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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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Zechariah 1 (WEB)

1
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,
2
“The LORD was very displeased with your fathers.
3
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.
4
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.
5
Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
6
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,
8
“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.
9
Then I asked, ‘My lord, what are these?’” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.”
10
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.”
11
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.”
12
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?”
13
The LORD answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words.
14
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.
15
I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.”
16
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.”’
17
“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.”’”
18
I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns.
19
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.”
20
The LORD showed me four craftsmen.
21
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.”

Zacarias 1 (WPB)

1
No oitavo mês, no segundo ano de Dario, a palavra do SENHOR veio ao profeta Zacarias, filho de Berequias, filho de Ido, dizendo:
2
“O SENHOR irou-se muito contra os seus antepassados.
3
Portanto, diga-lhes: Assim diz o SENHOR dos Exércitos: 'Voltem para mim', diz o SENHOR dos Exércitos, 'e eu voltarei para vocês', diz o SENHOR dos Exércitos.
4
Não sejam como os seus antepassados, a quem os antigos profetas proclamaram, dizendo: Assim diz o SENHOR dos Exércitos: 'Voltem agora dos seus maus caminhos e das suas más obras'; mas eles não me ouviram, nem me deram ouvidos, diz o SENHOR.
5
Seus antepassados, onde eles estão? E os profetas, será que vivem para sempre?
6
Mas as minhas palavras e os meus decretos, que ordenei aos meus servos, os profetas, não alcançaram os seus antepassados? “Então eles se arrependeram e disseram: 'Assim como o SENHOR dos Exércitos determinou fazer conosco, de acordo com os nossos caminhos e de acordo com as nossas práticas, assim ele nos tratou.'”
7
No vigésimo quarto dia do décimo primeiro mês, que é o mês de sebate, no segundo ano de Dario, a palavra do SENHOR veio ao profeta Zacarias, filho de Berequias, filho de Ido, dizendo:
8
“Tive uma visão de noite, e eis que um homem montado em um cavalo vermelho, e ele estava parado entre as murtas que havia num vale; e atrás dele havia cavalos vermelhos, marrons e brancos.
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Então eu perguntei: 'Meu senhor, o que são estes?'” O anjo que falava comigo me disse: “Eu lhe mostrarei o que são estes.”
10
O homem que estava parado entre as murtas respondeu: “Estes são os que o SENHOR enviou para percorrerem a terra.”
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Eles relataram ao anjo do SENHOR que estava parado entre as murtas, e disseram: “Nós percorremos a terra, e eis que toda a terra está tranquila e em paz.”
12
Então o anjo do SENHOR respondeu: “Ó SENHOR dos Exércitos, até quando não terás misericórdia de Jerusalém e das cidades de Judá, contra as quais tens estado indignado nestes setenta anos?”
13
O SENHOR respondeu ao anjo que falava comigo com palavras gentis e consoladoras.
14
Então o anjo que falava comigo me disse: “Proclame, dizendo: 'Assim diz o SENHOR dos Exércitos: “Tenho grande zelo por Jerusalém e por Sião, com um grande zelo.
15
Estou muito irado contra as nações que vivem tranquilas; pois eu estava apenas um pouco irado, mas elas agravaram a calamidade.”'
16
Portanto, assim diz o SENHOR: “Voltei-me para Jerusalém com misericórdia. Minha casa será edificada nela”, diz o SENHOR dos Exércitos, “e uma linha de medir será estendida sobre Jerusalém.”'
17
“Proclame ainda, dizendo: 'Assim diz o SENHOR dos Exércitos: “Minhas cidades transbordarão novamente de prosperidade, e o SENHOR consolará novamente a Sião, e escolherá novamente a Jerusalém.”'”
18
Levantei os meus olhos e vi, e eis que havia quatro chifres.
19
Eu perguntei ao anjo que falava comigo: “O que são estes?” Ele me respondeu: “Estes são os chifres que espalharam Judá, Israel e Jerusalém.”
20
O SENHOR me mostrou quatro artesãos.
21
Então eu perguntei: “O que estes vêm fazer?” Ele disse: “Estes são os chifres que espalharam Judá, de modo que nenhum homem levantou a sua cabeça; mas estes vieram para aterrorizá-los, para derrubar os chifres das nações que levantaram o seu chifre contra a terra de Judá para espalhá-la.”

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.