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¹Now again I looked up, and four chariots were coming out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of [firm, immovable] bronze (divine judgment).

²The first chariot had red horses (war, bloodshed), the second chariot had black horses (famine, death),

³the third chariot had white horses (victory), and the fourth chariot had strong dappled horses (death through judgment).

⁴Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me, "What are these, my lord?"

⁵The angel answered me, "These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go out after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth,

⁶with the chariot with the black horses going toward the north country; then the one with the white horses follows after them [because there are two northern powers to overcome], and the chariot with the dappled horses goes toward the south country."

⁷When the strong horses went out, they were eager to patrol the earth. And the LORD said, "Go, patrol the earth." So they patrolled the earth [watching and protecting it].

⁸Then He called out to me and said to me, "See, those who are going to the north country have quieted My Spirit [of wrath] in the north country."

⁹The word of the LORD also came to me, saying,

¹⁰"Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, from Tobijah, and from Jedaiah [as representatives]; and you go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon.

¹¹Take silver and gold [from them], and make an ornate crown and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

¹²Then say to Joshua, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold (look, keep in sight, watch), a Man (Messiah) whose name is Branch, for He shall branch out from His place (Israel, the Davidic line); and He shall build the [ultimate] temple of the LORD.

¹³Yes, [you are to build a temple of the LORD, but] it is He who shall build the [ultimate] temple of the LORD, and He shall bear the honor and majesty [as the only begotten of the Father] and sit and rule on His throne. And He shall be a Priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between the two offices [Priest and King]."'

¹⁴Now the crown shall become a reminder in the temple of the LORD to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah.

¹⁵And those who are far away will come and [help] build the temple of the LORD." Then you shall know [without any doubt] that the LORD of hosts sent me (Zechariah) to you. And it will come about if you will diligently obey the [voice of the] LORD your God.

¹In the fourth year of [the reign of] King Darius [of Persia], the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev (Dec 7, 518 b.c.).

²Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to seek the favor of the LORD,

³speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the LORD of hosts and to the prophets, saying, "[Now that I am returned from exile] shall I weep in the fifth month [mourning the destruction of the temple], and fast as I have done these many years [in Babylon]?"

⁴Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me (Zechariah), saying,

⁵"Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years [that you were in exile], was it actually for Me that you fasted?

⁶When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves [to satisfy your own needs]?

⁷Should you not hear the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous along with her cities around her, and the South (the Negev) and the foothills were inhabited?'"

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying,

⁹"Thus has the LORD of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion, to each other;

¹⁰and do not oppress or exploit the widow or the fatherless, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise or even imagine evil in your hearts against one another.'

¹¹But they refused to listen and pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder [stiffening themselves in resistance] and stopped up their ears.

¹²They made their hearts [hard] like flint, so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.

¹³And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen," says the LORD of hosts;

¹⁴"but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after they had gone, so that no one passed through or returned, for they [by their sins] had made the pleasant land desolate and deserted.'"

¹Then the word of the LORD of hosts came [to me], saying,

²"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], and I am jealous for her with great wrath [against her enemies].'

³Thus says the LORD, 'I shall return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the [faithful] City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.'

⁴Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Old men and old women will again sit in the streets (public places) of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of his advanced age.

⁵And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.'

⁶Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'If it is difficult in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days [in which this comes to pass], will it also be difficult in My sight?' declares the LORD of hosts.

⁷Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold, I am going to save My people from the east country and from the west,

⁸and I will bring them home and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth (faithfulness) and in righteousness.'

⁹"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Let your hands be strong, you who in these days hear these words from the mouths of the prophets who, on the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, foretold that the temple might be rebuilt.

¹⁰For before those days there were no wages for man or animal; nor was there any peace or success for him who went out or came in because of his enemies, for I set all men against one another.

¹¹But now [in this time since you began to build] I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,' declares the LORD of hosts.

¹²For there the seed will produce peace and prosperity; the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will produce its increase, and the heavens will give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit and possess all these things.

¹³And as you have been a curse among the nations, O house of Judah (Southern Kingdom) and house of Israel (Northern Kingdom), so I will save you, that you may be a blessing. Fear not; let your hands be strong.'

¹⁴"For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Just as I planned to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,' says the LORD of hosts, 'and I did not relent,

¹⁵so I have again planned in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!

¹⁶These are the things which you should do: speak the truth with one another; judge with truth and pronounce the judgment that brings peace in [the courts at] your gates.

¹⁷And let none of you devise or even imagine evil in your heart against another, and do not love lying or half-truths; for all these things I hate,' declares the LORD."

¹⁸Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me (Zechariah), saying,

¹⁹"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'The fast of the fourth [month to mourn the breaching of Jerusalem's walls], the fast of the fifth [month to mourn the temple's destruction], the fast of the seventh [month to mourn Gedaliah's assassination], and the fast of the tenth [month to mourn the siege of Jerusalem] will become times of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so [to bring this about] love truth and peace.'

²⁰"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'It will come to pass that peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will come [to Jerusalem].

²¹'The inhabitants of one [city] will go to another, saying, "Let us go at once to ask the favor of the LORD and to seek the LORD of hosts. I will go also."

²²So many peoples and powerful nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to ask the LORD for His favor.'

²³Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'In those days ten men [as representatives] from all the nations will grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."'"

¹The oracle (a burdensome message) of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach [in Syria], with Damascus as its resting place (for the eyes of men, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward the LORD),

²And Hamath also, which borders on it (Damascus), Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

³For Tyre built herself an [impregnable] stronghold [on an island offshore], And she has heaped up silver like dust And gold like the mire of the streets.

⁴Behold, the Lord will dispossess her And throw her wealth into the sea; And Tyre will be devoured by fire.

⁵Ashkelon will see it and fear; Gaza will writhe in pain, And Ekron, for her hope and expectation, has been ruined. The king will perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

⁶And a mongrel race will live in Ashdod, And I will put an end to the pride and arrogance of the Philistines.

⁷I will take the blood from their mouths And their detestable things from between their teeth [those repulsive, idolatrous sacrifices eaten with the blood]. Then they too will be a remnant for our God, And be like a clan in Judah, And Ekron will be like one of the Jebusites.

⁸Then I will camp around My house [as a guard] because of an army, Because of him who passes by and returns; And no oppressor will again overrun them (Israel), For now My eyes are upon them [providentially protecting them].

⁹Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King (Messianic King) is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Humble and unassuming [in submission to the will of the Father] and riding on a donkey, Upon a colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹⁰I will cut off the [war] chariot from Ephraim And the [war] horse from Jerusalem, And the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak [words of] peace to the nations, And His dominion shall be from sea to sea [absolutely endless], And from the River [Euphrates] to the ends of the earth.

¹¹As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you [My chosen people, the covenant that was sealed with blood] I have freed your prisoners from the waterless pit.

¹²Return to the stronghold [of security and prosperity], O prisoners who have the hope; Even today I am declaring that I will restore double [your former prosperity] to you [as firstborn among nations].

¹³For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fit the bow with Ephraim [as My arrow]. And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, And will make you [Israel] like the sword of a warrior.

¹⁴Then the LORD will be seen [hovering] over them [protecting His people], And His arrow will go forth like lightning; And the Lord GOD will blow the trumpet And will march in the windstorms of the south.

¹⁵The LORD of hosts shall defend and protect them; And they will devour [the enemy] and trample down the slingstones [that have missed their mark], And they will drink [of victory] and be boisterous as with wine; And they shall be filled like sacrificial bowls [used to catch the blood], Drenched like the corners of the [sacrificial] altar.

¹⁶And the LORD their God shall save them on that day As the flock of His people; For they are like the [precious] jewels of a crown, Displayed and glittering in His land.

¹⁷For how great is God's goodness and how great is His beauty! And how great [He will make Israel's] goodliness and [Israel's] beauty! Grain and new wine will make the young men and virgins flourish.

¹Ask for rain from the LORD at the time of the spring rain. It is the LORD who makes the thunder clouds; And He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field to everyone.

²For the teraphim (household idols) speak wickedness (emptiness, worthlessness), And the diviners see lying visions And tell false dreams; They comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep, They are afflicted and suffer because there is no shepherd.

³"My anger is kindled against the shepherds [who are not true shepherds], And I shall punish the male goats (leaders); For the LORD of hosts has visited His flock, the house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom), And will make them like His beautiful and majestic horse in the battle.

⁴"From them (Judah) shall come the Cornerstone, From them the tent peg, From them the bow of battle, From them every ruler, all of them together.

⁵"They will be like mighty men Trampling down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle; And they will fight because the LORD is with them, And the [enemies'] riders on horses will be shamed.

⁶"I will strengthen the house of Judah [making it superior], And I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back [and allow them to live securely], Because I have had compassion on them. They will be as though I had not rejected them, For I am the LORD their God, and I will listen and answer them.

⁷"Then Ephraim will be like a mighty warrior, And their heart will rejoice as if from wine; Yes, their children will see it and rejoice; Their heart will rejoice and shout triumphantly in the LORD.

⁸"I will whistle for them and gather them together, For I have redeemed them; And they will increase [again] as they have increased before [in Egypt].

⁹"When I scatter them among the nations, They will remember Me in far countries, And with their children they will live and come back [to Me and the land I gave them].

¹⁰"I will bring them (all Israel) back home again from the land of Egypt And gather them from Assyria, And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon [the land on the east and on the west of the Jordan] Until no room can be found for them.

¹¹"And they will pass through the sea of distress and anxiety [with the LORD leading His people, as at the Red Sea] And He will strike the waves in the sea, So that all the depths of the Nile will dry up; And the pride of Assyria will be brought down And the scepter [of the taskmasters] of Egypt will pass away.

¹²"And I will strengthen Israel in the LORD, And they will walk [and glory] in His name," declares the LORD.