Zechariah 5-8

Zechariah 5

¹And I lifted up mine eyes again, and saw, and behold, a flying roll.

²And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I see a flying roll: the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.

³And he said unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole land: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off according to it on this side; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off according to it on that side.

⁴I will cause it to go forth, saith Jehovah of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name; and it shall lodge in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

⁵And the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.

⁶And I said, What is it? And he said, This is the ephah that goeth forth. And he said, This is their resemblance in all the land.

⁷And behold, there was lifted up a round plate of lead; and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.

⁸And he said, This is Wickedness: and he cast her into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

⁹And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a stork; and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens.

¹⁰And I said to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these carry the ephah?

¹¹And he said unto me, To build it a house in the land of Shinar; and it shall be established, and set there upon its own base.

Zechariah 6

¹And I lifted up mine eyes again, and saw, and behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.

²In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;

³and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled, strong horses.

⁴And I spoke and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?

⁵And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

⁶That in which are the black horses goeth forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth towards the south country;

⁷and the strong go forth, and seek to go that they may walk to and fro through the earth. And he said, Go, walk to and fro through the earth. And they walked to and fro through the earth.

⁸And he cried unto me, and spoke unto me, saying, See, these that go forth towards the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.

⁹And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

¹⁰Take gifts of them of the captivity, of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, and come thou the same day, and enter into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, whither they are come from Babylon;

¹¹yea, take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest;

¹²and speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, Behold a man whose name is the Branch; and he shall grow up from his own place, and he shall build the temple of Jehovah:

¹³even he shall build the temple of Jehovah; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

¹⁴And the crowns shall be for Helem, and for Tobijah, and for Jedaiah, and for Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of Jehovah.

¹⁵And they that are far off shall come and build at the temple of Jehovah: and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently hearken to the voice of Jehovah your God.

Zechariah 7

¹And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chislev,

²when Bethel had sent Sherezer and Regem-melech, and his men, to supplicate Jehovah,

³and to speak unto the priests that were in the house of Jehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done now so many years?

⁴And the word of Jehovah of hosts came unto me, saying,

⁵Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye really fast unto me, even unto me?

⁶And when ye ate, and when ye drank, was it not you that were eating and drinking?

⁷Are not these the words that Jehovah cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and at peace, and her cities round about her, when the south and the lowland were inhabited?

⁸And the word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah, saying,

⁹Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew loving-kindness and mercies one to another,

¹⁰and oppress not the widow and the fatherless, the stranger and the afflicted; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

¹¹But they refused to hearken, and turned a rebellious shoulder, and made their ears heavy, that they should not hear.

¹²And they made their heart as an adamant, that they should not hear the law, and the words that Jehovah of hosts sent by his Spirit by the hand of the former prophets: therefore was there great wrath from Jehovah of hosts.

¹³And it came to pass, like as he called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear, saith Jehovah of hosts;

¹⁴and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not, and the land was desolate after them, so that no one passed through nor returned; and they laid the pleasant land desolate.

Zechariah 8

¹And the word of Jehovah of hosts came unto me, saying,

²Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great fury.

³Thus saith Jehovah: I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called, The city of truth; and the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, The holy mountain.

⁴Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his staff in his hand for multitude of days.

⁵And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

⁶Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: If it be wonderful in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be wonderful in mine eyes? saith Jehovah of hosts.

⁷Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country;

⁸and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.

⁹Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, that were in the day that the foundation of the house of Jehovah of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.

¹⁰For before those days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; and there was no peace for him that went out or that came in, because of the distress: for I let loose all men, every one against his neighbour.

¹¹But now I will not be unto the remnant of this people as in the former days, saith Jehovah of hosts;

¹²for the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

¹³And it shall come to pass, like as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear ye not, let your hands be strong.

¹⁴For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Like as I thought to do you evil when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I repented not;

¹⁵so again have I thought in these days to do good unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.

¹⁶These are the things that ye shall do: Speak truth every one with his neighbour; execute truth and the judgment of peace in your gates;

¹⁷and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith Jehovah.

¹⁸And the word of Jehovah of hosts came unto me, saying,

¹⁹Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful gatherings. Love ye then truth and peace.

²⁰Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Yet again shall there come peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities;

²¹and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to supplicate Jehovah, and to seek Jehovah of hosts: I will go also.

²²And many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem, and to supplicate Jehovah.

²³Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: In those days shall ten men take hold, out of all languages of the nations, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you.