1:1The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.1:2Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you "Violence!" and will you not save?1:3Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.1:4Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice goes forth perverted.
1:5"Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you.1:6For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.1:7They are feared and dreaded. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.1:8Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour.1:9All of them come for violence. Their hordes face the desert. He gathers prisoners like sand.1:10Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him. He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen ramp, and takes it.1:11Then he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on. He is indeed guilty, whose strength is his god."
1:12Aren't you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.1:13You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,1:14and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?1:15He takes up all of them with the hook. He catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad.1:16Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good.1:17Will he therefore continually empty his net, and kill the nations without mercy?
2:1I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
2:2Yahweh answered me, "Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who runs may read it.2:3For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won't prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won't delay.2:4Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith.2:5Yes, moreover, wine is treacherous. A haughty man who doesn't stay at home, who enlarges his desire as Sheol, and he is like death, and can't be satisfied, but gathers to himself all nations, and heaps to himself all peoples.2:6Won't all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, 'Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?'2:7Won't your debtors rise up suddenly, and wake up those who make you tremble, and you will be their victim?2:8Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all who dwell in it.2:9Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!2:10You have devised shame to your house, by cutting off many peoples, and have sinned against your soul.2:11For the stone will cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the woodwork will answer it.2:12Woe to him who builds a town with blood, and establishes a city by iniquity!2:13Behold, isn't it of Yahweh of Armies that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?2:14For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.
2:15"Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies!2:16You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh's right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.2:17For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of the animals, which made them afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to every city and to those who dwell in them.
2:18"What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?2:19Woe to him who says to the wood, 'Awake!' or to the mute stone, 'Arise!' Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in its midst.2:20But Yahweh is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him!"
3:1A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, set to victorious music.
For the music director, on my stringed instruments.
1:1The word of Yahweh which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.1:2I will utterly sweep away everything off of the surface of the earth, says Yahweh.1:3I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I will cut off man from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh.1:4I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place: the name of the idolatrous and pagan priests,1:5those who worship the army of the sky on the housetops, those who worship and swear by Yahweh and also swear by Malcam,1:6those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who haven't sought Yahweh nor inquired after him.1:7Be silent at the presence of the Lord Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is at hand. For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice. He has consecrated his guests.1:8It will happen in the day of Yahweh's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, the king's sons, and all those who are clothed with foreign clothing.1:9In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master's house with violence and deceit.1:10In that day, says Yahweh, there will be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills.1:11Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off.1:12It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, "Yahweh will not do good, neither will he do evil."1:13Their wealth will become a spoil, and their houses a desolation. Yes, they will build houses, but won't inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, but won't drink their wine.1:14The great day of Yahweh is near. It is near, and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of Yahweh. The mighty man cries there bitterly.1:15That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,1:16a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements.1:17I will bring distress on men, that they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Yahweh, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.1:18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh's wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.
2:1Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, you nation that has no shame,2:2before the appointed time when the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Yahweh comes on you, before the day of Yahweh's anger comes on you.2:3Seek Yahweh, all you humble of the land, who have kept his ordinances. Seek righteousness. Seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of Yahweh's anger.2:4For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation. They will drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron will be rooted up.2:5Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Yahweh is against you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines. I will destroy you, that there will be no inhabitant.2:6The sea coast will be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks.2:7The coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They will find pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon, they will lie down in the evening, for Yahweh, their God, will visit them, and restore them.2:8I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the children of Ammon, with which they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.2:9Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the survivors of my nation will inherit them.2:10This they will have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of Armies.2:11Yahweh will be awesome to them, for he will famish all the gods of the land. Men will worship him, everyone from his place, even all the shores of the nations.2:12You Cushites also, you will be killed by my sword.2:13He will stretch out his hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness.2:14Herds will lie down in the midst of her, all the animals of the nations. Both the pelican and the porcupine will lodge in its capitals. Their calls will echo through the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds, for he has laid bare the cedar beams.2:15This is the joyous city that lived carelessly, that said in her heart, "I am, and there is none besides me." How she has become a desolation, a place for animals to lie down in! Everyone who passes by her will hiss, and shake their fists.
3:1Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing city!3:2She didn't obey the voice. She didn't receive correction. She didn't trust in Yahweh. She didn't draw near to her God.3:3Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day.3:4Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous people. Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law.3:5Yahweh, in the midst of her, is righteous. He will do no wrong. Every morning he brings his justice to light. He doesn't fail, but the unjust know no shame.3:6I have cut off nations. Their battlements are desolate. I have made their streets waste, so that no one passes by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.3:7I said, "Just fear me. Receive correction, so that her dwelling won't be cut off, according to all that I have appointed concerning her." But they rose early and corrupted all their doings.3:8"Therefore wait for me," says Yahweh, "until the day that I rise up to the prey, for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour on them my indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth will be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.3:9For then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that they may all call on the name of Yahweh, to serve him shoulder to shoulder.3:10From beyond the rivers of Cush, my worshipers, even the daughter of my dispersed people, will bring my offering.3:11In that day you will not be disappointed for all your doings, in which you have transgressed against me; for then I will take away out of the midst of you your proudly exulting ones, and you will no more be haughty in my holy mountain.3:12But I will leave in the midst of you an afflicted and poor people, and they will take refuge in the name of Yahweh.3:13The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity, nor speak lies, neither will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they will feed and lie down, and no one will make them afraid."
3:14Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem.3:15Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is in the midst of you. You will not be afraid of evil any more.3:16In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, "Don't be afraid, Zion. Don't let your hands be slack."3:17Yahweh, your God, is in the midst of you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will rest in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.3:18Those who are sad for the appointed feasts, I will remove from you. They are a burden and a reproach to you.3:19Behold, at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you, and I will save those who are lame, and gather those who were driven away. I will give them praise and honor, whose shame has been in all the earth.3:20At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you; for I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I bring back your captivity before your eyes, says Yahweh.
1:1In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,1:2"This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, 'The time hasn't yet come, the time for Yahweh's house to be built.'"
1:3Then the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai, the prophet, saying,1:4"Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies waste?1:5Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways.1:6You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don't have enough. You drink, but you aren't filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it."
1:7This is what Yahweh of Armies says: "Consider your ways.1:8Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house. I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified," says Yahweh.1:9"You looked for much, and, behold, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?" says Yahweh of Armies, "Because of my house that lies waste, while each of you is busy with his own house.1:10Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit.1:11I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground brings forth, on men, on livestock, and on all the labor of the hands."
1:12Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Yahweh, their God, and the words of Haggai, the prophet, as Yahweh, their God, had sent him; and the people feared Yahweh.
1:13Then Haggai, Yahweh's messenger, spoke Yahweh's message to the people, saying, "I am with you," says Yahweh.
1:14Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of Yahweh of Armies, their God,1:15in the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
2:1In the seventh month, in the twenty-first day of the month, the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet, saying,2:2"Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying,2:3'Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Isn't it in your eyes as nothing?2:4Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,' says Yahweh. 'Be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,' says Yahweh, 'and work, for I am with you,' says Yahweh of Armies.2:5This is the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit lived among you. 'Don't be afraid.'2:6For this is what Yahweh of Armies says: 'Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land;2:7and I will shake all nations. The precious things of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says Yahweh of Armies.2:8The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,' says Yahweh of Armies.2:9'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says Yahweh of Armies; 'and in this place will I give peace,' says Yahweh of Armies."
2:10In the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet, saying,2:11"Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,2:12'If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with his fold touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any food, will it become holy?'"
The priests answered, "No."
2:13Then Haggai said, "If one who is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, will it be unclean?"
The priests answered, "It will be unclean."
2:14Then Haggai answered, "'So is this people, and so is this nation before me,' says Yahweh; 'and so is every work of their hands. That which they offer there is unclean.2:15Now, please consider from this day and backward, before a stone was laid on a stone in the temple of Yahweh.2:16Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty, there were only twenty.2:17I struck you with blight, mildew, and hail in all the work of your hands; yet you didn't turn to me,' says Yahweh.2:18'Consider, please, from this day and backward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, since the day that the foundation of Yahweh's temple was laid, consider it.2:19Is the seed yet in the barn? Yes, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree haven't brought forth. From this day will I bless you.'"
2:20The Word of Yahweh came the second time to Haggai in the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying,2:21"Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, 'I will shake the heavens and the earth.2:22I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow the chariots, and those who ride in them. The horses and their riders will come down, everyone by the sword of his brother.2:23In that day, says Yahweh of Armies, will I take you, Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel,' says Yahweh, 'and will make you as a signet, for I have chosen you,' says Yahweh of Armies."
1:1In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,1:2"Yahweh was very displeased with your fathers.1:3Therefore tell them: Thus says Yahweh of Armies: 'Return to me,' says Yahweh of Armies, 'and I will return to you,' says Yahweh of Armies.1:4Don't you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Thus says Yahweh of Armies, 'Return now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings;' but they did not hear, nor listen to me, says Yahweh.1:5Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?1:6But 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 Yahweh of Armies determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.'"1:7On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,1:8"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.1:9Then I asked, 'My lord, what are these?'"
The angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what these are."
1:10The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, "They are the ones Yahweh has sent to go back and forth through the earth."
1:11They reported to the angel of Yahweh 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."1:12Then the angel of Yahweh replied, "O Yahweh 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?"
1:13Yahweh answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words.1:14So the angel who talked with me said to me, "Proclaim, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.1:15I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity."1:16Therefore thus says Yahweh: "I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it," says Yahweh of Armies, "and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem."'
1:17"Proclaim further, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and Yahweh will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem."'"
1:18I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four horns.1:19I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these?"
He answered me, "These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."
1:20Yahweh showed me four craftsmen.1:21Then 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, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it."
2:1I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand.2:2Then I asked, "Where are you going?"
He said to me, "To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and what is its length."
2:3Behold, the angel who talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him,2:4and said to him, "Run, speak to this young man, saying, 'Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.2:5For I,' says Yahweh, 'will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.2:6Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,' says Yahweh; 'for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the sky,' says Yahweh.2:7'Come, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.'2:8For thus says Yahweh of Armies: 'For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.2:9For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they will be a spoil to those who served them; and you will know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me.2:10Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion; for, behold, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you,' says Yahweh.2:11Many nations shall join themselves to Yahweh in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you.2:12Yahweh will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.2:13Be silent, all flesh, before Yahweh; for he has roused himself from his holy habitation!"
3:1He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.3:2Yahweh said to Satan, "Yahweh rebuke you, Satan! Yes, Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn't this a burning stick plucked out of the fire?"
3:3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel.3:4He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, "Take the filthy garments off of him." To him he said, "Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich clothing."
3:5I said, "Let them set a clean turban on his head."
So they set a clean turban on his head, and clothed him; and the angel of Yahweh was standing by.3:6The angel of Yahweh protested to Joshua, saying,3:7"Thus says Yahweh of Armies: 'If you will walk in my ways, and if you will follow my instructions, then you also shall judge my house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you a place of access among these who stand by.3:8Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you; for they are men who are a sign: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant, the Branch.3:9For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes: behold, I will engrave its engraving,' says Yahweh of Armies, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.3:10In that day,' says Yahweh of Armies, 'you will invite every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.'"
4:1The angel who talked with me came again, and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep.4:2He said to me, "What do you see?"
I said, "I have seen, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are on the top of it;4:3and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side of it."
4:4I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, "What are these, my lord?"
4:5Then the angel who talked with me answered me, "Don't you know what these are?"
I said, "No, my lord."
4:6Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, "This is the word of Yahweh to Zerubbabel, saying, 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says Yahweh of Armies.4:7Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of 'Grace, grace, to it!'"
4:8Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,4:9"The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it; and you will know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you.4:10Indeed, who despises the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These are the eyes of Yahweh, which run back and forth through the whole earth."
4:11Then I asked him, "What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lampstand and on the left side of it?"
4:12I asked him the second time, "What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that pour the golden oil out of themselves?"
4:13He answered me, "Don't you know what these are?"
I said, "No, my lord."
4:14Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth."
5:1Then again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a flying scroll.5:2He said to me, "What do you see?"
I answered, "I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its breadth ten cubits."
5:3Then he said to me, "This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side.5:4I will cause it to go out," says Yahweh of Armies, "and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it will remain in the midst of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones."
5:5Then the angel who talked with me came forward, and said to me, "Lift up now your eyes, and see what is this that is appearing."
5:6I said, "What is it?"
He said, "This is theephahbasket that is appearing." He said moreover, "This is their appearance in all the land5:7(and behold, atalentof lead was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah basket."5:8He said, "This is Wickedness;" and he threw her down into the midst of the ephah basket; and he threw the weight of lead on its mouth.
5:9Then lifted I up my eyes, and saw, and behold, there were two women, and the wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah basket between earth and the sky.5:10Then said I to the angel who talked with me, "Where are these carrying the ephah basket?"
5:11He said to me, "To build her a house in the land of Shinar. When it is prepared, she will be set there in her own place."
6:1Again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.6:2In the first chariot were red horses; in the second chariot black horses;6:3in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot dappled horses, all of them powerful.6:4Then I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?"
6:5The angel answered me, "These are the four winds of the sky, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.6:6The one with the black horses goes out toward the north country; and the white went out after them; and the dappled went forth toward the south country."6:7The strong went out, and sought to go that they might walk back and forth through the earth: and he said, "Go around and through the earth!" So they walked back and forth through the earth.
6:8Then he called to me, and spoke to me, saying, "Behold, those who go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country."
6:9The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,6:10"Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and come the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have come from Babylon.6:11Yes, take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest;6:12and speak to him, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of Armies, "Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build the temple of Yahweh;6:13even he shall build the temple of Yahweh; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; and he shall be a priest on his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.6:14The crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of Yahweh.6:15Those who are far off shall come and build in the temple of Yahweh; and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen, if you will diligently obey the voice of Yahweh your God."'"
7:1It happened in the fourth year of king Darius that the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.7:2The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech, and their men, to entreat Yahweh's favor,7:3and to speak to the priests of the house of Yahweh of Armies, and to the prophets, saying, "Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?"
7:4Then the word of Yahweh of Armies came to me, saying,7:5"Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?7:6When you eat, and when you drink, don't you eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?7:7Aren't these the words which Yahweh proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?'"
7:8The word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying,7:9"Thus has Yahweh of Armies spoken, saying, 'Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.7:10Don't oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.'7:11But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.7:12Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law, and the words which Yahweh of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of Armies.7:13It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen," said Yahweh of Armies;7:14"but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate."
8:1The word of Yahweh of Armies came to me.8:2Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath."
8:3Thus says Yahweh: "I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called 'The City of Truth;' and the mountain of Yahweh of Armies, 'The Holy Mountain.'"
8:4Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age.8:5The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets."
8:6Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my eyes?" says Yahweh of Armies.
8:7Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;8:8and I will bring them, and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness."
8:9Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who were in the day that the foundation of the house of Yahweh of Armies was laid, even the temple, that it might be built.8:10For before those days there was no wages for man, nor any wages for an animal; neither was there any peace to him who went out or came in, because of the adversary. For I set all men everyone against his neighbor.8:11But now I will not be to the remnant of this people as in the former days," says Yahweh of Armies.8:12"For the seed of peace and the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.8:13It shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Don't be afraid. Let your hands be strong."
8:14For thus says Yahweh of Armies: "As I thought to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath," says Yahweh of Armies, "and I didn't repent;8:15so again have I thought in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Don't be afraid.8:16These are the things that you shall do: speak every man the truth with his neighbor. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates,8:17and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor, and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate," says Yahweh.
8:18The word of Yahweh of Armies came to me.8:19Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "The fasts of the fourth fifth, seventh, and tenth months shall be for the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace."
8:20Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "Many peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come;8:21and the inhabitants of one shall go to another, saying, 'Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of Yahweh, and to seek Yahweh of Armies. I will go also.'8:22Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek Yahweh of Armies in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of Yahweh."8:23Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'"
9:1An oracle.
11:4Thus says Yahweh my God: "Feed the flock of slaughter.11:5Their buyers slaughter them, and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, 'Blessed be Yahweh, for I am rich;' and their own shepherds don't pity them.11:6For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land," says Yahweh; "but, behold, I will deliver the men everyone into his neighbor's hand, and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them."
11:7So I fed the flock of slaughter, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called "Favor," and the other I called "Union," and I fed the flock.11:8I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.11:9Then I said, "I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other's flesh."11:10I took my staff Favor, and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.11:11It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew that it was the word of Yahweh.11:12I said to them, "If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them." So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.11:13Yahweh said to me, "Throw it to the potter, the handsome price that I was valued at by them!" I took the thirty pieces of silver, and threw them to the potter, in the house of Yahweh.11:14Then I cut apart my other staff, even Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
11:15Yahweh said to me, "Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.11:16For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces.11:17Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will be on his arm, and on his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!"
12:1An oracle. The word of Yahweh concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:12:2"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and on Judah also will it be in the siege against Jerusalem.12:3It will happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.12:4In that day," says Yahweh, "I will strike every horse with terror, and his rider with madness; and I will open my eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.12:5The chieftains of Judah will say in their heart, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in Yahweh of Armies their God.'12:6In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem.12:7Yahweh also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem not be magnified above Judah.12:8In that day Yahweh will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh before them.12:9It will happen in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.12:10I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look tomewhom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.12:11In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.12:12The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;12:13the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart;12:14all the families who remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.
13:1"In that day there will be a spring opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.13:2It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.13:3It will happen that, when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, 'You must die, because you speak lies in the name of Yahweh;' and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies.13:4It will happen in that day, that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision, when he prophesies; neither will they wear a hairy mantle to deceive:13:5but he will say, 'I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth.'13:6One will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will answer, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'
14:1Behold, a day of Yahweh comes, when your spoil will be divided in your midst.14:2For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.14:3Then Yahweh will go out and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.14:4His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in two, from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south.14:5You shall flee by the valley of my mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azel; yes, you shall flee, just like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with you.14:6It will happen in that day, that there will not be light, cold, or frost.14:7It will be a unique day which is known to Yahweh; not day, and not night; but it will come to pass, that at evening time there will be light.
14:8It will happen in that day, that living waters will go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter will it be.
14:9Yahweh will be King over all the earth. In that day Yahweh will be one, and his name one.14:10All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up, and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin's gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.14:11Men will dwell therein, and there will be no more curse; but Jerusalem will dwell safely.14:12This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouth.14:13It will happen in that day, that a great panic from Yahweh will be among them; and they will lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbor.14:14Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered together: gold, and silver, and clothing, in great abundance.
14:15So will be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the donkey, and of all the animals that will be in those camps, as that plague.14:16It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, and to keep the feast of tents.14:17It will be, that whoever of all the families of the earth doesn't go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, on them there will be no rain.14:18If the family of Egypt doesn't go up, and doesn't come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike the nations that don't go up to keep the feast of tents.14:19This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that don't go up to keep the feast of tents.14:20In that day there will be on the bells of the horses, "HOLY TO YAHWEH;" and the pots in Yahweh's house will be like the bowls before the altar.14:21Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of Armies; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Yahweh of Armies.
Notes:
[1]back to 5:6An ephah is a measure of volume of about 22 litres, 5.8 U. S. gallons, 4.8 imperial gallons, or a bit more than half a bushel.
[2]back to 5:7A talent is a weight of about 34 kilograms or 75 pounds.
[3]back to 12:10After "me," the Hebrew has the two letters "Aleph Tav" (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet), not as a word, but as a grammatical marker.