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Zechariah 1
Two dated oracles open the book. The first (v.1-6) is a blunt call to a generation rebuilding after exile: don't repeat your fathers, who ignored the former prophets until the words "overtook" them. The second, dated to the month Shebat in Darius's second year, begins the night-visions. Watch the shift from sermon to vision. Zechariah sees a rider among myrtle trees in a ravine, scouts who report "all the earth is at rest" — and an angel who asks how long Jerusalem must wait. The chapter closes with four horns and four craftsmen sent to throw them down.
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In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the LORD’s word came to the prophet Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying,
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“The LORD was very displeased with your fathers.
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Therefore tell them, the LORD of Armies says: ‘Return to me,’ says the LORD of Armies, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD of Armies.
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Don’t you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: The LORD of Armies says, ‘Return now from your evil ways and from your evil doings;’ but they didn’t hear nor listen to me, says the LORD.
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Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
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But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, didn’t they overtake your fathers? “Then they repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Armies determined to do to us, according to our ways and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.’”
- 7
On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the LORD’s word came to the prophet Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying,
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“I had a vision in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses.
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Then I asked, ‘My lord, what are these?’” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.”
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The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to go back and forth through the earth.”
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They reported to the LORD’s angel who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked back and forth through the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and in peace.”
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Then the LORD’s angel replied, “O LORD of Armies, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?”
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The LORD answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words.
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So the angel who talked with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘The LORD of Armies says: “I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
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I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.”
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Therefore the LORD says: “I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it,” says the LORD of Armies, “and a line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.”’
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“Proclaim further, saying, ‘The LORD of Armies says: “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.”’”
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I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns.
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I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
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The LORD showed me four craftsmen.
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Then I asked, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head; but these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.”
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EN el mes octavo, en el año segundo de Darío, fué palabra de Jehová á Zacarías profeta, hijo de Berechîas, hijo de Iddo, diciendo:
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Enojóse Jehová con ira contra vuestros padres.
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Les dirás pues: Así ha dicho Jehová de los ejércitos: Volveos á mí, dice Jehová de los ejércitos, y yo me volveré á vosotros, ha dicho Jehová de los ejércitos.
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No seáis como vuestros padres, á los cuales dieron voces los primeros profetas, diciendo: Así ha dicho Jehová de los ejércitos: Volveos ahora de vuestros malos caminos, y de vuestras malas obras: y no atendieron, ni me escucharon, dice Jehová.
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Vuestros padres, ¿dónde están? y los profetas ¿han de vivir para siempre?
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Empero mis palabras y mis ordenanzas que mandé á mis siervos los profetas, ¿no alcanzaron á vuestros padres? Por eso se volvieron ellos y dijeron: Como Jehová de los ejércitos pensó tratarnos conforme á nuestros caminos, y conforme á nuestras obras, así lo hizo con nosotros.
- 7
A los veinticuatro del mes undécimo, que es el mes de Sebath, en el año segundo de Darío, fué palabra de Jehová á Zacarías profeta, hijo de Berechîas, hijo de Iddo, diciendo:
- 8
Vi de noche, y he aquí un varón que cabalgaba sobre un caballo bermejo, el cual estaba entre los mirtos que había en la hondura; y detrás de él había caballos bermejos, overos, y blancos.
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Entonces dije: ¿Qué son éstos, señor mío? Y díjome el ángel que hablaba conmigo: Yo te enseñaré qué son éstos.
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Y aquel varón que estaba entre los mirtos respondió, y dijo: Estos son los que Jehová ha enviado á recorrer la tierra.
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Y ellos hablaron á aquel ángel de Jehová que estaba entre los mirtos, y dijeron: Hemos recorrido la tierra, y he aquí, toda la tierra está reposada y quieta.
- 12
Y respondió el ángel de Jehová, y dijo: Oh Jehová de los ejércitos, ¿hasta cuándo no tendrás piedad de Jerusalem, y de las ciudades de Judá, con las cuales has estado airado por espacio de setenta años?
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Y Jehová respondió buenas palabras, palabras consolatorias á aquel ángel que hablaba conmigo.
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Y díjome el ángel que hablaba conmigo: Clama diciendo: Así ha dicho Jehová de los ejércitos: Celé á Jerusalem y á Sión con gran celo:
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Y con grande enojo estoy airado contra las gentes que están reposadas; porque yo estaba enojado un poco, y ellos ayudaron para el mal.
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Por tanto, así ha dicho Jehová: Yo me he tornado á Jerusalem con miseraciones; en ella será edificada mi casa, dice Jehová de los ejércitos, y la plomada será tendida sobre Jerusalem.
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Clama aún, diciendo: Así dice Jehová de los ejércitos: Aun serán ensanchadas mis ciudades por la abundancia del bien; y aun consolará Jehová á Sión, y escogerá todavía á Jerusalem.
- 18
Después alcé mis ojos, y miré, y he aquí cuatro cuernos.
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Y dije al ángel que hablaba conmigo: ¿Qué son éstos? Y respondióme: Estos son los cuernos que aventaron á Judá, á Israel, y á Jerusalem.
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Mostróme luego Jehová cuatro carpinteros.
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Y yo dije: ¿Qué vienen éstos á hacer? Y respondióme, diciendo: Estos son los cuernos que aventaron á Judá, tanto que ninguno alzó su cabeza; mas éstos han venido para hacerlos temblar, para derribar los cuernos de las gentes, que alzaron el cuerno sobre la tierra de Judá para aventarla.
The seventy years, and an angel's complaint
The turn is in verse 12: the LORD's angel voices the question the people can't, asking how long mercy will be withheld "these seventy years." The unsettling report that the nations are at ease (v.11, 15) is not good news here — their comfort came at Judah's expense.
The four horns that scattered Judah are answered by four craftsmen who terrify and cast them down (v.18-21). It sets the pattern for the visions to follow: a disturbing image, a question, an interpreting angel, and a reversal in Jerusalem's favor.
Context layers
Keep these closed by default and open them only when you want more context.
- MercyWhat mercy means in the Bible, how it differs from sentimentality, and where Scripture shows its depth most clearly.
- PeaceWhat peace means in the Bible, how it relates to reconciliation with God, and why it is more than calm feelings or conflict avoidance.
- Fear of the LordWhat the fear of the Lord means in the Bible, how it relates to wisdom, reverence, obedience, and trust.
- Psalms 103:8-13Key passage connected to Mercy.
- Luke 18:13-14Key passage connected to Mercy.
- Ephesians 2:4-5Key passage connected to Mercy.
- Isaiah 9:6-7Key passage connected to Peace.
- Romans 5:1Key passage connected to Peace.
- Ephesians 2:14-18Key passage connected to Peace.
- Proverbs 1:7Key passage connected to Fear of the Lord.
- Psalms 111:10Key passage connected to Fear of the Lord.
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