems nothing like it was before. 4 But now, Zerubbabel, be strong and brave! Joshua too, and all you people who belong here in Judah, be strong and brave! Now begin to work, because I am with you to help you. That is what I, the Almighty Lord, say to you. 5 Do not be afraid. Remember that I made a promise to your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt. I promised them that I would be with them. My Spirit is now with you too.
6 I, the Almighty Lord also tell you this: Soon, I will cause the sky and the whole earth to shake. I will also cause the sea and the land to shake. 7 I will cause people in all the nations of the world to shake with fear. They will come here to offer their valuable gifts. At that time, I will cause my temple to be full of glory. I, the Almighty Lord, tell you this. 8 Yes, all the silver and gold in the world belongs to me. And I promise you this: 9 This new temple will be even more beautiful than the old temple in past times. Here in this place I will bless my people.’ That is what the Almighty Lord says.
The Lord will be good to his people
10 The Lord spoke again to Haggai, his prophet, on the 24th day of the ninth month, in the second year since Darius had become king. This was the Lord's message:
11 The Almighty Lord says, ‘Ask the priests a question about my Law. 12 A person might be carrying some special, holy meat in his clothes. His clothes might then touch some food. It might be bread, or soup, or wine, or oil. If the clothes that hold the holy meat touch any other food, does that other food also become holy?’ The priests replied, ‘No.’
13 Haggai asked the priests another question: ‘If anyone touches a dead body, you know that you become unclean. If an unclean person touches any of these foods, would they also become unclean?’ The priests replied, ‘Yes, those things would be unclean.’
14 So Haggai told them, ‘This is what the Lord says: This nation and its people are just like that. They are unclean. So everything that they do is also unclean. All the gifts that they offer to me are unclean. I could not accept them. 15 Think carefully what life was like before you started again to build the Lord's temple. Do not forget that. 16 In those days, you hoped to get 20 bags of grain from your fields. But you only got ten bags. You hoped to get 50 jars of wine from your grapes. But you only got 20 jars. 17 I sent bad weather and other problems to destroy all your crops. All your hard work came to nothing. But you still did not return to worship me, your Lord. 18 Remember today, the 24th day of the ninth month. You have started again to build my temple. Now you have built its foundation, think about what will happen from today. 19 You have already eaten the crops that you stored. The grapes, figs, pomegranates and olives are not yet ready for you to pick. But after today, I will bless you. You will have many good things.’[w]
20 On the same day, the Lord spoke to Haggai again. He said:
21 ‘Speak to Zerubbabel, the ruler of Judah. Tell him that I will cause the sky and the whole earth to shake. 22 Tell him that I will destroy the power of foreign kings. I will destroy their armies. Their horses and chariots will fall down. Their soldiers will fight against each other. They will kill each other with their swords.
23 But I, the Almighty Lord say this to you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel.[x] You are my servant and I have chosen you. On that special day, I will give to you the authority to rule on my behalf. That is the message of the Almighty Lord.’
Return to the Lord
1 When Darius had been king of Persia for two years, Zechariah the prophet heard a message from the Lord.[y] It was the eighth month of the year. Zechariah was the son of Berekiah, and Berekiah was the son of Iddo.
2 This was the Lord's message:
‘I, the Lord, was very angry with your ancestors. 3 Now I, the Lord Almighty, say this to you: “If you return to me, I will return to you.” 4 Do not be like your ancestors. Many years ago the prophets gave them a message from me. The message was, “Stop doing those evil and wicked things.” But they did not listen to me. They did not think that my message was important. 5 That was a long time ago. Your ancestors have been dead for a long time. So have the prophets. 6 I told my prophets to speak my message and my commands. I punished your ancestors, as I warned them I would do. Then they turned back to me. They said, “The Lord Almighty has punished us for our sins, as he said he would do.” ’
The man on the red horse
7 On the 24th day of Shebat, the 11th month of the year, the Lord spoke to Zechariah the prophet. This was when Darius had been king for two years.
8 During the night I, Zechariah, had a dream from the Lord. I saw a man on a red horse. The horse was standing among some trees called myrtle trees, in the valley. And behind him were red, brown and white horses.
9 I asked him, ‘My lord, what are these horses?’ The angel who talked with me said, ‘I will show you what they are.’
10 The man who was standing among the trees answered, ‘The Lord has sent these horses to go to all the places on the earth.’
11 And the horses spoke to the angel of the Lord who stood among the trees. They said, ‘We have gone all over the earth. All the earth is without trouble.’
12 Then the angel of the Lord said, ‘Lord Almighty, how long will you be angry with Jerusalem? How long will you be angry with the cities of Judah? You have already been angry for 70 years.’ 13 And the Lord answered the angel with kind words.
14 The angel said to me, ‘Tell this to the people. This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I love Jerusalem. Jerusalem is mine. 15 I am very angry with the countries that are safe and without danger. Those countries were too cruel to my people, when I was only a little angry with Jerusalem.” 16 So this is what the Lord says: “I will return to Jerusalem to be kind to the people there. I will build my house again”, says the Lord Almighty, “and I will build the city again.” ’
17 The angel told me that I must say this: ‘The Lord Almighty says, “My towns will be rich again. I will again speak kind words to Jerusalem. I will choose Jerusalem again as my own city.” ’
Four horns and four workers[z]
18 And I looked up and I saw four horns. 19 And I asked the angel that talked with me, ‘What are these horns?’ Then the angel said to me, ‘These are the strong enemies of my people. They took my people out of Judah, out of Israel and out of Jerusalem.’
20 Then the Lord showed me four workers with hammers. 21 I said, ‘What are these men coming to do?’ The Lord answered, ‘The horns are the enemies that destroyed Judah. They destroyed Judah and they made the people ashamed. The workers came to frighten and to destroy the enemies because they killed many of my people. The enemies took many of my people out of Judah.’
The vision about Jerusalem that God gave to Zechariah
2 Then I looked up and I saw a man in front of me. He had a line in his hand. The line was to measure something. 2 I asked the man, ‘Where are you going?’ He said to me, ‘I am going to measure Jerusalem. I want to see how wide and how long it is.’ 3 The angel that talked with me went away. Another angel came to meet him. 4 The second angel said to the first angel, ‘Run to that young man with the line in his hand. Say that Jerusalem will be a city without walls. This is because of the many people and many animals that will live in it. 5 The Lord himself promises that he will be like a wall of fire round Jerusalem. He will shine as a beautiful light inside the city.’
The Lord will be among his people
6 ‘Come! Come! Run away from the country in the north,’ says the Lord. ‘As the four winds blow in different directions, I sent you to many far countries.
7 Come, my people. Run away from Babylon and return to Jerusalem.’ 8 Return because the Lord says, ‘Anyone that attacks you is attacking the Lord's people. He is attacking the people that the Lord loves.’ So the Lord Almighty sent me, Zechariah, with this message about the countries that have robbed his people. 9 ‘The Lord himself will fight against your enemies and their own slaves will rob them. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me, Zechariah, to you.’
10 ‘Sing and be happy, you people in Jerusalem. This is because I will come. And I will live among you,’ says the Lord. 11 ‘On that day, the people from many countries will come to me, the Lord, and they will become my people. I will live among you. You will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me. 12 The Lord will choose Judah for himself again. Jerusalem will be the city that he loves most of all cities. 13 Be quiet, all people, because the Lord has left his home in heaven to come among you.’
Clean clothes for Joshua the most important priest
3 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to me, Zechariah, and he showed me Joshua, the most important priest. Joshua was standing in front of the angel of the Lord. Satan stood on the right side of Joshua. He was ready to say that Joshua had done bad things. 2 The Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord says that you are wrong. The Lord has chosen Jerusalem. And he says that you are wrong. Joshua is certainly like a burning stick that someone pulls quickly out of the fire.’
3 Joshua was wearing very dirty clothes and he stood in front of the angel. 4 The angel said to the other angels that stood in front of him, ‘Remove his very dirty clothes.’ Then the first angel said to Joshua, ‘See, I have taken away your sin. I will put the clothes on you that a priest should wear.’
5 Then Zechariah said, ‘Put a clean hat on his head.’ So they put a clean hat on his head and they dressed him in clean clothes. The angel of the Lord stood near to them.[aa]
6 The angel of the Lord spoke to Joshua with these serious words. 7 ‘These are the words of the Lord Almighty. Listen to them and obey them. “You will rule in my house. You will rule inside the walls of my house. I will give you a place among the angels that are standing here.
8 Listen, Joshua, most important priest of the Lord. Listen you priests that sit with Joshua. You are like a sign. People can look at you. And they can know that good things will happen in future years. See! I will bring to you my servant who is called The Branch.[ab] 9 See the stone that I have put in front of Joshua! It is a stone with seven sides and I will cut words in the stone”, says the Lord Almighty. “I will remove the sin of this country's people in one day.” 10 “On that day”, says the Lord Almighty, “each of you will ask your friends to come. You will ask them to come and to sit under your own vines and fig trees.” ’[ac]
The burning lights and the olive trees
4 The angel that talked with me before woke me. I, Zechariah, was like a man who wakes out of his sleep. 2 The angel said to me, ‘What do you see?’ I said, ‘I see a lampstand that is made from gold. It has seven lamps and a bowl on top which contains oil. And it has seven branches that take the oil to each lamp. 3 And two olive trees are standing by the lampstand. One tree is on the right and one tree is on the left.’
4 I, Zechariah, said to the angel that talked with me, ‘What does this light mean, my lord?’
5 He said, ‘Do you not know what these are?’
I said, ‘No, my lord.’
6 Then the angel said to me, ‘The Lord said this to Zerubbabel: “You will need my Spirit. You yourself are too weak.[ad] And you do not have enough power.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: 7 “Big mountain, you are no problem. You will become flat ground in front of Zerubbabel. Then he will bring out the last and biggest stone of my house. The people will shout, ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ ” ’
8 Then the Lord's message came to me, Zechariah. He said, 9 ‘Zerubbabel has put down the first stone of my house. He will also finish it.’[ae] Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.
10 Everyone should know that the day of small things is important.
Men will see Zerubbabel. Then they will sing and they will be happy. They will see him with a line in his hand to measure the walls.
The Lord sees everything in the whole earth. (The seven lights are the seven eyes of the Lord.)
11 Then I said to the angel, ‘What are these two olive trees that stand on the right and on the left of the lampstand?’
12 A second time I spoke to the angel, ‘What are these two branches of the olive trees? They are next to the gold pipes and oil comes from those pipes.’
13 The angel replied, ‘Do you not know what these olive trees mean?’
‘No, my lord,’ I said.
14 So the angel said, ‘These are the two men that the Lord of all the earth has chosen to be his servants.’[af]
Words for everyone to read
5 Again, I looked and I saw a large paper. It was moving through the air. There were many words on the paper.
2 The angel said to me, ‘What do you see?’ And I answered, ‘I see a paper that is flying through the air. It is 30 feet long and 15 feet wide.’
3 Then the angel said to me, ‘The words on the paper tell about bad events for the whole earth. This will be in future years. On one side of the paper, it says that a man must not rob anyone. If he does, people will send him away from his own country. On the other side of the paper, it says that a man must not speak false words. If he does, people will send him away from his own country. 4 The Lord Almighty says, “I will cause bad things to happen in the house of the man that robs anyone. I will cause bad things to happen in the house of the man that speaks false words. It is as if the words on the paper will destroy the houses of those bad people.” ’
The woman in the basket
5 Then the angel that talked to me came near to me. He said, ‘Look. And see the thing that has just appeared.’
6 I said, ‘What is it?’
He said, ‘It is a basket that people measure with.’ Then he said, ‘It is the sin of all the people in this country.’
7 He lifted the heavy metal lid and there was a woman. She was sitting in the basket!
8 The angel said, ‘This is sin.’ He pushed her into the basket again and he put the heavy metal lid on top of the basket.
9 Then I looked up and I saw two women. They flew towards me with strong wings. The wind carried them as the wind carries large birds. They lifted the basket between the earth and the sky.
10 Then I said to the angel that talked with me, ‘Where will these women take the basket?’
11 The angel said to me, ‘They will take the basket to the country called Babylon. They will build a house for it there. When the house is ready, they will put the basket inside the house. They will put it where people can see it.’
Four chariots
6 Again I looked up and I saw four chariots! They came out from between two mountains and the mountains were mountains of shining metal! 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 grey horses. All the horses were strong. 4 Then I spoke to the angel that talked to me. I asked him, ‘What are these chariots, my lord?’
5 The angel answered me, ‘These are the four spirits of heaven. They have come from the Lord of the whole world. 6 The chariot with the black horses goes towards the north country. The chariot with the white horses goes after them. The chariot with the grey horses goes towards the south country.’
7 When the strong horses came out, they were in a hurry to leave. The angel said, ‘Go through all the earth.’ So the horses went through all the earth.
8 Then the Lord told me, ‘The chariot that goes to the north country has caused my Spirit to rest in the north country. I am now no longer angry about the north country.’
A crown for Joshua
9 The Lord spoke to me.
10 ‘Three men have arrived from Babylon,’ he said. ‘Their names are Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah. Take the gold that they have brought with them. On the same day, take the gold to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah.
11 Take the gold and other valuable metal and make a crown. Put it on the head of Joshua the most important priest. He is the son of Jehozadak. 12 Say to Joshua, “The Lord Almighty says, ‘I have chosen a man. His name is the Branch. He will be a great man and he will build the house of the Lord.
13 It is he who will build the house of the Lord. He will sit on his special high seat and he will rule all the people. He will be a priest on the seat of a king. This one man will be priest and king.’ ” 14 They will put the crown in the house of the Lord. This is to remember Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen the son of Zephaniah. This is because they brought the gold from Babylon.
15 People will come a long way and they will help to build the house of the Lord. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. All this will happen if you completely obey the Lord your God.’
God wants people to be fair and kind
7 The Lord spoke to Zechariah when Darius had been king for four years. It was the fourth day of the ninth month. The name of the month was Kislev. 2 Then the people in Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech and their men to Jerusalem. They came to ask the Lord to help them. 3 They came to the house of the Lord Almighty to speak to the priests and to the prophets. They asked, ‘Should we cry and not eat our food in the fifth month? We have done this for many years.’[ag]
4 The Lord Almighty spoke to me. 5 He said, ‘Say this to all the people in this country and to the priests: “You lived in Babylon for many years. You ate no food and you were sad in the fifth month and in the seventh month. But you did not do this for me. 6 You ate and you drank. But you ate and you drank for yourselves. 7 These are the words that I, the Lord, spoke by my prophets in past years. At that time, the people in Jerusalem lived without trouble. Many rich people lived in Jerusalem. People in the Negev region in the south and in the low hills in the west also lived safely.” ’
8 The Lord spoke again to Zechariah. He said, 9 ‘The Lord Almighty has said, “Be sure that you are fair to all people. Be kind to each other. 10 Do not cheat widows or children who have no family. Do not cheat foreigners or poor people. Do not think secretly of ways to hurt each other.”
11 But the people would not listen and they turned away. They put their hands over their ears, because they did not want to hear. 12 They decided that they would not listen to God's rules or to the messages from the prophets. But the Lord Almighty had sent those messages by His Spirit. So I, the Lord Almighty, was very angry.
13 When I spoke to them, they did not listen. So when they prayed to me, I did not listen to them, says the Lord Almighty. 14 As a storm takes things away, I took my people away to strange countries. The country that they left became an empty country. Nobody lived in it. That is how they made the good country an empty country.’
The promises of God for Jerusalem
8 The Lord Almighty gave this message to Zechariah. 2 ‘I have wanted to help Jerusalem because I love its people very much. My love causes me to be very angry with the enemies of Jerusalem,’ says the Lord Almighty.
3 ‘Jerusalem is the city that I have chosen. I will return there and I will live there. Then Jerusalem will be called the city that obeys God. And the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the mountain that God has chosen.’
4 The Lord Almighty says, ‘Old men and old women will sit in the streets of Jerusalem again. Each will have a stick in his hands because he is so old.
5 Many boys and girls will play in the streets of the city again.’
6 ‘This may seem impossible to the few people that remain,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘But nothing is impossible to me,’ says the Lord Almighty.
7 ‘I will bring my people back from the east country and from the west country,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people and I will be their God. I will do for them what I promised to do.’
9 The Lord Almighty says, ‘Be strong, you people who now hear these words from the mouths of the prophets. The prophets spoke the same words when you prepared the ground for the temple of the Lord Almighty. Now be strong and continue to build. 10 Before that time, there was not enough money to pay for work that men or animals did. No man was safe from the enemy because I made all men angry with each other.’
11 ‘But now it is different. I will not be angry with the few people that have returned,’ says the Lord Almighty.
12 ‘The seeds and the plants will grow well. The trees will give fruit. There will be water from the skies. I will bless the few people that will return. 13 In past years, people from other countries have said bad things against you, Judah and Israel. But now I will help you. You will bless many people. Do not be afraid. Be strong.’
14 The Lord Almighty says this: ‘When your parents and their parents made me angry, I decided to punish them.’ ‘I have also punished you,’ says the Lord Almighty. 15 ‘Do not be afraid. I have now decided to do good things to Jerusalem and to the people in Judah again. 16 These are the things that you should do. Speak true words to each other. Leaders, be fair to all people. 17 Do not think to do bad things against other people. Do not use my name to promise things and then not do those things. All these things make me very angry.’
18 Again Zechariah the prophet heard this message from the Lord Almighty. 19 ‘On special days in the year you eat no food. Those days are in the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months. But I want you to enjoy those days,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘I want the people in Judah to be happy. So speak true words and live quiet lives.’
20 ‘People that live in many countries will come to Jerusalem,’ says the Lord Almighty. 21 ‘The people from one city will go to the people in another city. They will say, “Come with us to worship the Lord Almighty. Come and ask the Lord to help us.” 22 People from many powerful nations will worship the Lord Almighty in Jerusalem. They will ask the Lord to help them.’
23 ‘Then, ten men from foreign countries will hold the coat of one Jew,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘They will say, “People have told us that the Lord is with you. So we want to go with you.” ’
God speaks against Israel's enemies
9 The Lord speaks against the land of Hadrach, and against the city of Damascus.
The Lord watches all men and all the groups of people in Israel.
2 The Lord speaks against the country called Hamath. (It is next to the country called Hadrach.) The people in Tyre and Sidon cities are very wise. But the Lord also speaks against them.
3 Tyre's people have built strong walls to keep enemies out.
They have swept up rich metals like dirt.
They have swept up gold like dirt in the streets.
4 The Lord will take away all the things that Tyre's people have.
And he will remove their ships from the sea.
Fire will burn every part of the city.
5 The people in Ashkelon city will see it and they will be afraid.
The people in Gaza city will see it and they will be afraid.
The things that the people in Ekron city hope for will not happen.
The king of Gaza will die
and there will be no people in Ashkelon any longer.
6 Foreign people will live in Ashdod city.
I will show the Philistines that they are not clever. They are not as clever as they believe.
7 I will take the blood from their mouths.
I will take the food from their teeth, because it is bad food.
Those that remain will still be my people.
They will become leaders in Judah.
Ekron will be like a part of Judah, as the Jebusites were.
8 Then I will keep my house safe against my enemies.
No army will ever again beat my people,
because I am watching them.
The king of Zion comes
9 Sing loudly, people in Zion.
Shout, people in Jerusalem.
Look! Your king comes to you.
He will save you because he does everything well.
But he is quiet and he is riding on a donkey.
He will ride on a young animal. Its mother is a donkey.
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim,[ah]
and the horses of war from Jerusalem.
The bows of war will be broken.
He will speak to all the countries and wars will finish.
He will rule from sea to sea. He will rule from the river Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
11 But I made a promise to you. I made that promise true with blood. I will free your people that are in a prison, in deep dark holes without water.
12 All you people who hoped to see your own country again, return to Jerusalem.
I tell you this now: I will give back to you twice as much as you have lost.
13 I will use Judah and Israel to attack my enemies.
I will use you, men from Zion, to attack the men from Greece.
I will make you like the long metal knife of a soldier.
The Lord will appear
14 Then the Lord will appear above his people.
His arrows will be as fast as lightning in the sky.
The Lord God will make a loud sound with a trumpet.
He will march in a storm from the south to attack.
15 And the Lord Almighty will help his people.
They will throw great stones at their enemies.
When they go to war, they will shout loudly,
like men who have drunk too much wine.
They will be as full of joy as the priest's bowl is full of blood,
when he pours it on the altar.
16 On that day, the Lord will save them.
They are his people.
They will shine in his country
like beautiful stones that shine in a crown.
17 The people will be beautiful and good.
The young people will become strong
when they eat good bread.
The young women will become strong
when they drink new wine.
The Lord will watch over Judah
10 Ask the Lord for rain in spring.
It is the Lord who makes the clouds and the storms.
He gives the rain to men.
He gives the plants of the field to everyone.
2 People ask idols for help,
but the idols do not speak true words.
Some people explain what a dream means.
But they do not speak true words.
The help that they give is not good.
So the people move from place to place like sheep.
They are not safe. They have no leaders.
3 ‘I am angry with the leaders.
I will cause them to be sorry.
Judah's people are mine,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘I will watch over them.
I will make them as strong as horses that are ready for war.
4 From Judah's descendants will come a strong leader.
He is like a strong stone at the corner of a building.
He is like a strong peg in a wall.
He is like a bow that is ready to shoot arrows.
Every strong ruler will come from Judah's descendants.
5 Together they will be like brave soldiers
who march through the mud in the streets of their enemies.
The Lord is with them and they will fight their enemies.
They will pull down the soldiers from their horses.
6 I will make Judah's people strong,
and I will make Israel's people become free.
I will bring them back to me,
because I am sorry for them.
I am their God,
and I will answer them.
It will be as if I had never turned away from them.
7 Israel's people will become like strong men.
They will be as happy as men that drink wine.
Their children will see their happy fathers
and so the children will be happy.
They will sing to the Lord.
8 I will cause my people to come to me and I will bring them all together.
I will buy them and I will make them free people.
And there will be as many people as there were before.
9 I will send them to foreign countries among foreign people.
But, in these far countries, they will remember me.
They and their children will not die.
They will return to Jerusalem.
10 I will bring my people back from Egypt,
and I will bring them here together from Assyria.
I will bring them to Gilead and to Lebanon.
There will not be enough room for them all.
11 And he will come to the difficult sea.
But it will be no trouble to him.
He will stop the waves in the sea.
He will make the river Nile dry.[ai]
Proud Assyria will have nothing to be proud about and
the power of Egypt's people will finish.’
12 ‘I will make my people strong.
They will obey me because they love my name.’
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.