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¹Now I raised my eyes again and looked, and behold, four chariots were going out from between the two mountains; and the mountains were bronze mountains.

²With the first chariot were red horses, with the second chariot black horses,

³with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot strong spotted horses.

⁴So I responded and said to the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”

⁵The angel replied to me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going out after taking their stand before the Lord of all the earth,

⁶with one of which the black horses are going out to the north country; and the white ones are to go out after them, while the spotted ones are to go out to the south country.”

⁷When the strong ones went out, they were eager to go to patrol the earth. And He said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth.

⁸Then He called out to me and spoke to me, saying, “See, those who are going to the land of the north have appeased My wrath in the land of the north.”

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

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

¹¹Also take silver and gold, make an ornate crown, and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

¹²Then say to him, ‘The LORD of armies says this: “Behold, there is a Man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD.

¹³Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the majesty and sit and rule on His throne. So He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.” ’

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

¹⁵Those who are far away will come and build the temple of the LORD.” Then you will know that the LORD of armies has sent me to you. And it will take place if you completely obey the LORD your God.

¹In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev.

²Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to seek the favor of the LORD,

³speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the LORD of armies, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the fifth month and fast, as I have done these many years?”

⁴Then the word of the LORD of armies came to me, saying,

⁵“Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted?

⁶And when you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?

⁷Are these not the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and carefree along with its cities around it, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?’ ”

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

⁹“This is what the LORD of armies has said: ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother;

¹⁰and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’

¹¹But they refused to pay attention, and turned a stubborn shoulder and plugged their ears from hearing.

¹²They also made their hearts as hard as a diamond so that they could not hear the Law and the words which the LORD of armies had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of armies.

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

¹⁴“but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, since they made the pleasant land desolate.”

¹Then the word of the LORD of armies came, saying,

²“The LORD of armies says this: ‘I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’

³The LORD says this: ‘I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of armies will be called the Holy Mountain.’

⁴The LORD of armies says this: ‘Old men and old women will again sit in the public squares of Jerusalem, each person with his staff in his hand because of age.

⁵And the public squares of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its squares.’

⁶The LORD of armies says this: ‘If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?’ declares the LORD of armies.

⁷The LORD of armies says this: ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west;

⁸and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.’

⁹“The LORD of armies says this: ‘Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of armies was laid, so that the temple might be built.

¹⁰For before those days there was no wage for man nor any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no peace because of his enemies, and I sent all the people against one another.

¹¹But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the LORD of armies.

¹²‘For there will be the seed of peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the heavens will provide their dew; and I will give to the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance.

¹³And it will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.’

¹⁴“For this is what the LORD of armies says: ‘Just as I determined to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to anger,’ says the LORD of armies, ‘and I have not relented,

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

¹⁶These are the things which you shall do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace at your gates.

¹⁷Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these things are what I hate,’ declares the LORD.”

¹⁸Then the word of the LORD of armies came to me, saying,

¹⁹“The LORD of armies says this: ‘The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth months will become joy, jubilation, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace.’

²⁰“The LORD of armies says this: ‘It will yet turn out that peoples will come, that is, the inhabitants of many cities.

²¹The inhabitants of one city will go to another, saying, “Let’s go at once to plead for the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of armies; I also will go.”

²²So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of armies in Jerusalem, and to plead for the favor of the LORD.’

²³The LORD of armies says this: ‘In those days ten people from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” ’ ”

¹The pronouncement of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach, with Damascus as its resting place (for the eyes of mankind, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward the LORD),

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

³For Tyre built herself a fortress, And piled up silver like dust, And gold like the mud of the streets.

⁴Behold, the Lord will dispossess her And throw her wealth into the sea; And she will be consumed with fire.

⁵Ashkelon will see it and be afraid. Gaza too will writhe in great pain; Also Ekron, because her hope has been ruined. Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

⁶And a people of mixed origins will live in Ashdod, And I will eliminate the pride of the Philistines.

⁷And I will remove their blood from their mouth And their detestable things from between their teeth. Then they also will be a remnant for our God, And be like a clan in Judah, And Ekron will be like a Jebusite.

⁸But I will camp around My house because of an army, Because of him who passes by and returns; And no oppressor will pass over them anymore, For now I have seen with My eyes.

⁹Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹⁰And I will eliminate the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be eliminated. And He will speak peace to the nations; And His dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

¹¹As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

¹²Return to the stronghold, you prisoners who have the hope; This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you.

¹³For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece; And I will make you like a warrior’s sword.

¹⁴Then the LORD will appear over them, And His arrow will go forth like lightning; And the Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, And march in the storm winds of the south.

¹⁵The LORD of armies will protect them. And they will devour and trample on the slingstones; And they will drink and be boisterous as with wine; And they will be filled like a sacrificial basin, Drenched like the corners of the altar.

¹⁶And the LORD their God will save them on that day As the flock of His people; For they are like the precious stones of a crown, Sparkling on His land.

¹⁷For how great will their loveliness and beauty be! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine, the virgins.

¹Ask for rain from the LORD at the time of the spring rain— The LORD who makes the storm winds; And He will give them showers of rain, vegetation in the field to each person.

²For the household idols speak deception, And the diviners see an illusion And tell deceitful dreams; They comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep, They are wretched because there is no shepherd.

³“My anger is kindled against the shepherds, And I will punish the male goats; For the LORD of armies has visited His flock, the house of Judah, And will make them like His majestic horse in battle.

⁴From them will come the cornerstone, From them the tent peg, From them the bow of battle, From them every tyrant, all of them together.

⁵And they will be like warriors, Trampling down the enemy in the mud of the streets in battle; And they will fight, because the LORD will be with them; And the riders on horses will be put to shame.

⁶And I will strengthen the house of Judah, And I will save the house of Joseph, And I will bring them back, Because I have had compassion on them; And they will be as though I had not rejected them, For I am the LORD their God and I will answer them.

⁷Ephraim will be like a warrior, And their heart will be joyful as if from wine; Indeed, their children will see it and be joyful, Their heart will rejoice in the LORD.

⁸I will whistle for them and gather them together, For I have redeemed them; And they will be as numerous as they were before.

⁹When I scatter them among the peoples, They will remember Me in distant countries, And they with their children will live and come back.

¹⁰I will bring them back from the land of Egypt And gather them from Assyria; And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon Until no room can be found for them.

¹¹And they will pass through the sea of distress 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 Egypt will depart.

¹²And I will strengthen them in the LORD, And in His name they will walk,” declares the LORD.