A Vision of a Flying Scroll

5 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying ^(A)scroll! ² And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying ^(B)scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”^{[a] 3} Then he said to me, “This is ^(C)the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who ^(D)steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who ^(E)swears falsely^[b] shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. ⁴ I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of ^(F)him who swears falsely by my name. And ^(G)it shall remain in his house and ^(H)consume it, both timber and stones.”

A Vision of a Woman in a Basket

^5 (I)Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, ^(J)“Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” ⁶ And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is ^(K)the basket^[c] that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity^[d] in all the land.” ⁷ And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! ⁸ And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down ^(L)the leaden weight on its opening.

⁹ Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! ^(M)The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. ¹⁰ Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” ¹¹ He said to me, “To the ^(N)land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”

A Vision of Four Chariots

6 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of ^(O)bronze. ² The first chariot had ^(P)red horses, the second ^(Q)black horses, ³ the third ^(R)white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong.^{[e] 4} Then I answered and said to ^(S)the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” ⁵ And the angel answered and said to me, ^(T)“These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after ^(U)presenting themselves before ^(V)the Lord of all the earth. ⁶ The chariot with the black horses goes toward ^(W)the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward ^(X)the south country.” ⁷ When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and ^(Y)patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, ^(Z)patrol the earth.” ^(AA)So they patrolled the earth. ⁸ Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward ^(AB)the north country have set my Spirit at rest in ^(AC)the north country.”

The Crown and the Temple

⁹ And the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁰ “Take from the exiles ^(AD)Heldai, Tobijah, and ^(AE)Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of ^(AF)Zephaniah. ¹¹ Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, ^(AG)and set it on the head of ^(AH)Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ¹² And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is ^(AI)the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and ^(AJ)he shall build the temple of the Lord. ^13 (AK)It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord ^(AL)and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there^[f] shall be a ^(AM)priest on his throne, ^(AN)and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ ¹⁴ And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as ^(AO)a reminder to ^(AP)Helem,^{[g] (AQ)}Tobijah, ^(AR)Jedaiah, and Hen ^(AS)the son of Zephaniah.

^15 (AT)“And those who are far off shall come and ^(AU)help to build the temple of the Lord. ^(AV)And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ^(AW)And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

A Call for Justice and Mercy

7 ^(AX)In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^(AY)Chislev. ² Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men ^(AZ)to entreat the favor of the Lord, ^3 (BA)saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and ^(BB)the prophets, “Should I weep and ^(BC)abstain in ^(BD)the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: ⁵ “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in ^(BE)the fifth month and in ^(BF)the seventh, for these ^(BG)seventy years, ^(BH)was it ^(BI)for me that you fasted? ^6 (BJ)And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? ^7 (BK)Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed ^(BL)by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, ^(BM)with her cities around her, and the ^(BN)South and the ^(BO)lowland were inhabited?’”

⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^(BP)Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, ^10 (BQ)do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, ^(BR)or the poor, and ^(BS)let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” ¹¹ But ^(BT)they refused to pay attention ^(BU)and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.^{[h] 12 (BV)}They made their hearts diamond-hard ^(BW)lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent ^(BX)by his Spirit through ^(BY)the former prophets. ^(BZ)Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. ^13 (CA)“As I^[i] called, and they would not hear, ^(CB)so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, ^14 (CC)“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all ^(CD)the nations that they had not known. ^(CE)Thus the land they left was desolate, ^(CF)so that no one went to and fro, ^(CG)and the pleasant land was made desolate.”

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

8 And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(CH)I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. ³ Thus says the Lord: ^(CI)I have returned to Zion and ^(CJ)will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, ^(CK)and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, ^(CL)and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. ⁴ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(CM)Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. ⁵ And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. ⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(CN)If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, ^(CO)should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? ⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, ^(CP)I will save my people ^(CQ)from the east country and from the west country, ⁸ and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. ^(CR)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, ^(CS)in faithfulness and in righteousness.”

⁹ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(CT)“Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of ^(CU)the prophets who were present on ^(CV)the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. ¹⁰ For before those days ^(CW)there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. ¹¹ But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. ^12 (CX)For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, ^(CY)and the heavens shall give their dew. ^(CZ)And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. ¹³ And as ^(DA)you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, ^(DB)so will I save you, and ^(DC)you shall be a blessing. ^(DD)Fear not, but ^(DE)let your hands be strong.”

¹⁴ For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(DF)“As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, ¹⁵ so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; ^(DG)fear not. ¹⁶ These are the things that you shall do: ^(DH)Speak the truth to one another; ^(DI)render in your gates judgments ^(DJ)that are true and make for peace; ^17 (DK)do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ^(DL)love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”

¹⁸ And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ¹⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the ^(DM)fourth month and the fast of the ^(DN)fifth and the fast of the ^(DO)seventh and the fast of the ^(DP)tenth shall be to the house of Judah ^(DQ)seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love ^(DR)truth and peace.

²⁰ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. ²¹ The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ^(DS)‘Let us go at once ^(DT)to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ ^22 (DU)Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and ^(DV)to entreat the favor of the Lord. ²³ Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ^(DW)ten men ^(DX)from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for ^(DY)we have heard that God is with you.’”