The Coming Glory of the Temple
2 cIn the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: 2 “Speak now to dZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to dJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3 e‘Who is left among you who saw this house fin its former glory? How do you see it now? gIs it not as nothing in your eyes? 4 Yet now hbe strong, O dZerubbabel, declares the Lord. hBe strong, O dJoshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. hBe strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. iWork, for jI am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 kaccording to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. lMy Spirit remains in your midst. mFear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: nYet once more, in a little while, oI will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and pI will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8 qThe silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 9 rThe latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And sin this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”
Blessings for a Defiled People
10 tOn the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, uin the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: vAsk the priests about the law: 12 ‘If someone carries wholy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, x“No.” 13 Then Haggai said, y“If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body ztouches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai answered and said, a“So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. 15 Now then, bconsider from this day onward.1 Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, 16 how did you fare? cWhen2 one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. 17 dI struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, eyet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. 18 bConsider from this day onward, ffrom the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since gthe day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, bconsider: 19 hIs the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on iI will bless you.”
Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet
20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai fon the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to jZerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, kI am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and lto overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and moverthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, nevery one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O jZerubbabel omy servant, the son of pShealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you qlike a3 signet ring, ofor I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”
Zechariah
A Call to Return to the Lord
1 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 e“The Lord was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: fReturn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and gI will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 4 hDo not be like your fathers, ito whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, fReturn from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But jthey did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And kthe prophets, do they live forever? 6 lBut my words and my statutes, which I commanded mmy servants the prophets, did they not novertake your fathers? So they repented and said, o‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for pour ways and pdeeds, 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 bZechariah, the son of cBerechiah, son of dIddo, saying, 8 “I saw in the night, and behold, qa man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were rred, sorrel, and white horses. 9 Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ sThe angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ 10 So qthe man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, t‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to upatrol the earth.’ 11 And they answered sthe angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, u‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth vremains at rest.’ 12 Then sthe angel of the Lord said, w‘O Lord of hosts, whow long will you xhave no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these yseventy years?’ 13 And the Lord answered zgracious and comforting words to sthe angel who talked with me. 14 So sthe angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: aI am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 bAnd I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are cat ease; dfor while I was angry but a little, ethey furthered the disaster. 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord, fI have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; gmy house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and hthe measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: iMy cities shall again overflow with prosperity, jand the Lord will again comfort Zion and again kchoose Jerusalem.’”
A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen
18 1 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, lfour horns! 19 And I said to sthe angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, l“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, l“These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come mto terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations nwho lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”
A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line
2 1 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, oa man with a measuring line in his hand! 2 Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, p“To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” 3 And behold, qthe angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him 4 and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, r‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited sas villages without walls, because of tthe multitude of people and livestock in it. 5 And I will be to her ua wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”
6 Up! Up! vFlee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have wspread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. 7 xUp! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me2 to the nations who plundered you, yfor he who touches you touches zthe apple of his eye: 9 “Behold, aI will shake my hand over them, band they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then cyou will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. 10 dSing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for ebehold, I come fand I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11 gAnd many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. fAnd I will dwell in your midst, and cyou shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 hAnd the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again ichoose Jerusalem.”
13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.
A Vision of Joshua the High Priest
3 Then he showed me jJoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and kSatan1 standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, l“The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has mchosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this na brand2 plucked from the fire?” 3 Now jJoshua was standing before the angel, oclothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to pthose who were standing before him, q“Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, rI have taken your iniquity away from you, and sI will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, t“Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.
6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured jJoshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and ukeep my charge, then you shall vrule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among wthose who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for xthey are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring ymy servant zthe Branch. 9 For behold, on athe stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with bseven eyes,3 I will cengrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and dI will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come eunder his vine and under his fig tree.”
A Vision of a Golden Lampstand
4 And fthe angel who talked with me came again gand woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, ha lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and iseven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are jtwo olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to fthe angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, k“Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to lZerubbabel: mNot by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, nO great mountain? Before lZerubbabel oyou shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward pthe top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 q“The hands of lZerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also rcomplete it. sThen you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 tFor whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see uthe plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
v“These seven vare the eyes of the Lord, wwhich range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these jtwo olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these jtwo branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil1 is poured out?” 13 He said to me, x“Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, y“These are the two anointed ones2 who stand by zthe Lord of the whole earth.”
