Zechariah 1

Message of Repentance Zechariah 1:3–6

³Verse 3. Therefore tell them: Yahweh of Armies says: ‘Return to me,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘and I will return to you,’ says Yahweh of Armies. ⁴Verse 4. Don’t you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Yahweh of Armies says, ‘Return now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings;’ but they did not hear, nor listen to me, says Yahweh. ⁵Verse 5. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? ⁶Verse 6. But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, didn’t they overtake your fathers? “Then they repented and said, ‘Just as Yahweh of Armies determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.’”

Visions of the Night Zechariah 1:7–11

⁷Verse 7. On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, Yahweh’s word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying, ⁸Verse 8. “I had a vision in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses. ⁹Verse 9. Then I asked, ‘My lord, what are these?’” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.” ¹⁰Verse 10. The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, “They are the ones Yahweh has sent to go back and forth through the earth.”

¹¹Verse 11. They reported to Yahweh’s angel who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked back and forth through the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and in peace.”

God's Jealousy and Anger Zechariah 1:12–15

¹²Verse 12. Then Yahweh’s angel replied, “O Yahweh of Armies, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?” ¹³Verse 13. Yahweh answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words. ¹⁴Verse 14. So the angel who talked with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. ¹⁵Verse 15. I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.”

Promise of Restoration Zechariah 1:16–17

¹⁶Verse 16. Therefore Yahweh says: “I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and a line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.”’ ¹⁷Verse 17. “Proclaim further, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and Yahweh will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.”’”

The Four Horns and Craftsmen Zechariah 1:18–21

¹⁸Verse 18. I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four horns. ¹⁹Verse 19. I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ²⁰Verse 20. Yahweh showed me four craftsmen. ²¹Verse 21. Then I asked, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head; but these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.”