Zechariah 4

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 4^[a]

Vision of the Lampstand and Olives. ¹ Then the angel who had talked with me returned and roused me, as though awakening someone who was asleep. ² He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, “I see a lampstand of solid gold, with a bowl at the top. There are seven lamps on it, with seven openings to hold the lamps. ³ Alongside it are two olive trees, one to the right and the other to the left.”

⁴ I then said to the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these things, my lord?” ⁵ The angel who was speaking to me replied, “Do you not know what they are?” “No, my lord,” I answered. ⁶ Then he said to me, “This is the Lord’s message to Zerubbabel: Not by force, nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. ⁷ What are you, O great mountain? Compared with Zerubbabel, you are nothing more than a plain. He will bring out the capstone amid shouts of acclamation.”

⁸ This word of the Lord was then addressed to me as follows: ⁹ “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of the house, and his hands will complete the work. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ¹⁰ For those who spoke disparagingly on that day of small beginnings will rejoice to see the chosen stone in the hands of Zerubbabel. These seven facets are the eyes of the Lord that range throughout the entire earth.”

¹¹ Then I asked the angel, “What is the significance of those two olive trees to the left and the right of the lampstand?” ¹² And I asked him further, “What is the meaning of the two olive branches that pour forth the oil through the two golden channels?”

¹³ “Do you not know what these are?” he said to me. “No, my lord,” I replied. ¹⁴ He answered, “These are the two anointed ones who stand in attendance on the Lord of the entire earth.”