Zechariah 1
A Call to Return to the Lord
In the eighth month, ain the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet bZechariah, the son of cBerechiah, son of dIddo, saying, 2 a“The Lord was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: aReturn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and bI will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 4 aDo not be like your fathers, bto whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, cReturn from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But dthey did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And athe prophets, do they live forever? 6 aBut my words and my statutes, which I commanded bmy servants the prophets, did they not covertake your fathers? So they repented and said, d‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for eour ways and edeeds, so has he dealt with us.’”
A Vision of a Horseman
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 prophet aZechariah, the son of bBerechiah, son of cIddo, saying, 8 “I saw in the night, and behold, aa man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were bred, sorrel, and white horses. 9 Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ aThe angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ 10 So athe man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, b‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to cpatrol the earth.’ 11 And they answered athe angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, b‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth cremains at rest.’ 12 Then athe angel of the Lord said, b‘O Lord of hosts, bhow long will you chave no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these dseventy years?’ 13 And the Lord answered agracious and comforting words to bthe angel who talked with me. 14 So athe angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: bI am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 aAnd I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are bat ease; cfor while I was angry but a little, dthey furthered the disaster. 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord, aI have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; bmy house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and cthe measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: aMy cities shall again overflow with prosperity, band the Lord will again comfort Zion and again cchoose Jerusalem.’”
A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen
18 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, afour horns! 19 And I said to athe angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, b“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, a“These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come bto terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations cwho lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.