Zechariah 3–7

1Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

2And the LORD said to Satan: “The LORD rebukes you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a firebrand snatched from the fire?”

3Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel.

4So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”

5Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So a clean turban was placed on his head, and they clothed him, as the angel of the LORD stood by.

6Then the angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua:

7“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘If you walk in My ways and keep My instructions, then you will govern My house and will also have charge of My courts; and I will give you a place among these who are standing here.

8Hear now, O high priest Joshua, you and your companions seated before you, who are indeed a sign. For behold, I am going to bring My servant, the Branch.

9See the stone I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave on it an inscription, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.

10On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, you will each invite your neighbor to sit under your own vine and fig tree.’”

1Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and woke me, as a man is awakened from his sleep.

2“What do you see?” he asked. “I see a solid gold lampstand,” I replied, “with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven spouts to the lamps.

3There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left.”

4“What are these, my lord?” I asked the angel who was speaking with me.

5“Do you not know what they are?” replied the angel. “No, my lord,” I answered.

6So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.

7What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. Then he will bring forth the capstone accompanied by shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

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

9“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you.

10For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven eyes of the LORD, which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”

11Then I asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?”

12And I questioned him further, “What are the two olive branches beside the two gold pipes from which the golden oil pours?”

13“Do you not know what these are?” he inquired. “No, my lord,” I replied.

14So he said, “These are the two anointed ones who are standing beside the Lord of all the earth.”

1Again I lifted up my eyes and saw before me a flying scroll.

2“What do you see?” asked the angel. “I see a flying scroll,” I replied, “twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”

3Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed.

4I will send it out, declares the LORD of Hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name. It will remain inside his house and destroy it, down to its timbers and stones.”

5Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and told me, “Now lift up your eyes and see what is approaching.”

6“What is it?” I asked. And he replied, “A measuring basket is going forth.” Then he continued, “This is their iniquity in all the land.”

7And behold, the cover of lead was raised, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket.

8“This is Wickedness,” he said. And he shoved her down into the basket, pushing down the lead cover over its opening.

9Then I lifted up my eyes and saw two women approaching, with the wind in their wings. Their wings were like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.

10“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking with me.

11“To build a house for it in the land of Shinar,” he told me. “And when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its pedestal.”

1And again I lifted up my eyes and saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze.

2The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses,

3the third white horses, and the fourth dappled horses—all of them strong.

4So I inquired of the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”

5And the angel told me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going forth from their station before the Lord of all the earth.

6The one with the black horses is going toward the land of the north, the one with the white horses toward the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

7As the strong horses went out, they were eager to go and patrol the earth; and the LORD said, “Go and patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth.

8Then the LORD summoned me and said, “Behold, those going to the land of the north have given rest to My Spirit 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, who have arrived from Babylon—and go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.

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

12And you are to tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Here is a man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build the temple of the LORD.

13Yes, He will build the temple of the LORD; He will be clothed in splendor and will sit on His throne and rule. And He will be a priest on His throne, and there will be peaceful counsel between the two.’

14The crown will reside in the temple of the LORD as a memorial to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and the gracious son of Zephaniah.

15Even those far away will come and build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the voice of 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, the month of Chislev.

2Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, along with their men, to plead before the LORD

3by asking the priests of the house of the LORD of Hosts, as well as the prophets, “Should I weep and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?”

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

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

6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not doing so simply for yourselves?

7Are these not the words that the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were populous and prosperous, 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 Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another.

10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’

11But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.

12They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of Hosts.

13And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.

14But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known, and the land was left desolate behind them so that no one could come or go. Thus they turned the pleasant land into a desolation.”