23ON THE DAY <THE> THAT [THE] UTTERANCE OF YAHWEH OF HOSTS I WILL TAKE YOU O ZERUBBABEL [THE] SON OF SHEALTIEL SERVANT MY [THE] UTTERANCE OF YAHWEH AND I WILL MAKE YOU LIKE <THE> SIGNET-RING FOR <IN> YOU I HAVE CHOSEN [THE] UTTERANCE OF YAHWEH OF HOSTS 23On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will take you, My servant, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and I will make you like My signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of Hosts.”
1IN THE MONTH <THE> EIGHTH IN YEAR TWO OF DARIUS IT CAME [THE] WORD OF YAHWEH TO ZECHARIAH [THE] SON OF BEREKIAH [THE] SON OF IDDO THE PROPHET <TO> SAYING A Call to Repentance (Jeremiah 3:11–25; Hosea 14:1–3) 1In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying:
3AND YOU WILL SAY TO THEM THUS HE SAYS YAHWEH OF HOSTS RETURN TO ME [THE] UTTERANCE OF YAHWEH OF HOSTS SO I MAY RETURN TO YOU HE SAYS YAHWEH OF HOSTS 3So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’
4MAY NOT YOU BE LIKE ANCESTORS YOUR WHOM THEY PROCLAIMED TO THEM THE PROPHETS <THE> FORMER <TO> SAYING THUS HE SAYS YAHWEH OF HOSTS TURN BACK PLEASE FROM WAYS YOUR <THE> EVIL AND DEEDS YOUR <THE> EVIL AND NOT THEY LISTENED AND NOT THEY PAID ATTENTION TO ME [THE] UTTERANCE OF YAHWEH 4Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD.
5ANCESTORS YOUR WHERE? [ARE] THEY AND THE PROPHETS ¿ TO FOREVER DO THEY LIVE 5Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever?
6NEVERTHELESS WORDS MY AND STATUTES MY WHICH I COMMANDED <OBJ.> SERVANTS MY THE PROPHETS ¿ NOT DID THEY OVERTAKE ANCESTORS YOUR AND THEY REPENTED AND THEY SAID JUST AS HE PLANNED YAHWEH OF HOSTS TO DO TO US ACCORDING TO WAYS OUR AND ACCORDING TO DEEDS OUR SO HE HAS DONE WITH US 6But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Hosts purposed to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.’”
7ON DAY TWENTY AND FOUR OF ONE [PLUS] TEN MONTH IT [WAS] [THE] MONTH OF SHEBAT IN YEAR TWO OF DARIUS IT CAME [THE] WORD OF YAHWEH TO ZECHARIAH [THE] SON OF BEREKIAH [THE] SON OF IDDO THE PROPHET <TO> SAYING The Vision of the Horses 7On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat,*NoteCloseShebat is the eleventh month of the Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurring within the months of January and February. in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo
8I SAW THE NIGHT AND THERE! A MAN [WAS] RIDING ON A HORSE RED AND HE [WAS] STANDING BETWEEN THE MYRTLE TREES WHICH [WERE] IN THE HOLLOW AND [WERE] BEHIND HIM HORSES RED SORREL AND WHITE 8I looked out into the night and saw a man riding on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the hollow, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.
9AND I SAID WHAT? [ARE] THESE O LORD MY AND HE SAID TO ME THE ANGEL WHO WAS SPEAKING WITH ME I I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT? THEY [ARE] THESE 9“What are these, my lord?” I asked. And the angel who was speaking with me replied, “I will show you what they are
10AND HE ANSWERED THE MAN WHO WAS STANDING BETWEEN THE MYRTLE TREES AND HE SAID THESE [ARE THOSE] WHOM HE HAS SENT YAHWEH TO GO ABOUT ON THE EARTH 10Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.”
11AND THEY ANSWERED <OBJ.> [THE] ANGEL OF YAHWEH WHO WAS STANDING BETWEEN THE MYRTLE TREES AND THEY SAID WE HAVE GONE ABOUT ON THE EARTH AND THERE! ALL THE EARTH [IS] DWELLING AND [IS] UNDISTURBED 11And the riders answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and tranquil.”
12AND HE ANSWERED [THE] ANGEL OF YAHWEH AND HE SAID O YAHWEH OF HOSTS UNTIL WHEN? YOU NOT WILL YOU HAVE COMPASSION ON <OBJ.> JERUSALEM AND <OBJ.> [THE] CITIES OF JUDAH WHICH YOU HAVE BEEN INDIGNANT THIS SEVENTY YEAR[S] 12Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”
13AND HE ANSWERED YAHWEH <OBJ.> THE ANGEL WHO WAS SPEAKING WITH <THE> ME WORDS GOOD WORDS COMFORT<S> 13So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me.
14AND HE SAID TO ME THE ANGEL WHO WAS SPEAKING WITH ME PROCLAIM <TO> SAYING THUS HE SAYS YAHWEH OF HOSTS I AM JEALOUS FOR JERUSALEM AND FOR ZION JEALOUSY GREAT 14Then the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,
15AND ANGER GREAT I [AM] ANGRY TOWARDS THE NATIONS <THE> AT EASE WHICH I I WAS ANGRY A LITTLE AND THEY THEY HAVE HELPED FOR EVIL 15but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.*NoteCloseOr they have overdone the punishment ’
16<TO> THEREFORE THUS HE SAYS YAHWEH I HAVE RETURNED TO JERUSALEM WITH COMPASSION<S> HOUSE MY IT WILL BE REBUILT IN IT [THE] UTTERANCE OF YAHWEH OF HOSTS AND A MEASURING-LINE IT WILL BE STRETCHED OUT OVER JERUSALEM 16Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt, declares the LORD of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’
17AGAIN PROCLAIM <TO> SAYING THUS HE SAYS YAHWEH OF HOSTS AGAIN THEY WILL OVERFLOW CITIES MY FROM GOOD AND HE WILL COMFORT YAHWEH AGAIN <OBJ.> ZION AND HE WILL CHOOSE AGAIN <IN> JERUSALEM 17Proclaim further that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘My cities will again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”
18AND I LIFTED UP <OBJ.> EYES MY AND I SAW AND THERE! FOUR HORNS The Vision of the Horns and the Craftsmen 18Then I looked up and saw four horns.
19AND I SAID TO THE ANGEL WHO WAS SPEAKING WITH ME WHAT? [ARE] THESE AND HE SAID TO ME THESE [ARE] THE HORNS WHICH THEY SCATTERED <OBJ.> JUDAH <OBJ.> ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM 19So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he told me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
21AND I SAID WHAT? [ARE] THESE COMING TO DO AND HE SAID <TO> SAYING THESE [ARE] THE HORNS WHICH THEY SCATTERED <OBJ.> JUDAH ACCORDING TO [THE] MOUTH OF A MAN NOT HE LIFTED UP HEAD HIS AND THEY HAVE COME THESE [CRAFTSMEN] TO TERRIFY <OBJ.> THEM TO THROW DOWN <OBJ.> [THE] HORNS OF THE NATIONS WHICH LIFTED UP A HORN AGAINST [THE] LAND OF JUDAH TO SCATTER IT 21“What are these coming to do?” I asked. And He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head; but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations that have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”