[1] In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord
came to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet,
saying, [2] The Lord has been very angry with your fathers: [3] And you are
to say to them, These are the words of the Lord of armies: Come back to me,
says the Lord of armies, and I will come back to you. [4] Be not like your
fathers, to whom the voice of the earlier prophets came, saying, Be turned
now from your evil ways and from your evil doings: but they did not give
ear to me or take note, says the Lord. [5] Your fathers, where are they?
and the prophets, do they go on living for ever? [6] But my words and my
orders, which I gave to my servants the prophets, have they not overtaken
your fathers? and turning back they said, As it was the purpose of the Lord
of armies to do to us, in reward for our ways and our doings, so has he
done. [7] On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month Shebat,
in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, the
son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, [8] I saw in the
night a man on a red horse, between the mountains in the valley, and at his
back were horses, red, black, white, and of mixed colours. [9] Then I said,
O my lord, what are these? And the angel who was talking to me said to me,
I will make clear to you what they are. [10] And the man who was between
the mountains, answering me, said, These are those whom the Lord has sent
to go up and down through the earth. [11] And the man who was between the
mountains, answering, said to the angel of the Lord, We have gone up and
down through the earth, and all the earth is quiet and at rest. [12] Then
the angel of the Lord, answering, said, O Lord of armies, how long will it
be before you have mercy on Jerusalem and on the towns of Judah against
which your wrath has been burning for seventy years? [13] And the Lord gave
an answer in good and comforting words to the angel who was talking to me.
[14] And the angel who was talking to me said to me, Let your voice be loud
and say, These are the words of the Lord of armies: I am greatly moved
about the fate of Jerusalem and of Zion. [15] And I am very angry with the
nations who are living untroubled: for when I was only a little angry, they
made the evil worse. [16] So this is what the Lord has said: I have come
back to Jerusalem with mercies; my house is to be put up in her, says the
Lord of armies, and a line is to be stretched out over Jerusalem. [17] And
again let your voice be loud and say, This is what the Lord of armies has
said: My towns will again be overflowing with good things, and again the
Lord will give comfort to Zion and take Jerusalem for himself.
