1In 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 , 2The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers . 3Therefore 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 . 4Be 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 . 5Your fathers , where are they? and the prophets , do they live for ever ? 6But 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.
The Vision of the Horsemen
7Upon 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 , 8I 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 . 9Then 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 . 10And 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 . 11And 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 .
God's Promise of Comfort
12Then 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 ? 13And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words . 14So 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 . 15And 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 . 16Therefore 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 . 17Cry 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 .
The Four Horns and the Craftsmen
18Then lifted I up mine eyes , and saw , and behold four horns . 19And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah , Israel , and Jerusalem . 20And the LORD shewed me four carpenters . 21Then said I, What come these to do ? And he spake , saying , These are the horns which have scattered Judah , so that no man did lift up his head : but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles , which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.