Zechariah 1
1
The Lord Wants His People to Return
1Zechariah son of Berekiah received a message from the Lord. This was in the eighth month of the second year that Darius#1:1 the second year … Darius That is, about 520 B.C. Also in verse 7. was king in Persia. (Zechariah was the son of Berekiah, who was the son of Iddo the prophet.) This is that message:
2The Lord became very angry with your ancestors. 3So you must tell the people what the Lord All-Powerful says, “Come back to me, says the Lord All-Powerful, and I will come back to you.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
4“Don’t be like your ancestors. In the past the prophets spoke to them and said, ‘The Lord All-Powerful wants you to change your evil way of living. Stop doing evil things!’ But your ancestors did not listen to me.” This is what the Lord said.
5“Your ancestors are gone, and those prophets did not live forever. 6The prophets were my servants. I used them to tell your ancestors about my laws and teachings. Your ancestors finally learned their lesson and said, ‘The Lord All-Powerful did what he said he would do. He punished us for the way we lived and for all the evil things we did.’ So they came back to God.”
The Four Horses
7On the 24th day of the eleventh month (Shebat) of the second year that Darius was king of Persia, Zechariah received another message from the Lord. (This was Zechariah son of Berekiah, son of Iddo.) This is the message:
8At night I saw a man riding a red horse. He was standing among some myrtle bushes in the valley. Behind him, there were red, brown, and white horses. 9I said, “Sir, what are these horses for?”
Then the angel speaking to me said, “I will show you what these horses are for.”
10Then the man standing among the myrtle bushes said, “The Lord sent these horses to go here and there on earth.”
11Then the horses spoke to the Lord’s angel standing among the myrtle bushes and said, “We have walked here and there on the earth, and everything is calm and quiet.”
12Then the Lord’s angel said, “Lord All-Powerful, how long before you comfort Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? You have shown your anger at these cities for 70 years now.”
13Then the Lord answered the angel who was talking with me. He spoke good, comforting words.
14Then the angel told me to tell the people this: The Lord All-Powerful says:
“I have a strong love for Jerusalem and Zion.
15And I am very angry at the nations that feel so safe.
I was only a little angry,
and I used them to punish my people.
But they caused too much damage.”
16So the Lord says, “I will come back to Jerusalem and comfort her.”
The Lord All-Powerful says, “Jerusalem will be rebuilt,
and my house will be built there.”
17The angel also said, “The Lord All-Powerful says,
‘My towns will be rich again.
I will comfort Zion.
I will again choose Jerusalem to be my special city.’”
The Four Horns and Four Workers
18Then I looked up and I saw four horns. 19So I asked the angel who was talking with me, “What do these horns mean?”
He said, “These are the horns that forced the people of Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem to go to foreign countries.”
20The Lord showed me four workers. 21I asked him, “What are these four workers coming to do?”
He said, “The horns represent the nations that attacked the people of Judah and forced them to go to foreign countries. The horns ‘threw’ the people of Judah to the foreign countries. The horns didn’t show mercy to anyone. But these four workers have come to frighten the horns and throw them away.”
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Zechariah 1
1
The Lord Wants His People to Return to Him
1A message from the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet. Zechariah was the son of Berekiah. Berekiah was the son of Iddo. It was the eighth month of the second year that Darius was king of Persia. Here is what Zechariah said.
2The Lord who rules over all was very angry with your people of long ago. 3And now he says to us, “Return to me. Then I will return to you,” announces the Lord. 4“Do not be like your people of long ago. The earlier prophets gave them my message. I said, ‘Stop doing what is evil. Turn away from your sinful practices.’ But they would not listen to me. They would not pay any attention,” announces the Lord. 5“Where are those people now? And what about my prophets? Do they live forever? 6I commanded my servants the prophets what to say. I told them what I planned to do. But your people refused to obey me. So I had to punish them.
“Then they had a change of heart. They said, ‘The Lord who rules over all has punished us because of how we have lived. He was fair and right to do that. He has done to us just what he decided to do.’ ”
A Vision of a Horseman Among Some Myrtle Trees
7A message from the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet. Zechariah was the son of Berekiah. Berekiah was the son of Iddo. The message came during the second year that Darius was king. It was the 24th day of the 11th month. That’s the month of Shebat.
8I had a vision at night. I saw a man sitting on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a valley. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.
9An angel was talking with me. I asked him, “Sir, what are these?”
He answered, “I will show you what they are.”
10Then the man standing among the myrtle trees spoke. He said, “They are the messengers the Lord has sent out. He told them to go all through the earth.”
11They brought a report to the angel of the Lord. He was standing among the myrtle trees. They said to him, “We have gone all through the earth. We’ve found the whole world enjoying peace and rest.”
12Then the angel of the Lord spoke up. He said, “Lord, you rule over all. How long will you keep from showing your tender love to Jerusalem? How long will you keep it from the towns of Judah? You have been angry with them for 70 years.” 13So the Lord replied with kind and comforting words. He spoke them to the angel who talked with me.
14Then the angel said, “Announce this message. Say, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “I am very jealous for my people in Jerusalem and Zion. 15And I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry with my people. But the nations went too far and tried to wipe them out.”
16“ ‘So the Lord says, “I will return to Jerusalem. I will show its people my tender love. My temple will be rebuilt there. Workers will use a measuring line when they rebuild Jerusalem,” announces the Lord.
17“ ‘He says, “My towns will be filled with good things once more. I will comfort Zion. And I will choose Jerusalem again.” ’ ”
A Vision of Four Horns and Four Skilled Workers
18Then I looked up and saw four animal horns. 19I spoke to the angel who was talking with me. “What are these horns?” I asked.
He said, “They are the powerful nations that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”
20Then the Lord showed me four skilled workers. 21I asked, “What are they coming to do?”
He answered, “The horns are the powerful nations that scattered the people of Judah. That made Judah helpless. But these four skilled workers have come to terrify the horns. The workers will destroy the power of those nations. Those nations had used their power to scatter Judah’s people.”
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