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Sixth Vision: A Flying Scroll

When I looked the next time, I saw a flying scroll,[a] and the angel asked, “What do you see?”

“A flying scroll,” I answered. “About nine meters long and four and a half meters wide.”

Then he told me:

This scroll puts a curse on everyone in the land who steals or tells lies. The writing on one side tells about the destruction of those who steal, while the writing on the other side tells about the destruction of those who lie.

The Lord All-Powerful has said, “I am sending this scroll into the house of everyone who is a robber or tells lies in my name, and it will remain there until every piece of wood and stone in that house crumbles.”

Seventh Vision: A Woman in a Basket

Now the angel who was there to explain the visions came over and said, “Look up and tell me what you see coming.”

“I don't know what it is,” was my reply.

“It's a big basket,” he said. “And it shows what everyone in the land has in mind.”[b]

The lead cover of the basket was opened, and in the basket was a woman. “This woman represents evil,” the angel explained. Then he threw her back into the basket and slammed the heavy cover down tight.

Right after this I saw two women coming through the sky with wings outstretched like a stork in the wind. Suddenly they lifted the basket into the air, 10 and I asked the angel, “Where are they taking the basket?”

11 “To Babylonia,”[c] he answered, “where they will build a house for the basket and set it down inside.”

Eighth Vision: Four Chariots

Finally, I looked up and saw four chariots coming from between two bronze mountains. (A) The first chariot was pulled by red horses, and the second by black horses; (B) the third chariot was pulled by white horses, and the fourth by spotted gray[d] horses.

“Sir,” I asked the angel. “What do these stand for?”

(C) Then he explained, “These are the four winds[e] of heaven, and now they are going out, after presenting themselves to the Lord of all the earth. The chariot with black horses goes toward the north, the chariot with white horses goes toward the west,[f] and the one with spotted horses goes toward the south.”

The horses came out eager to patrol the earth, and the angel told them, “Start patrolling the earth.”

When they had gone on their way, he shouted to me, “Those that have gone to the country in the north will do what the Lord's Spirit[g] wants them to do there.”[h]

The Chosen Leader

The Lord said to me:

10-11 Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah have returned from Babylonia. Collect enough silver and gold from them to make a crown.[i] Then go with them to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah and put the crown on the head of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak.[j] 12-13 (D) Tell him that I, the Lord All-Powerful, say, “Someone will reach out from here like a branch and build a temple for me. I will name him ‘Branch,’ and he will rule with royal honors. A priest will stand beside his throne,[k] and the two of them will be good friends. 14 This crown will be kept in my temple as a reminder and will be taken care of by Heldai,[l] Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah.”[m]

15 When people from distant lands come and help build the temple of the Lord All-Powerful, you will know that the Lord is the one who sent me. And this will happen, if you truly obey the Lord your God.

A Question about Going without Eating

On the fourth day of Chislev, the ninth month of the fourth year that Darius was king of Persia,[n] the Lord again spoke to me. 2-3 It happened after the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer with Regem-Melech and his men to ask the priests in the Lord's temple and the prophets to pray for them. So they prayed, “Should we mourn and go without eating during the fifth month,[o] as we have done for many years?”

4-5 It was then that the Lord All-Powerful told me to say to everyone in the country, including the priests:

For 70 years you have gone without eating during the fifth and seventh months of the year. But did you really do it for me? And when you eat and drink, isn't it for your own enjoyment? My message today is the same one I commanded the earlier prophets[p] to speak to Jerusalem and its villages when they were prosperous, and when all of Judah, including the Southern Desert and the hill country, was filled with people.

8-9 So once again, I, the Lord All-Powerful, tell you, “See that justice is done and be kind and merciful to one another! 10 Don't mistreat widows or orphans or foreigners or anyone who is poor, and stop making plans to hurt each other.”

11-12 But everyone who heard those prophets, stubbornly refused to obey. Instead, they turned their backs on everything my Spirit[q] had commanded the earlier prophets to preach. So I, the Lord, became angry 13 and said, “You people paid no attention when I called out to you, and now I'll pay no attention when you call out to me.”

14 That's why I came with a whirlwind and scattered them among foreign nations, leaving their lovely country empty of people and in ruins.[r]

The Lord's Promises to Zion

The Lord All-Powerful said to me:

I love Zion so much that her enemies make me angry. I will return to Jerusalem and live there on Mount Zion. Then Jerusalem will be known as my faithful city, and Zion will be known as my holy mountain.

Very old people with walking sticks will once again sit around in Jerusalem, while boys and girls play in the streets. This may seem impossible for my people who are left, but it isn't impossible for me, the Lord All-Powerful. I will save those who were taken to lands in the east and the west, and I will bring them to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, faithful to bring about justice.

I am the Lord All-Powerful! So don't give up. Think about the message my prophets spoke when the foundation of my temple was laid. 10 Before that time, neither people nor animals were rewarded for their work, and no one was safe anywhere, because I had turned them against each other.

11 My people, only a few of you are left, and I promise not to punish you as I did before. 12 Instead, I will make sure that your crops are planted in peace and your vineyards are fruitful, that your fields are fertile, and the dew falls from the sky. 13 People of Judah and Israel, you have been a curse to the nations, but I will save you and make you a blessing to them. So don't be afraid or lose courage.

14 When your ancestors made me angry, I decided to punish you with disasters, and I didn't hold back. 15 Now you no longer need to be afraid. I have decided to treat Jerusalem and Judah with kindness. 16 (E) But you must be truthful with each other, and in court you must give fair decisions that lead to peace. 17 Don't ever plan evil things against others or tell lies under oath. I, the Lord, hate such things.

A Time of Celebration

18 The Lord All-Powerful told me to say:

19 People of Judah, I, the Lord, demand that whenever you go without food as a way of worshiping me, it should become a time of celebration. No matter if it's the fourth month, the fifth month, the seventh month, or the tenth month, you should have a joyful festival. So love truth and live at peace.

20 I tell you that people will come here from cities everywhere. 21 Those of one town will go to another and say, “We're going to ask the Lord All-Powerful to treat us with kindness. Come and join us.”

22 Many people from strong nations will come to Jerusalem to worship me and to ask me to treat them with kindness. 23 When this happens, ten people from nations with different languages will grab a Jew by his clothes and say, “Let us go with you. We've heard that God is on your side.” I, the Lord All-Powerful, have spoken!

Footnotes

  1. 5.1 scroll: A roll of paper or special leather used for writing on.
  2. 5.6 what … mind: Hebrew; one ancient translation “the sin of everyone in the land.”
  3. 5.11 Babylonia: The Hebrew text has “Shinar,” an ancient name for Babylonia.
  4. 6.3 spotted gray: Or “strong.”
  5. 6.5 winds: Or “spirits.” The Hebrew word may mean either.
  6. 6.6 goes toward the west: Or “follows behind.”
  7. 6.8 Lord's Spirit: Or “Lord.”
  8. 6.8 will do … to do there: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  9. 6.10,11 a crown: Two ancient translations; Hebrew “some crowns.”
  10. 6.10,11 Heldai … Jehozadak: Or “Go to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah, where you will find Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have returned from Babylonia. Collect enough silver and gold from them to make a crown. Then put it on the head of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak.”
  11. 6.12,13 stand beside his throne: Or “sit on a throne.”
  12. 6.14 Heldai: One ancient translation; Hebrew “Helem.”
  13. 6.14 Josiah: One ancient translation; Hebrew “Hen.”
  14. 7.1 Chislev … fourth year … king of Persia: Chislev, the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-November to mid-December; the fourth year of the rule of Darius was 518 b.c.
  15. 7.2,3 fifth month: Ab, the fifth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-July to mid-August. The temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in the year 587 or 586 b.c.
  16. 7.7 the earlier prophets: See the note at 1.4.
  17. 7.11,12 my Spirit: Or “I.”
  18. 7.14 leaving their … in ruins: Or “because they had ruined their lovely country.”

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