The Daily Audio Bible
The Eighth Vision: Four Chariots
6 Then I turned and lifted up my eyes and looked again. There were four chariots coming out from between two mountains. The mountains were made of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses. The second chariot had black horses. 3 The third chariot had white horses. The fourth chariot had dappled horses. All of them were powerful. 4 So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits[a] of the heavens, going forth from their stations to present themselves to the Lord of all the earth. 6 The driver with the black horses is going toward the land of the north, and the one with the white horses is following after them, and the one with the dappled horses is going toward the land of the south.”
7 Now the powerful horses came out, and they were eager to range throughout the earth. He said, “Go! Range throughout the earth.” So they ranged throughout the earth.
8 Then he called out to me and told me, “Look! Those who are going out toward the land of the north have caused my Spirit to rest in the land of the north.”
The Crowning of Joshua
9 The word of the Lord came to me:
10 Take an offering from the exiles—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come from Babylon—and on that very day go into the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11 Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and place it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
12 Tell him that this is what the Lord of Armies says:
There is a man whose name is the Branch, because he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. 13 He is the one who will build the temple of the Lord. He will be clothed with majesty, and he will sit and rule on his throne. He will be a priest on his throne, and there will be peaceful relations between the two offices.[b]
14 The crown will be kept in the temple as a memorial[c] for Helem[d] and Tobijah and Jedaiah and Hen,[e] son of Zephaniah.
15 Those who are far away will come and build the temple of the Lord, and you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord your God.
The Reason the Land Became Desolate
7 In the fourth year of King Darius,[f] the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev.[g]
2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem Melek with their men to plead for the favor of the Lord 3 by asking the priests who were at the house of the Lord of Armies and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of Armies came to me:
5 Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests.
When you fasted and lamented during the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6 And when you eat and drink, is it not for yourselves that you eat and drink? 7 Weren’t these the words that the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and when the Negev and the Shephelah[h] were inhabited?
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah:
9 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Execute true justice. Each man is to show kindness and compassion to his brother. 10 Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless child, the foreigner living among you, or the poor. Make sure that none of you plan evil in your heart against your brother.
11 But they refused to pay attention. They turned a stubborn shoulder and covered their ears so that they would not hear. 12 They made their hearts like the hardest rock[i] so that they would not hear the law and the words that the Lord of Armies sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. As a result, the fierce anger from the Lord of Armies was great.
13 When I called, they would not listen. So when they called, I would not listen, says the Lord of Armies. 14 I scattered them with a windstorm, among all the nations which they did not know. So the land was left desolate behind them. No one traveled back and forth through it. They made the pleasant land desolate.
The Angels With the Seven Last Plagues
15 Then I saw another great and remarkable sign in heaven: seven angels with seven plagues—the last plagues, because in them God’s wrath is completed.
2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. I also saw those who had won the victory over the beast and his image[a] and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass. They held the harps of God, 3 and they were singing the song of Moses, God’s servant, and the song of the Lamb. They said:
Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways, King of the Nations.[b]
4 Who will not fear you,[c] Lord,
and who will not praise your name?
You alone are holy!
All the nations will come and will bow down before you,
because your righteous verdicts have been revealed.
5 After these things I looked, and the sanctuary of the Tent of the Testimony was opened in heaven. 6 The seven angels who hold the seven plagues came out of the sanctuary. They were clothed with clean bright linen, and they wore gold sashes around their chests.
7 One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels the seven gold bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 And the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. No one was able to enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
Psalm 143
Do Not Bring Your Servant Into Judgment
Heading
A psalm by David.
Prayer for Forgiveness
1 Lord, hear my prayer.
Give ear to my cry for mercy.
In your faithfulness, answer me in your righteousness.
2 Do not bring charges against your servant,
because no one living can be righteous before you.
The Problem
3 For the enemy pursues my soul.
He crushes my life to the ground.
He makes me dwell in dark places like those long dead,
4 so my spirit grows faint inside me.
Within me my heart is devastated.
The Reason for Hope
5 I remember the days of long ago.
I meditate on all your works,
and I consider what your hands have done.
6 I spread out my hands to you. Interlude
My soul thirsts for you like a weary land.
The Prayer
7 Hurry! Answer me, Lord.
My spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let me hear about your mercy in the morning,
for I trust in you.
Teach me the way that I should go,
for I lift up my soul to you.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord,
for I hide myself in you.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
May your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
11 For the sake of your name, O Lord, preserve my life.
In your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.
12 In your mercy, wipe out my enemies,
and destroy all who threaten my life,
for I am your servant.
24 Four things are small on the earth,
yet they are wiser than the wisest people:
25 Ants are a species without strength,
but they store their food in summer.
26 Rock badgers are a species without power,
but they make their home in a cliff.
27 Locusts have no king,
but they all march ahead in ranks.
28 Lizards can be caught in your hands,
but they live in kings’ palaces.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.