1In the eighth month, of the second year of Darius, this word of the LORD came to Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, the prophet:
2“The LORD has been sorely displeased with your fathers.
3Therefore, say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD Almighty, “Turn to Me, and I will turn to you”, says the LORD Almighty.
4“Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets have cried, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD Almighty’, “Turn now from your evil ways, and doings”; but they did not hear, nor obey Me’, says the LORD.
5“Your ancestors, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
6But My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants, the prophets, did they not overtake your ancestors?” And then they returned and said, ‘As the LORD Almighty determined to deal with us, in accordance with our ways, and deeds, so has He dealt with us.’”
7On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, this word of the LORD came to Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, the prophet:
8“I saw by night, and there before me was a Man riding on a red horse, and He stood among the myrtle trees that were in the ravine; and behind Him there were red, sorrel (brown), and white horses.
9Then I said, ‘O my lord, what are these?’ And the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what these are’.
10And then the Man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are they whom the LORD has sent to go throughout the earth”.
11And they reported to the Angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have gone throughout the earth, and found all the earth still, and at rest”.
12Then the Angel of the LORD answered and said, “O LORD Almighty, how long will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which You have had indignation these seventy years?”
13And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with kind and comforting words.
14So then the angel that talked with me said to me, “Proclaim this word from the LORD Almighty: “I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.
15And I am very angry with the nations that are at ease and complacent; for I was only a little displeased, and then their deeds added to their punishment.
16Therefore, thus says the LORD; “I will return to Jerusalem with mercy; and there My house shall be rebuilt”, says the LORD Almighty, “and a measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.
17Proclaim even further: ‘Thus says the LORD Almighty: “My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.
18Then I looked up, and saw four horns.
19And I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he answered, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem”.
20And the LORD showed me four artisans.
21Then I asked, “What have these come to do?” And he answered, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man dared raise his head; but these have come to put fear in them, to cast down the horns of these nations, which lifted their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it. The four horns are apparently the Babylonians, Medes & Persians, Macedonians (Greeks) and Romans. After the victory of Cyrus, Medes and Persians became one kingdom. The Macedonian (Greek) and Roman empires were yet to appear. For each of the four “horns”, there was a “craftsman” or ”artificer” assigned to cleave (lop off) that horn. These four ”artificers”, so assigned, may well be angels. Easy Reader Bible: Purple Letter Edition © 2023 by Jim Musser. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. Bible Hub |
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