1:1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo saying,
1:2 “The LORD was very angry with your fathers.
1:3 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the LORD of armies says: “Return to Me,” declares the LORD of armies, “ ①that I may return to you,” says the LORD of armies.
▷ ①Or and I will
1:4 “Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, ‘This is what the LORD of armies says: “Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.” ’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me,” declares the LORD.
1:5 “Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
1:6 But did My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, not ①overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of armies planned to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has dealt with us.’ ” ’ ”
▷ ①Or reach
1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, that is, the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, ①as follows:
▷ ①Lit saying
1:8 I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a red horse, and he was standing among the myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, ①sorrel, and white horses behind him.
▷ ①I.e., light reddish-brown
1:9 Then I said, “What are these, my lord?” And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.”
1:10 And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees responded and said, “These are the ones whom the LORD has sent to ①patrol the earth.”
▷ ①Lit walk about through
1:11 So they responded to the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees and said, “We have ①patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is ②still and quiet.”
▷ ①Lit walked about through ②Lit sitting
1:12 Then the angel of the LORD said, “LORD of armies, how long will You take no pity on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been indignant for these seventy years?”
1:13 And the LORD responded to the angel who was speaking with me with ①gracious words, comforting words.
▷ ①Lit good
1:14 So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘This is what the LORD of armies says: “I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.
1:15 But I am very angry with the nations who are carefree; for while I was only a little angry, they ①furthered the disaster.”
▷ ①Lit helped for evil
1:16 Therefore the LORD says this: “I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it,” declares the LORD of armies, “and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.” ’
1:17 Again, proclaim, saying, ‘This is what the LORD of armies says: “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.” ’ ”
1:18 ①Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, there were four horns.
▷ ①Ch 2:1 in Heb
1:19 So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
1:20 Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.
1:21 And I said, “What are these coming to do?” And he said, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah so that no one lifts up his head; but these craftsmen have come to frighten them, to throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.”