Zechariah 1

1In the eighth month of the second year of the reign of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Addo the prophet, saying,

2'The Lord has been very angry with your fathers,

3and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Almighty: 'Return to Me, and I will return to you,' says the Lord,

4'And do not become like your fathers, whom the former prophets accused, saying, 'Thus says the Lord Almighty: 'Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.' ' But they did not pay attention or heed Me,' says the Lord.

5'Your fathers—where are they? And the prophets—will they live forever?

6But receive My words and My ordinances as I commanded by My Spirit to My servants the prophets who overtook your fathers.' And they answered and said, 'As the Lord Almighty determined to deal with us, according to our ways and according to our practices, thus He dealt with us.' ' '

7In the second year of the reign of Darius, on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, this is the month Sabat, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Addo the prophet, saying,

8I saw a vision in the night, and behold, a man was mounted on a red horse, and he stood in the midst of the two shaded mountains, and behind him were red, dapple gray, piebald, and white horses.

9And I said, 'My lord, what are these?' And the angel talking to me said, 'I will show you what these are.'

10And the man who stood in the midst of the mountains replied and said to me, 'These are those whom the Lord sent forth to go out into all the earth.'

11And they answered the Angel of the Lord, who stood in the midst of the mountains, and said, 'We have gone out into all the earth, and behold, all the earth is inhabited and is at peace.'

12Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, 'O Lord Almighty, how long will You show no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, which You disregarded these seventy years?'

13And the Lord Almighty replied to the angel who was speaking to me with kind and comforting words.

14And the angel speaking to me said to me, 'Cry out, saying, 'Thus says the Lord Almighty: 'I have been jealous for both Jerusalem and Zion with great jealousy,

15and I am exceedingly angry with the nations joining together against her, with whom I was only a little angry, but then they joined together with evil intent.'

16Therefore, thus says the Lord: 'I shall return to Jerusalem with compassion, and in her My house shall be rebuilt,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and a measuring line shall indeed be stretched out over Jerusalem.' ' '

17And the angel talking to me said to me, 'Cry out again, saying, 'Thus says the Lord Almighty: 'Cities shall yet overflow with prosperity, and hereafter the Lord will have mercy on Zion and will choose Jerusalem.' ' '