The Lord Wants His People to Return to Him

1 A message from the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet. Zechariah was the son of Berekiah. Berekiah was the son of Iddo. It was the eighth month of the second year that Darius was king of Persia. Here is what Zechariah said.

² The Lord who rules over all was very angry with your people of long ago. ³ And now he says to us, “Return to me. Then I will return to you,” announces the Lord. ⁴ “Do not be like your people of long ago. The earlier prophets gave them my message. I said, ‘Stop doing what is evil. Turn away from your sinful practices.’ But they would not listen to me. They would not pay any attention,” announces the Lord. ⁵ “Where are those people now? And what about my prophets? Do they live forever? ⁶ I commanded my servants the prophets what to say. I told them what I planned to do. But your people refused to obey me. So I had to punish them.

“Then they had a change of heart. They said, ‘The Lord who rules over all has punished us because of how we have lived. He was fair and right to do that. He has done to us just what he decided to do.’ ”

A Vision of a Horseman Among Some Myrtle Trees

⁷ A message from the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet. Zechariah was the son of Berekiah. Berekiah was the son of Iddo. The message came during the second year that Darius was king. It was the 24th day of the 11th month. That’s the month of Shebat.

⁸ I had a vision at night. I saw a man sitting on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a valley. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.

⁹ An angel was talking with me. I asked him, “Sir, what are these?”

He answered, “I will show you what they are.”

¹⁰ Then the man standing among the myrtle trees spoke. He said, “They are the messengers the Lord has sent out. He told them to go all through the earth.”

¹¹ They brought a report to the angel of the Lord. He was standing among the myrtle trees. They said to him, “We have gone all through the earth. We’ve found the whole world enjoying peace and rest.”

¹² Then the angel of the Lord spoke up. He said, “Lord, you rule over all. How long will you keep from showing your tender love to Jerusalem? How long will you keep it from the towns of Judah? You have been angry with them for 70 years.” ¹³ So the Lord replied with kind and comforting words. He spoke them to the angel who talked with me.

¹⁴ Then the angel said, “Announce this message. Say, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “I am very jealous for my people in Jerusalem and Zion. ¹⁵ And I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry with my people. But the nations went too far and tried to wipe them out.”

¹⁶ “ ‘So the Lord says, “I will return to Jerusalem. I will show its people my tender love. My temple will be rebuilt there. Workers will use a measuring line when they rebuild Jerusalem,” announces the Lord.

¹⁷ “ ‘He says, “My towns will be filled with good things once more. I will comfort Zion. And I will choose Jerusalem again.” ’ ”

A Vision of Four Horns and Four Skilled Workers

¹⁸ Then I looked up and saw four animal horns. ¹⁹ I spoke to the angel who was talking with me. “What are these horns?” I asked.

He said, “They are the powerful nations that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”

²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four skilled workers. ²¹ I asked, “What are they coming to do?”

He answered, “The horns are the powerful nations that scattered the people of Judah. That made Judah helpless. But these four skilled workers have come to terrify the horns. The workers will destroy the power of those nations. Those nations had used their power to scatter Judah’s people.”

A Vision of a Man Holding a Measuring Line

2 Then I looked up and saw a man. He was holding a measuring line. ² “Where are you going?” I asked.

“To measure Jerusalem,” he answered. “I want to find out how wide and how long it is.”

³ The angel who was talking with me was leaving. At that time, another angel came over to him. ⁴ He said to him, “Run! Tell that young man Zechariah, ‘Jerusalem will be a city that does not have any walls around it. It will have huge numbers of people and animals in it. ⁵ And I myself will be like a wall of fire around it,’ announces the Lord. ‘I will be the city’s glory.’

⁶ “Israel, I have scattered you,” announces the Lord. “I have used the power of the four winds of heaven to do it. Come quickly! Run away from the land of the north,” announces the Lord.

⁷ “Come, people of Zion! Escape, you who live in Babylon!” ⁸ The Lord rules over all. His angel says to Israel, “The Glorious One has sent me to punish the nations that have robbed you of everything. That’s because anyone who hurts you hurts those the Lord loves and guards. ⁹ So I will raise my powerful hand to strike down your enemies. Their own slaves will rob them of everything. Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me.

¹⁰ “ ‘People of Zion, shout and be glad! I am coming to live among you,’ announces the Lord. ¹¹ ‘At that time many nations will join themselves to me. And they will become my people. I will live among you,’ says the Lord. Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. ¹² He will receive Judah as his share in the holy land. And he will choose Jerusalem again. ¹³ All you people of the world, be still because the Lord is coming. He is getting ready to come down from his holy temple in heaven.”