Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

The Conversion of the Nations

Israel's Joy and Restoration

The Command to Rebuild the Temple

1 ^(AU)In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to ^(AV)Zerubbabel the son of ^(AW)Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to ^(AX)Joshua the son of ^(AY)Jehozadak, the high priest: ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” ³ Then the word of the Lord came ^(AZ)by the hand of Haggai the prophet, ^4 (BA)“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while ^(BB)this house lies in ruins? ⁵ Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(BC)Consider your ways. ^6 (BD)You have sown much, and harvested little. ^(BE)You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who ^(BF)earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

⁷ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(BG)Consider your ways. ⁸ Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that ^(BH)I may take pleasure in it and that ^(BI)I may be glorified, says the Lord. ^9 (BJ)You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, ^(BK)I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house ^(BL)that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. ¹⁰ Therefore ^(BM)the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. ¹¹ And ^(BN)I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on ^(BO)the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and ^(BP)on all their labors.”

The People Obey the Lord

^12 (BQ)Then ^(BR)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and ^(BS)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all ^(BT)the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. ¹³ Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, ^(BU)“I am with you, declares the Lord.” ¹⁴ And ^(BV)the Lord stirred up the spirit of ^(BW)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of ^(BX)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all ^(BY)the remnant of the people. And they came and ^(BZ)worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, ^15 (CA)on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

The Coming Glory of the Temple

2 ^(CB)In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: ² “Speak now to ^(CC)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to ^(CD)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, ^3 (CE)‘Who is left among you who saw this house ^(CF)in its former glory? How do you see it now? ^(CG)Is it not as nothing in your eyes? ⁴ Yet now ^(CH)be strong, O ^(CI)Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. ^(CJ)Be strong, O ^(CK)Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ^(CL)Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. ^(CM)Work, for ^(CN)I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, ^5 (CO)according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. ^(CP)My Spirit remains in your midst. ^(CQ)Fear not. ⁶ For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(CR)Yet once more, in a little while, ^(CS)I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. ⁷ And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and ^(CT)I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. ^8 (CU)The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. ^9 (CV)The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And ^(CW)in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”

Blessings for a Defiled People

^10 (CX)On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, ^(CY)in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, ¹¹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(CZ)Ask the priests about the law: ¹² ‘If someone carries ^(DA)holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, ^(DB)“No.” ¹³ Then Haggai said, ^(DC)“If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body ^(DD)touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” ¹⁴ Then Haggai answered and said, ^(DE)“So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. ¹⁵ Now then, ^(DF)consider from this day onward.^[d] Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, ¹⁶ how did you fare? ^(DG)When^[e] one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. ^17 (DH)I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, ^(DI)yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. ^18 (DJ)Consider from this day onward, ^(DK)from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since ^(DL)the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, ^(DM)consider: ^19 (DN)Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on ^(DO)I will bless you.”

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet

²⁰ The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai ^(DP)on the twenty-fourth day of the month, ²¹ “Speak to ^(DQ)Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, ^(DR)I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, ²² and ^(DS)to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and ^(DT)overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, ^(DU)every one by the sword of his brother. ²³ On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O ^(DV)Zerubbabel ^(DW)my servant, the son of ^(DX)Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you ^(DY)like a^[f] signet ring, ^(DZ)for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”

A Call to Return to the Lord

1 In the eighth month, ^(EA)in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^(EB)Zechariah, the son of ^(EC)Berechiah, son of ^(ED)Iddo, saying, ^2 (EE)“The Lord was very angry with your fathers. ³ Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: ^(EF)Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and ^(EG)I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. ^4 (EH)Do not be like your fathers, ^(EI)to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^(EJ)Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But ^(EK)they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. ⁵ Your fathers, where are they? And ^(EL)the prophets, do they live forever? ^6 (EM)But my words and my statutes, which I commanded ^(EN)my servants the prophets, did they not ^(EO)overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ^(EP)‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for ^(EQ)our ways and ^(ER)deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”

A Vision of a Horseman

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^(ES)Zechariah, the son of ^(ET)Berechiah, son of ^(EU)Iddo, saying, ⁸ “I saw in the night, and behold, ^(EV)a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were ^(EW)red, sorrel, and white horses. ⁹ Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ ^(EX)The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ ¹⁰ So ^(EY)the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ^(EZ)‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to ^(FA)patrol the earth.’ ¹¹ And they answered ^(FB)the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ^(FC)‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth ^(FD)remains at rest.’ ¹² Then ^(FE)the angel of the Lord said, ^(FF)‘O Lord of hosts, ^(FG)how long will you ^(FH)have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these ^(FI)seventy years?’ ¹³ And the Lord answered ^(FJ)gracious and comforting words to ^(FK)the angel who talked with me. ¹⁴ So ^(FL)the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(FM)I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. ^15 (FN)And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are ^(FO)at ease; ^(FP)for while I was angry but a little, ^(FQ)they furthered the disaster. ¹⁶ Therefore, thus says the Lord, ^(FR)I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; ^(FS)my house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and ^(FT)the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. ¹⁷ Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(FU)My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, ^(FV)and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again ^(FW)choose Jerusalem.’”

A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen

^18 [g] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^(FX)four horns! ¹⁹ And I said to ^(FY)the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, ^(FZ)“These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. ²¹ And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, ^(GA)“These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come ^(GB)to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations ^(GC)who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

Rejoicing in Heaven

19 After this I heard ^(A)what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

³ Once more they cried out,

⁴ And ^(G)the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” ⁵ And from the throne came a voice saying,

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

⁶ Then I heard what seemed to be ^(J)the voice of a great multitude, like ^(K)the roar of many waters and ^(L)like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

for the fine linen is ^(Q)the righteous deeds of the saints.

⁹ And the angel said^[a] to me, “Write this: ^(R)Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, ^(S)“These are the true words of God.” ¹⁰ Then ^(T)I fell down at his feet to worship him, ^(U)but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to ^(V)the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on a White Horse

¹¹ Then I saw ^(W)heaven opened, and behold, ^(X)a white horse! The one sitting on it is called ^(Y)Faithful and True, and ^(Z)in righteousness he judges and makes war. ^12 (AA)His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are ^(AB)many diadems, and he has ^(AC)a name written that no one knows but himself. ¹³ He is clothed in ^(AD)a robe dipped in^[b] blood, and the name by which he is called is ^(AE)The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies of heaven, ^(AF)arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, ^(AG)were following him on white horses. ^15 (AH)From his mouth comes a sharp sword ^(AI)with which to strike down the nations, and ^(AJ)he will rule^[c] them with a rod of iron. ^(AK)He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh ^(AL)he has a name written, ^(AM)King of kings and Lord of lords.

¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to ^(AN)all the birds that fly directly overhead, ^(AO)“Come, gather for ^(AP)the great supper of God, ^18 (AQ)to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,^[d] both small and great.” ¹⁹ And I saw ^(AR)the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies ^(AS)gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. ²⁰ And the beast was captured, and with it ^(AT)the false prophet ^(AU)who in its presence^[e] had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who ^(AV)worshiped its image. These two were ^(AW)thrown alive into the lake of ^(AX)fire that burns with sulfur. ²¹ And the rest were slain by the sword ^(AY)that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and ^(AZ)all the birds were gorged with their flesh.