A Vision of Four Chariots
1 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of mbronze. 2 The first chariot had nred horses, the second oblack horses, 3 the third pwhite horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong.1 4 Then I answered and said to qthe angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 And the angel answered and said to me, r“These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after spresenting themselves before tthe Lord of all the earth. 6 The chariot with the black horses goes toward uthe north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward vthe south country.” 7 When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and wpatrol the earth. And he said, “Go, wpatrol the earth.” wSo they patrolled the earth. 8 Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward uthe north country have set my Spirit at rest in uthe north country.”
The Crown and the Temple
9 And the word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take from the exiles xHeldai, Tobijah, and yJedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of zZephaniah. 11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, aand set it on the head of bJoshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is cthe Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and dhe shall build the temple of the Lord. 13 dIt is he who shall build the temple of the Lord eand shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there2 shall be a fpriest on his throne, gand the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ 14 And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as ha reminder to iHelem,3 jTobijah, jJedaiah, and Hen jthe son of Zephaniah.
15 k“And those who are far off shall come and lhelp to build the temple of the Lord. mAnd you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. nAnd this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
A Call for Justice and Mercy
1 oIn the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is pChislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men qto entreat the favor of the Lord, 3 rsaying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and sthe prophets, “Should I weep and tabstain in uthe 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 uthe fifth month and in vthe seventh, for these wseventy years, xwas it xfor me that you fasted? 6 yAnd when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 zWere not these the words that the Lord proclaimed aby the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, bwith her cities around her, and the bSouth and the blowland were inhabited?’”
8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, cRender true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 ddo not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, eor the poor, and flet none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But gthey refused to pay attention hand turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.1 12 iThey made their hearts diamond-hard jlest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent jby his Spirit through kthe former prophets. lTherefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 m“As I2 called, and they would not hear, mso they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14 n“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all othe nations that they had not known. pThus the land they left was desolate, qso that no one went to and fro, rand the pleasant land was made desolate.”
