Zechariah 1:9-21 ▼

9 Then I said, |My lord, what are these?| And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, |I will show you what these are.|

10 And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, |These are those whom the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.|

11 So they answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees and said, |We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is peaceful and quiet.|

12 Then the angel of the LORD said, |O LORD of hosts, how long will You have no compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been indignant these seventy years?|

13 The LORD answered the angel who was speaking with me with gracious words, comforting words.

14 So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, |Proclaim, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, |I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.

15 |But I am very angry with the nations who are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster.|

16 Therefore thus says the LORD, |I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it,| declares the LORD of hosts, |and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.|'

17 |Again, proclaim, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, |My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.|'|

18 Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, [there were] four horns.

19 So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, |What are these?| And he answered me, |These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.|

20 Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.

21 I said, |What are these coming to do?| And he said, |These are the horns which have scattered Judah so that no man lifts up his head; but these [craftsmen] have come to terrify them, to throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up [their] horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.|