Zechariah 6-7

New International Version

Four Chariots

6 I looked up again, and there before me were four chariots^(A) coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. ²The first chariot had red horses, the second black,^(B) ³the third white,^(C) and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. ⁴I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”

⁵The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits^[a]^(D) of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world.^(E) ⁶The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west,^[b] and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

⁷When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth.^(F) And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.

⁸Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit^[c] rest^(G) in the land of the north.”^(H)

A Crown for Joshua

⁹The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁰“Take silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon.^(I) Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. ¹¹Take the silver and gold and make a crown,^(J) and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua^(K) son of Jozadak.^[d]^(L) ¹²Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch,^(M) and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord.^(N) ¹³It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he^[e] will be a priest^(O) on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’ ¹⁴The crown will be given to Heldai,^[f] Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen^[g] son of Zephaniah as a memorial^(P) in the temple of the Lord. ¹⁵Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the Lord,^(Q) and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.^(R) This will happen if you diligently obey^(S) the Lord your God.”

Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting

7 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah^(T) on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev.^(U) ²The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat^(V) the Lord^(W) ³by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn^(X) and fast in the fifth^(Y) month, as I have done for so many years?”

⁴Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: ⁵“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted^(Z) and mourned in the fifth and seventh^(AA) months for the past seventy years,^(AB) was it really for me that you fasted? ⁶And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?^(AC) ⁷Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets^(AD) when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest^(AE) and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills^(AF) were settled?’”^(AG)

⁸And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: ⁹“This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice;^(AH) show mercy and compassion to one another.^(AI) ¹⁰Do not oppress the widow^(AJ) or the fatherless, the foreigner^(AK) or the poor.^(AL) Do not plot evil against each other.’^(AM)

¹¹“But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly^(AN) they turned their backs^(AO) and covered their ears.^(AP) ¹²They made their hearts as hard as flint^(AQ) and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.^(AR) So the Lord Almighty was very angry.^(AS)

¹³“‘When I called, they did not listen;^(AT) so when they called, I would not listen,’^(AU) says the Lord Almighty.^(AV) ¹⁴‘I scattered^(AW) them with a whirlwind^(AX) among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it.^(AY) This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.^(AZ)’”