1 In the eighth month,aSee Hag. 1:1 in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophetbEzra 6:14; Matt. 23:35 Zechariah, the son ofc1 Chr. 6:39 Berechiah, son ofdNeh. 12:4, 16 Iddo, saying, 2 e[Jer. 2:5] “The Lord was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts:fIsa. 31:6; Jer. 3:1, 22; Ezek. 18:30; Mal. 3:7 Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, andgJer. 12:15; Mic. 7:19 I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 4 h[Ps. 78:8] Do not be like your fathers,iSee 2 Chr. 36:15 to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,f[See ver. 3 above] Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds. ’ Butjch. 7:11; 2 Chr. 36:16; See Jer. 35:15 they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Your fathers, where are they? Andk[John 8:52] the prophets, do they live forever? 6 l[Isa. 40:8; Matt. 24:35] But my words and my statutes, which I commandedmSee Dan. 9:6 my servants the prophets, did they notnDeut. 28:2, 15 overtake your fathers? So they repented and said,oLam. 2:17 As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us forp[Ezek. 36:31] our ways andp[Ezek. 36:31] deeds, so has he dealt with us. ”
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophetb[See ver. 1 above] Zechariah, the son ofc[See ver. 1 above] Berechiah, son ofd[See ver. 1 above] Iddo, saying, 8 “I saw in the night, and behold,q[Rev. 6:4] a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him werer[Rev. 6:4, 5, 8]; See ch. 6:2-7 red, sorrel, and white horses. 9 Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord? ’s[Rev. 22:6] The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are. ’ 10 Soq[See ver. 8 above] the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered,t[Heb. 1:14] ‘These are they whom the Lord has sent touch. 6:7; [Job 1:7] patrol the earth. ’ 11 And they answereds[See ver. 9 above] the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said,u[See ver. 10 above] ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earthv[ver. 15] remains at rest. ’ 12 Thens[See ver. 9 above] the angel of the Lord said,wPs. 80:4; 89:46; Hab. 2:6; Rev. 6:10 ‘O Lord of hosts,wPs. 80:4; 89:46; Hab. 2:6; Rev. 6:10 how long will youxPs. 102:13 have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry theseych. 7:5; Jer. 25:11; 29:10 seventy years? ’ 13 And the Lord answeredzSee Jer. 29:10, 11 gracious and comforting words tos[See ver. 9 above] the angel who talked with me. 14 Sos[See ver. 9 above] the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts:ach. 8:2; Joel 2:18 I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 b[Joel 3:2] And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that arec[ver. 11] at ease;d[Isa. 54:7, 8] for while I was angry but a little,e[Isa. 47:6] they furthered the disaster. 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord,fch. 8:3 I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy;g[ch. 4:9; Ezra 6:14] my house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, andhJer. 31:39; Ezek. 40:3; 47:3 the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts:ich. 2:4 My cities shall again overflow with prosperity,jIsa. 40:1; 51:3 and the Lord will again comfort Zion and againkch. 2:12 choose Jerusalem. ’ ”
18 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold,l[1 Kgs. 22:11] four horns! 19 And I said tos[See ver. 9 above] the angel who talked with me, “What are these? ” And he said to me,l[See ver. 18 above] “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. ” 20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 And I said, “What are these coming to do? ” He said,l[See ver. 18 above] “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have comemDeut. 28:26; Jer. 7:33 to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nationsn[Ps. 75:4, 5] who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it. ”