Zechariah 1:7-17

On February 15 (the month of Shvat), in the second year of Darius’ reign, YAHWEH spoke to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo. That night I had a vision. Behold, I saw a man sitting on a reddish-brown horse in the shadows of a grove of myrtles. And behind him I saw other horses—some brown, tan, and white with riders upon them. There was another angel there who talked with me, and I asked him, “What do these represent, my lord?” And the angel who was talking to me said, “Let me show you.” Then the man standing among the myrtles spoke up and said, “These are YAHWEH’s agents sent to patrol the earth.” Then the horsemen reported to the angel of YAHWEH who stood among the myrtles, “We have been patrolling the land, and indeed, all is peacefully at rest.” YAHWEH’s angel then spoke and said, “YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, you have inflicted your anger on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah for the past seventy years. How many more years will pass before you once again show them that you love them?” YAHWEH then replied to the angel who was talking to me with kind and comforting words. So the angel told me to proclaim these words of YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies: “My heart burns with passion for Jerusalem and Zion, but I am deeply angry with the careless and complacent nations. I was only mildly angry with my people, but the nations I used to punish them acted too severely. Therefore, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy and kindness. I, YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, have decreed to rebuild my house there. Surveyors will stretch my measuring line over Jerusalem to rebuild the city.” The angel also told me to proclaim, “I, YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, decree that my cities will once more overflow with prosperity. I will comfort Zion once again and claim Jerusalem as my own.”