Zechariah's Call to Repentance

(Isaiah 57:14-21; Jeremiah 3:11-25; Hosea 14:1-3)

1In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD to Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 2The LORD hath been greatly displeased with your fathers. 3Therefore say thou to them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye to me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn to you, saith the LORD of hosts. 4Be ye not as your fathers, to whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken to me, saith the LORD. 5Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? 6But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, As the LORD of hosts thought to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.

A Man among the Myrtle Trees

7Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD to Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 8I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white. 9Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said to me, I will show thee what these are. 10And the man that stood among the myrtle-trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. 11And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle-trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

Mercy Promised to Jerusalem

12Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these seventy years. 13And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comforting words. 14So the angel that communed with me said to me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. 15And I am very greatly displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. 16Therefore thus saith the LORD; I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. 17Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.

The Four Horns and Four Craftsmen

18Then I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. 19And I said to the angel that talked with me, What are these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. 20And the LORD showed me four carpenters. 21Then said I, What come these to do? And he spoke, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head: but these are come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.