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

In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

2 The Lord was very angry with your ancestors.

The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.

3 Therefore, say to them: '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.

Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.

4 Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: 'This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds.' But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord.

Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.

5 Where are your ancestors now? And do the prophets live forever?

Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?

6 But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your ancestors? So they repented and said, 'As the Lord of Hosts planned to do to us, according to our ways and our deeds, so He has done to us.'

But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, the prophet, saying:

Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

8 I saw during the night, and behold, a man was riding on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the hollow, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.

I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.

9 Then I asked, 'What are these, my lord?' The angel who was speaking with me answered, 'I will show you what they are.'

Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.

10 And the man standing among the myrtle trees said, 'These are the ones the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.'

And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

11 And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, saying, 'We have gone throughout the earth, and behold, the whole earth is at rest and quiet.'

And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

12 Then the angel of the Lord said, 'Lord of Hosts, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?'

Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?

13 And the Lord answered the angel who was speaking with me with kind and comforting words.

And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.

14 Then the angel who was speaking with me said, 'Proclaim this: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I am very zealous for Jerusalem and Zion with a great jealousy.'

So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

15 But I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they added to the harm.

And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

16 'Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house will be rebuilt, declares the Lord of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.'

Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

17 Proclaim again: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: 'My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.'

Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.