Zechariah 1-8
The Voice
1 During the eighth month of the second year of the reign of Persian King Darius, the word of the Eternal One came to the prophet Zechariah (Berechiah’s son and Iddo’s grandson).
Message: 2 The Eternal became very angry with your ancestors. That’s why He turned His back on them. 3 Now, tell your people what the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies, has to say: “Return to Me, so I may turn back to you.” This is the message the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, burdens you with today, Zechariah.
4 Do not be like your fathers and mothers, whom the prophets of their own time warned, “Here is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has to say: Turn away from your evil thoughts and your evil acts.” Even then they did not listen to Me. That was the message the Eternal One burdened His prophets with a generation ago.
Eternal One (to Zechariah): 5 Where are your ancestors now? And what about the prophets I sent to warn them? They did not live forever, did they? 6 Didn’t My words and My rules that I dictated through My servants the prophets outlive your rebellious ancestors? That’s why they repented eventually and realized, “The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has done to us exactly what He decided He would do if we behaved this way. His punishments match our evil thoughts and acts.”
Zechariah has a series of eight visions one night in early 519 b.c. These visions are filled with symbols, numbers, unusual sights, and distinct sounds. In order to understand what he is seeing, God sends a heavenly messenger to serve as Zechariah’s guide and interpreter. All the visions relate to some aspect of the restoration of Jerusalem and her people.
7 On the 24th day of the 11th month (called Shebat by the Babylonians) of the 2nd year of the reign of Persian King Darius, the word of the Eternal came to me, the prophet Zechariah (Berechiah’s son and Iddo’s grandson). This is what happened: 8 During the night, I had eight visions. I opened my eyes, and there was a man riding a red horse and bringing a message. He was in the middle of a stand of ever-blooming myrtle trees down in the lowest part of the Kidron Valley. Behind him stood horses of red, tan, and white.
This is not just any messenger who comes to Zechariah in his vision; he is a heavenly messenger whom Zechariah addresses as “lord.”
Zechariah: 9 What are they, my lord?
Heavenly Messenger: I will show you.
10 The man standing among the myrtle trees explained.
Heavenly Messenger: The horses and their riders have been sent by the Eternal to patrol the whole earth.
11 And they began to give reports to the Special Messenger of the Eternal One, who was standing among the myrtle trees.
Patrols: We have traveled back and forth across the surface of the whole earth and found it resting peacefully.
Special Messenger of the Eternal: 12 O Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, how long will You keep Your mercy from Jerusalem? How long will You keep Your mercy from the cities of Judah, which have endured Your anger for the last 70 years?
13 The Eternal One answered him, speaking kind and comforting words to the heavenly messenger who had been talking to me. He shared with me the message.
Special Messenger of the Eternal (to Zechariah): 14 Tell everyone these words of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies: “I am very jealous for the people of Jerusalem and Zion. 15 Also, I am very angry with those nations that feel at ease. I was only slightly angry with these other nations, but when they attacked more ruthlessly than I commanded them to, they made the situation much worse for themselves. 16 Here’s what I will do: I, the Eternal One, will turn back to Jerusalem with that mercy they’ve missed for 70 years. My temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem,” says the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies; “surveyors will stretch out their measuring lines over Jerusalem, and craftsmen will return to rebuild it.” 17 You must reiterate to your people what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, says: “My cities will once again be so prosperous, they will overflow. Once again I will comfort the people of Zion, and once again I will choose Jerusalem as My earthly home.”
18 That night I had a second vision of God’s wrath. I looked up and saw four horns.
In a second vision of the power of God’s judgment, God’s people are oppressed by the nations, who are represented by four horns.
Zechariah (to the heavenly messenger): 19 What are these?
Heavenly Messenger: These are the horns of the nations that have been raised in battles to scatter and oppress Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.
20 Then the Eternal showed me four craftsmen.
Zechariah: 21 And what are these people coming to do?
Heavenly Messenger: These are the horns of the nations that have scattered the people of Judah, and because of them, no one may lift his head up in dignity. The craftsmen have come to wreak havoc and inflict terror on the nations who own the horns, to strike down those who raised their horns before attacking Judah and sending her people into exile.
2 That night I had a third vision. I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
Zechariah: 2 Where are you going with that?
Surveyor: I am going to measure the city of Jerusalem to find out how wide and how long it is so that a wall may be built around it.
A third vision looks forward to a time of restoration and the coming of God’s Anointed One when things will be set right.
3 Then the heavenly messenger who had been answering my questions since my first vision left my side, and a second messenger came and met him.
Second Messenger: 4 Go quickly, and tell that young surveyor with the measuring line, “Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the vast number of people and all their domesticated animals living in it.” 5 For the Eternal One says, “Instead of a wall of stone, I will be a wall of fire protecting her all around, and I will be the shining glory within her.”
Eternal One (to Zechariah): 6 Tell all the Israelites to hear My message: “Up! Flee from your oppressors in the north. I have scattered you far across this earth, as if you were the four winds of heaven, and now I call you to return.” 7 Then tell My people in Jerusalem to hear My message: “Escape from subservience to daughter Babylon and go to Zion!”
8 So said the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.
After His glory has arrived in the city, He will send me to the nations that stripped you bare, Jerusalem, because any nation who harms you harms the apple of His eye.
Eternal One: 9 Watch what I’m going to do: I am ready to wave My hand over them to command punishment, and their own slaves will turn against them and strip them bare.
When these things happen, you will know the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has sent me as His prophet.
Eternal One: 10 Sing out loud and be happy, daughter Zion, because you will see Me coming and I will live among you. I, the Eternal One, promise this. 11 When that day comes, many other nations will join with Me, and their people will become My people. Still I will live among you, my covenant people.
When these things happen, you will know the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has sent me to you. 12 The Eternal will inherit Judah as His share in the holy land, and He will again choose Jerusalem as His city. 13 Hush, all people! Be silent before the Eternal, for He has awakened and has come in glory to Jerusalem from His holy home in heaven.
3 Then the heavenly messenger showed me a fourth vision: Joshua, the high priest, was standing in front of the Eternal’s Special Messenger who was presiding over a heavenly council meeting. Standing to Joshua’s right was the one called the Accuser.[a] He was ready to argue that Joshua was unworthy to serve as high priest.
In this vision Zechariah sees a heavenly court. Joshua the high priest is on trial, charged with impurity and accused of being unfit to serve as high priest. The Accuser appears in the role of a prosecuting attorney, bringing charges and attempting to undermine the credibility of the one person God wants to lead His people. But the Judge will have none of it.
Eternal One (to the Accuser): 2 I am reprimanding you, Accuser. I, the Eternal One, have chosen Jerusalem as My own, saved her from My fiery wrath as if she were a wooden poker just pulled from destruction in a fire.
3 Joshua stood motionless before the Eternal’s messenger, still dressed in filth-covered clothes, as if recently returned from captivity.
Special Messenger of the Eternal (to the other heavenly council members): 4 Remove the filth-covered clothes from this man.
(to Joshua) Just as I have taken away your dirty clothes, I have taken away your guilt from you. In place of those clothes, I will dress you in pure, expensive garments. Then you will be ready to serve God and lead the festival.
Zechariah (to the Eternal’s Special Messenger): 5 Your fellow council members should put a pure turban befitting of the high priest on his head. It will indicate his dignity.
So they placed a pure turban on his head and finished dressing him in his new clothes while the Eternal’s Special Messenger stood by, supervising the cleansing. Joshua could now safely approach God.
6 The Eternal’s Special Messenger then stood before Joshua and cautioned him.
Special Messenger of the Eternal: 7 Listen to what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has to say: “If you bind yourself to Me, walk according to My teachings, and perform your priestly duties without fail; then you will be in charge of My house in Jerusalem, you will organize the activities in the courtyards surrounding the most holy place, and I will give you a place among all My heavenly council members gathered here. 8 Listen to Me, Joshua the high priest—you and your colleagues who maintain the temple alongside you. These men are a sign of wonders to come. Watch, because I am going to bring My servant, who is the Branch of David, to lead you.” 9 The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has this to say: “You will see the stone I set before Joshua: on it are seven eyes, on it I will engrave a special word, and in a single day I will purge guilt from the land. 10 And on that day I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, promise everyone will invite one another to sit under the shade of his own vine and fig tree and be at peace.”
4 The heavenly messenger who had been talking with me returned and stirred me, as if I had been asleep. It was time for a fifth vision.
Heavenly Messenger: 2 What do you see before you?
A fifth vision shows the lamp of God’s grace completing what has begun.
Zechariah: I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl on top of it and seven oil lamps on it. Each of the seven lamps has a spout, which the wicks lie in to soak up oil as they’re burned. 3 There are also two olive trees nearby: one on the right and the other on the left of the bowl.
4 But what are these things, lord?
Heavenly Messenger: 5 Do you not know what they are?
Zechariah: No, lord. I don’t.
Heavenly Messenger (changing the subject): 6 The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has said this to Zerubbabel: “Your strength and prowess will not be enough to finish My temple, but My Spirit will be.” And He says this to those thwarting Zerubbabel’s efforts: 7 “Who are you, O mighty mountain of opposition? Before Zerubbabel, you will become nothing more than a smooth plain, and he will quarry the capstone and bring it out to the sound of people shouting, ‘God, grant it Your grace! God bless it!’”
8 The word of the Eternal came to me again to reiterate what was just reported.
Heavenly Messenger: 9 Zerubbabel’s very own hands have laid the foundation of this new temple, and his hands will complete it. When he does, it will be clear to you that the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has sent me to you. 10 Now all who have frowned on the day when only slight progress was made to reconstruct the temple will celebrate when they see the stone that centers the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel, who will survey Jerusalem.
(finally answering his earlier question) The seven lamps on top of the lampstand are the eyes of the Eternal One, diligently searching the earth.
Zechariah (to the heavenly messenger): 11 What are the two olive trees, the ones on the right and left of the lampstand? What do these mean?
12 (persisting) And the two fruitful olive branches that extend toward the lampstand, the ones supported by the two gold pipes pouring out their gold oil—what do these mean?
Heavenly Messenger: 13 Do you not know what they are?
Zechariah: No, lord. I don’t.
Heavenly Messenger: 14 The olive trees are the two men who have been anointed with fresh oil, Zerubabbel and Joshua. They will rule Jerusalem jointly, one over politics and one over religion, and serve the Master over all the earth.
5 That night I had a sixth vision. I looked up and saw a large scroll flying.
Heavenly Messenger: 2 What do you see before you?
A sixth vision reveals the righteous ness held in God’s word, the true measure by which all are judged.
Zechariah: I see a large scroll flying. It’s at least 30 feet long and 15 feet wide.
Heavenly Messenger: 3 This scroll is God’s curse of judgment that blankets all the land. On one side, it is written that all who steal will be banished from the land. On the other side, it says that all who break their solemn vows will be banished. 4 The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, says, “I will dispatch this curse of judgment into the home of every thief and every perjurer who invokes My name. The decree will remain through the night in that house until it destroys everything, even its wood and stone.”
5 The heavenly messenger who had been talking with me went out. It was time for a seventh vision.
Heavenly Messenger: Look up. What do you see moving forward?
A seventh vision explains that the wickedness infecting the world will one day be contained by the agents of God.
Zechariah: 6 What is it?
Heavenly Messenger: It is a six-gallon basket[b] moving forward. Like the scroll, it, too, is a mark of judgment carrying the iniquity that they committed in the land.
7 Suddenly, the basket’s lead cover was lifted, and I saw a woman inside. She seemed to want out.
Heavenly Messenger: 8 This is Lady Wickedness.
The messenger pushed the woman back into the basket and replaced the basket’s stone (that is, its lead cover) over the mouth so she’d stay inside it. 9 Then in this vision, I looked up and saw two women moving forward with wings resembling the wings of storks. With the power of the wind in their wings, they lifted the basket up to a place somewhere far away, between heaven and earth.
Zechariah: 10 Where are they taking the basket?
Heavenly Messenger: 11 It is being delivered to the land of Shinar, which you know as Babylon. A temple is being built for it there; and once it is ready, they will put the basket on its own altar cart. Let the Babylonians worship what God has condemned.
When Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem in 586 b.c., he carries her chief citizens off into exile in Babylon. Thousands don’t survive the brutal journey. Those who do must start their lives over in a hostile land where they are subjects of violence, slavery, and every manner of wickedness. That’s why Babylon becomes synonymous with evil. In this vision, the wickedness of Judah is contained and sent far away to Babylon, where it is not only tolerated but is worshiped. Civilization reaches its nadir when wickedness is worshiped.
6 That night I had an eighth vision. I looked up and saw four chariots emerging from between two mountains made of bronze. 2 The first chariot was pulled by red horses; the second was pulled by black horses. 3 The third was hitched to white horses and the fourth to spotted, strong horses.
A final vision echoes the first vision as four great spirits of heaven unleash judgment upon the whole earth.
Zechariah (to the heavenly messenger): 4 What are these, sir?
Heavenly Messenger: 5 These are the four winds of heaven that disperse His power and enact His will. They have been standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole earth awaiting His command. Now the Lord has dispatched them to patrol the earth. 6 The chariot pulled by black horses will travel to the north land, followed by the white horses and then the spotted horses, which travel to the south land.
7 The strong horses and their chariots went on their patrols of the earth with great speed and excitement at God’s command: “Go now. Patrol the entire surface of the earth.” They did as they were told.
Eternal One: 8 Watch, Zechariah. The horses going to the north land have appeased My restless, vengeful Spirit.
9 The word of the Eternal came to me describing how He would fulfill His promise of restoring Jerusalem and His temple.
Message: 10-11 Find three men who have returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon. Their names are Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah. Then collect money, silver and gold, from the Babylonians for rebuilding Jerusalem, and travel to the house of Josiah (Zephaniah’s son) who has also returned from Babylon. You will find Joshua (Jehozadak’s son) there. With the money you took from the Babylonians, fashion a crown for Joshua, the high priest, and place it on his head.
12 Once Joshua accepts the crown, tell him these words from the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies: “Pay attention to a man who is named ‘Branch.’ He will branch out from where He is and will build the Eternal’s temple. 13 Yes, He is the temple builder of the Eternal One and will carry honor. He will sit on the throne of His kingdom to rule, and He will sit on a throne as a priest. Between those two there will be a peace agreement.”
14 The crown will then be taken from Joshua’s head and placed in the temple of the Eternal One as a reminder to Heldai,[c] Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah[d] (Zephaniah’s son). 15 People will come from great distances to assist with the building of the Eternal One’s temple. Tell the men, “If you do exactly what the Eternal, your True God, says, this will happen as you have seen and heard it. Then you will know for certain the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, sent me to you.”
“Branch” is a prophetic title for the Anointed One, that royal descendant of David whom God will send to usher in a new age of justice, peace, and joy. In Zechariah’s day, the people wonder if Zerubbabel is that king. Ac cording to the prophet, God has designs on him as the one to rebuild the temple and occupy the throne, but he is not destined to reign alone as the Anointed One will. Zerubbabel reigns with Joshua, the high priest. Together they are anointed, acclaimed, and crowned leaders to watch over God’s people.
7 Two years after I saw the eight visions, on the fourth day of the ninth month (called Chislev) of the fourth year of the reign of Persian King Darius, the word of the Eternal came to me, Zechariah. 2 The situation was this: the citizens of Bethel had sent a delegation, including Sharezer and Regemmelech and his men, to seek the favor of the Eternal One 3 by questioning the priests working in the temple of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, and by questioning the prophets.
Delegation: During the fifth month of every year, I fast and mourn. Should I continue separating myself from the impure world on these occasions as I have for so many years?
4 The word of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies came to me and told me how to address their question.
Message: 5 Ask the citizens of the land and the priests, “When you fasted and mourned during the fifth and seventh months for the last seventy years, were you really fasting for My benefit or just for yourselves? 6 When you were feasting on holy days, weren’t you just eating and drinking for yourselves instead of honoring Me? 7 Aren’t these the same directives the Eternal One gave you through the work of earlier prophets, when Jerusalem was bustling with people and prosperous, when the villages around Jerusalem throughout the south[e] and the western valleys were settled?”
8 The word of the Eternal came to me, Zechariah, again.
Message: 9 Here is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has to say: “Dispense true justice, have mercy on others, and show all people compassion. 10 Do not take advantage of those who have lost a spouse or a parent, or those who are outsiders or poor. Don’t purpose to do evil toward your fellow Israelites.”
11 Some refused to listen. They turned their backs on this message and plugged their ears. 12 They made their hearts as hard as flint, refusing to listen to the law or the messages the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, sent by His Spirit and enacted through earlier prophets. That’s why His great wrath and calamity fell upon His people.
Eternal One: 13 When I called out, they chose not to hear Me, so when they called out, I returned the favor and decided not to hear them. 14 Like a sweeping tornado, I blew them throughout the nations, scattering them in distant lands where they were aliens, all alone. That’s how the land and its cities were emptied out and left so barren that no one even traveled through it. This is how your pleasant hills and valleys turned into empty lands.
8 1-2 The word of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, came, this time bringing a series of five short messages about hope.
Eternal One: First, I have a jealous desire to be among My people in Zion. I want it more than anything. I am burning with angry jealousy for her and her welfare.
3 Second, I will return to Zion and live in the heart of Jerusalem. So it will then be known far and wide as the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will be called Holy Mountain.
4 Third, elderly men and women will sit in Jerusalem’s streets with staffs in hand because of their old age. 5 The city streets will bustle with boys and girls playing outside on the roads and in the squares.
Ultimately, God’s purpose is redeeming His fallen creation. He initiated His plan of redemption by calling and equipping the children of Abraham to be a light to the nations. Zechariah foresees a day when Jerusalem is the center of the world; when people of every race, creed, and color journey to it; and when the Jews show the rest of the world the way to the one True God.
After chapter 8, the Book of Zechariah changes—its tone, its character, its focus. Chapters 1–8 have been about the people and times immediately after the exile ended, a period when Persia ruled the world. Chapters 9–14 seem removed from that world, its people, and its interests—but just how far removed is uncertain. It is possible that these last chapters were not written by Zechariah, and the debate about who wrote them and when they were written has raged since Jesus died. In 27:9-10 of his Gospel, Matthew identifies the author as Jeremiah, a forerunner of Zechariah. More recent scholarship has further confused the matter because the setting in chapter 9 could describe any time in Jerusalem between Hezekiah’s rule before the exile and the Maccabean revolts 400 years later. This inability to positively identify the author and the audience, along with the lack of historical, contextual markers in the text itself, make these words universally applicable. They may even describe the end time when God judges the nations.
6 Fourth, this may come as a surprise to the remnant of these people, eking out an existence during these harsh days, but what is surprising to you is not for Me.
7 Fifth, I will rescue My people from far and wide, from east to west across the land, 8 and I will bring them home to live in peace in Jerusalem where they will be My people once more. I will be truthful and just to them as their God.
9 Here is an encouragement from the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.
Eternal One: To those of you who have been listening recently to My words through the prophets, who were working for Me when the foundation of the house of the Eternal One was being laid just decades ago, keep yourselves strong so that the temple walls may now be built. 10 Before then no one could earn a living in Jerusalem or in exile. Neither men nor their animals could find work. No one could move about safely for fear of his enemies because I had turned every man against each other. 11 However, that was the past. I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, promise I will not treat the remnant of My people as I once did. 12 What you witness now will be very different—a new day when seeds of peace will be sown in fertile soil. The seeds will grow into sheaves of wheat, and the vines will produce luscious grapes. The ground will yield its crops, and pleasant dew will again fall from the heavens. And I will give these things to My remnant as their inheritance. 13 Because you, people of Judah and Israel, were once the objects of scorn among the nations, I will rescue you and you will become a blessing. Don’t be afraid, and keep yourselves strong.
14 When your ancestors angered Me, I was determined to bring disaster to your generation as well as theirs, and I refused to change My plan. 15 All the same, I have now determined to do good for Jerusalem and the people of Judah. Don’t be afraid. 16 Here are the things you must do: Speak truth to each other. Pursue justice in your courts. Render decisions that reflect truth and bring peace to the community. 17 Do not conspire to bring harm against one another. Do not make promises you don’t intend to keep. I hate all these things.
So said the Eternal.
18 The word of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, came to me with three brief messages about a happy future for His people and the entire world.
Eternal One: 19 From now on, the fasting times of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will be happy occasions and times of celebration for the people of Judah. So you should love truth and pursue peace.
20 Many people from many cities will come streaming to My holy city. 21 The citizens from one of these cities will approach the citizens of another and say, “You must come with me. Let’s journey to Jerusalem to seek the blessings of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, and ask for His favor directly. I am certainly going.”
22 That is why many people and powerful nations will come together as one to Jerusalem to seek the blessings of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, and ask for His favor directly.
Eternal One: 23 A day is coming when 10 men, people from every nation speaking every language will grab the cloak of a Jew and beg him, “Let us come with you because we have heard the True God is among you and we want Him to save us, too.”
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
