Zechariah 1-8
New Catholic Bible
Rebuilding a People for God[a]
Chapter 1
Be Converted to Me.[b] 1 In the second year of Darius, in the eighth month, this word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo:
2 The Lord was greatly angered at your ancestors. 3 Therefore, say to the people: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 4 Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the prophets of that time proclaimed. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Forsake your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they refused to listen or to pay attention to me, says the Lord.
5 Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 As for my words and my decrees which I entrusted to my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your ancestors? As a result, they repented and said, “The Lord of hosts has treated us as he had determined to do, according to what our lives and our deeds deserve.”
Renewal of the Holy City[c]
The Four Horsemen.[d] 7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo.
Zechariah related: 8 During the night I had a vision in which a man was riding a red horse among the myrtle trees in a glen. Behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. 9 “What are these, sir?” I asked, and the angel who was conversing with me said, “I will show you what they are.”
10 The man standing among the myrtle trees said, “They are the ones whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.” 11 Then they in turn spoke to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have been patrolling the earth, and the entire earth is tranquil and at peace.”
12 Then the angel of the Lord asked, “O Lord of hosts, how long will you withhold your mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah who have been the object of your wrath for the last seventy years?” 13 Thereupon, the Lord replied with kind and comforting words to the angel who had talked with me.
14 The angel who was talking with me then said to me: Proclaim this message. Thus says the Lord of hosts: I feel very protective toward Jerusalem and Zion, 15 but I am deeply angry with the nations that feel complacent and secure. Previously I was angry only to a certain extent, but they added to the disaster.
16 Therefore, says the Lord, I will return to Jerusalem with compassion, and there is where my house will be rebuilt, says the Lord of hosts, and the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Proclaim in addition: Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities will once again overflow with prosperity. The Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.
Chapter 2
Vision of the Four Horns and the Workers.[e] 1 I looked up and beheld four horns. 2 I inquired of the angel who was conversing with me what these were. He answered me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
3 Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths. And I said, “What are these coming to do?” 4 He replied, “Those horns scattered Judah so completely that no one dared to raise his head. However, those blacksmiths have come to terrify them and to strike down the horns of the nations that raised their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people.”
The New Jerusalem.[f] 5 Following this, I raised my eyes and observed a man with a measuring line in his hand. 6 When I asked him, “Where are you going?” he replied, “To measure Jerusalem, to discover what is its width and what is its length.”
7 When the angel who was talking to me walked away, another angel came out to meet him 8 and said to him, “Run and tell that young man: Jerusalem will remain without walls because of the great multitude of men and animals dwelling there. 9 But I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the Lord. And I will be the glory within it.”
10 Up, up! Flee from the land of the north,
says the Lord.
For I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven,
says the Lord.
11 Away, away! Escape to Zion,
you who presently live in daughter Babylon.
12 For thus said the Lord of hosts
after he sent me forth,
in regard to the nations that plundered you:
Whoever touches you
touches the apple of my eye.
13 Behold, I will wave my hand over them,
and they will be plunder
for those they have enslaved.
Thus you will know
that the Lord of hosts has sent me.
14 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion.
For I am coming to dwell in your midst,
says the Lord.
15 On that day
many nations will be converted to the Lord.
Yes, they will become his people,
and he will dwell among you.
Then you will know that the Lord of hosts
has sent me to you.
16 The Lord will claim Judah
as his portion in the holy land,
and once again he will choose Jerusalem.
17 Let all people be silent
in the presence of the Lord.
For he has roused himself
from his holy dwelling.
The Leaders of the Holy City[g]
Chapter 3[h]
Joshua the High Priest. 1 Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, with Satan standing at his right to accuse him. 2 And the angel of the Lord said to Satan, “May God rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this man a brand snatched from the fire?”
3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel then said to those who were standing before him, “Remove his filthy garments and clothe him in fine vestments.” 5 He also said, “Place a clean miter on his head.” Therefore, they put a clean miter on his head and clothed him in clean garments, while the angel of the Lord stood by and said, “Behold, I have removed your guilt.”
6 The angel of the Lord then declared to Joshua: 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you walk in my ways and observe my ordinances, you will rule over my house and be in charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access to all those who are standing here.
8 “Therefore listen, Joshua, high priest, you and your colleagues who are seated here in attendance before you. For they are an omen of things to come. I will now bring in my servant, the Branch. 9 Gaze upon the stone that I have set before Joshua, a single stone with seven facets. I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day. 10 On that day, says the Lord of hosts, you will invite each other to come under your vines and your fig trees.”
Chapter 4[i]
Vision of the Lampstand and Olives. 1 Then the angel who had talked with me returned and roused me, as though awakening someone who was asleep. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, “I see a lampstand of solid gold, with a bowl at the top. There are seven lamps on it, with seven openings to hold the lamps. 3 Alongside it are two olive trees, one to the right and the other to the left.”
4 I then said to the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these things, my lord?” 5 The angel who was speaking to me replied, “Do you not know what they are?” “No, my lord,” I answered. 6 Then he said to me, “This is the Lord’s message to Zerubbabel: Not by force, nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 What are you, O great mountain? Compared with Zerubbabel, you are nothing more than a plain. He will bring out the capstone amid shouts of acclamation.”
8 This word of the Lord was then addressed to me as follows: 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of the house, and his hands will complete the work. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For those who spoke disparagingly on that day of small beginnings will rejoice to see the chosen stone in the hands of Zerubbabel. These seven facets are the eyes of the Lord that range throughout the entire earth.”
11 Then I asked the angel, “What is the significance of those two olive trees to the left and the right of the lampstand?” 12 And I asked him further, “What is the meaning of the two olive branches that pour forth the oil through the two golden channels?”
13 “Do you not know what these are?” he said to me. “No, my lord,” I replied. 14 He answered, “These are the two anointed ones who stand in attendance on the Lord of the entire earth.”
The People of the Holy City[j]
Chapter 5
Vision of the Scroll that Flies.[k] 1 Again I looked up, and I beheld a flying scroll. 2 The angel said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll. It is twenty cubits in length and ten cubits in width.”
3 Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes forth over the entire earth. According to the writing on one side, every thief will be swept away, and according to the writing on the other side, everyone who commits perjury in my name will be banished. 4 I have sent it forth, says the Lord of hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who commits perjury in my name. It will lodge inside such a house and consume it, both timber and stones.”
Vision of the Bushel Coming Forth.[l] 5 Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said, “Raise your eyes and see what this is that is coming forth.” 6 I asked, “What is it?” The angel replied, “This is a bushel basket coming forth.” And he added, “This is their guilt throughout the land.”
7 Then a leaden cover was lifted up, and there was a woman sitting inside the bushel basket. 8 “This is Wickedness,” the angel said. He immediately pushed her back into the basket and pressed the leaden cover into the opening.
9 Then I raised my eyes and beheld two women coming forward, with the wind in their wings which were like those of a stork. As they lifted up the bushel basket into the air, 10 I asked the angel who had been conversing with me, “Where are they taking the bushel basket?” 11 He replied, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. When the house is completed, they will set down the bushel basket on a pedestal designed for it.”
Chapter 6
Vision of the Four Chariots. 1 Again I raised my eyes and beheld four chariots coming out between two mountains—and the mountains were mountains of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses, the second chariot had black horses, 3 the third chariot had white horses, and the fourth chariot had spotted horses.
4 I asked the angel who was conversing with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 The angel replied, “These are the four winds of heaven which are now ready to depart after presenting themselves for review by the Lord of all the earth. 6 The chariot with the black horses is departing for the land of the north, the red and the white horses will follow after them, and the chariot with the spotted horses will leave for the land of the south.”
7 As these horses emerged, eager to set off and patrol the earth, he said to them, “Go forth and patrol the earth,” and they did so. 8 Then he called to me and said, “Those who are going forth to the land of the north have allowed my Spirit to rest on the land of the north.”
The Present, a Promise for the Future[m]
The Coronation.[n] 9 The word of the Lord came to me: 10 Collect silver and gold from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, and go on the very same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. 11 Take the silver and the gold and make a crown, and set it upon the head of the high priest Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, 12 and say this to him: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Here is a man whose name is Branch. He will branch out from where he is, and he will build the temple of the Lord.
13 Yes, he will build the temple of the Lord, and, wearing the royal insignia, he will sit on his throne and govern. There will be a priest at his right hand, and peaceful harmony will exist between the two of them. 14 The crown will serve as a memorial in the temple of the Lord for Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. 15 And those who are now far off will come and work on the building of the temple of the Lord. Then you will realize that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. All this will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord, your God.
Chapter 7[o]
Must I Continue to Do Penance? 1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev. 2 [p]Bethel-sarezer sent Regem-melech and his men to entreat the favor of the Lord 3 [q]and to ask the priests in the house of the Lord, and the prophets, “Should I continue to mourn and to fast in the fifth month, as I have been doing for these many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5 Say to all the people of the country and to the priests: When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and the seventh month during these seventy years, was it truly for my sake that you fasted? 6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not eating and drinking for yourselves? 7 Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed through the prophets in the past, when Jerusalem was inhabited and enjoying peace, as were her surrounding towns, and when the Negeb and the foothills were inhabited?
8 This word of the Lord came to Zechariah: 9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render fair judgments, and show kindness and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor. Do not plot evil in your heart against one another. 11 But they refused to listen; they defiantly turned their backs and stopped their ears so that they would not hear. 12 They were adamant in their refusal to accept the teaching and the law that the Lord of hosts had transmitted by his Spirit through the former prophets.
Therefore, the wrath of the Lord of hosts was aroused. 13 Since they refused to listen when he called to them, he in turn would not listen when they cried out to the Lord of hosts. 14 Rather, he scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations where they were strangers. Therefore, the land they left was desolate after their departure, and no one came or went. They had turned their pleasant land into a desert.
Chapter 8
Behold, I Will Save My People. 1 This word of the Lord of hosts came to me:
2 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
I am intensely jealous for Zion,
and I am filled with jealous wrath for her.
3 Thus says the Lord:
I will return to Zion,
and I will dwell in the heart of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem will be called the faithful city,
and the mountain of the Lord of hosts
will be called the holy mountain.
4 The Lord of hosts says this:
Old men and old women once again will sit
in the squares of Jerusalem,
each one leaning on a stick
because of old age.
5 And her streets will be filled
with boys and girls at play.
6 The Lord of hosts says this:
Even if this seems impossible
to the remnant of this people in those days,
will it also seem impossible to me?
says the Lord.
7 The Lord of hosts says this:
I will rescue my people
from the countries of the east
and from the countries of the west.
8 I will bring them back
to dwell in Jerusalem.
They will be my people,
and I will be their God,
a God of faithfulness and justice.
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Take heart, all you who today hear the promises from the words spoken by the prophets who were present when the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid for the rebuilding of the temple. 10 Before that time, men were not paid their wages, nor was any recompense offered for the work of the animals. In addition, those who went out or came in were provided with no protection from the enemy, for I had set every man against his neighbor.
11 However, now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as I did in former days, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Now they will sow in peace. The vine will bring forth its fruit, the soil will yield its produce, and the heavens will provide their moisture. All these things I will endow to the remnant of this people. 13 Just as you once were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so now I will save you, and you will be regarded as a blessing. Do not be afraid. Do not lose heart.
14 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Whereas I resolved to bring disaster upon you when your ancestors provoked me to wrath, says the Lord of hosts, and I did not relent, 15 so now I have resolved in these days to show favor to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Do not be afraid.
16 These are the things I require you to do: speak truthfully to one another, render judgments at your gates that reflect honesty and peace, 17 and do not plot evil against another in your heart, or love perjury. For all these are practices that I hate, says the Lord.
18 The Saving Fast. The word of the Lord came to me: 19 Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fasts of the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months, shall be periods of joy and gladness and of cheerful festivals for the house of Judah. Therefore, love truth and peace.[r]
20 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In the future, peoples will come, the inhabitants of many cities. 21 Those who dwell in one city will approach those of another and say, “Come, let us go to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself will go.” 22 Many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord.
23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days, ten men from nations of every language will grasp a Jew by the edge of his garment and say, “Permit us to go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 1:1 During the Exile in Babylon and even after returning, some Jews undoubtedly cherished the hope of avenging the devastation of their homeland and restoring its past grandeur. But twenty years after the deportation had ended (538–519 B.C.) their enthusiasm had cooled. They had to resign themselves to an impoverished existence in a ravaged land. Judea remained under Persian control and in ruined Jerusalem everything had to be reconstructed and rebuilt, beginning with the temple, the new foundations of which had recently been laid. Along with Haggai, the prophet Zechariah became the guiding spirit of the restoration, which was being directed by the high commissioner, Zerubbabel, of the royal house of David, and by the high priest Joshua, who took precedence, even over Zerubbabel.
- Zechariah 1:1 The messages of the prophets might be occasioned by quite different situations: they also passed quite different judgments on events at hand. Fundamentally, however, they were calls to conversion. When men of God pray, they see this conversion as a gift from heaven, a grace (Ps 51:10-12; Ezek 36:25-27). When they speak, they must remind the people that they themselves must make the effort to change. The dialectic of grace and freedom is always at work.
Zechariah began to preach in 520 B.C., only a few months after the first message of Haggai; he reminds his hearers that past defeat was the result of infidelity. He criticizes a religion still marked by fear and self-interest, and predicts a more radical return to God, a more solid faith in his covenant. - Zechariah 1:7 Twenty years have passed since the authorization was given to return, but not all have made the journey to Jerusalem, nor are they anxious to do so. On the other hand, those who did make the journey are now asking whether it had not been a mistake. The building of the temple seems at last to be progressing, but all do not have the same enthusiasm for it. In order to raise morale, the prophet presents a first series of visions: God is on the point of restoring his people, and he asks the doubtful to return to Judah and take part in the work of reconstruction.
- Zechariah 1:7 The scene takes place in God’s dwelling, as the evergreen myrtle trees symbolically indicate.
- Zechariah 2:1 Measuring the city signifies that it will be rebuilt.
- Zechariah 2:5 The prophet urges the exiles to rejoin their brothers and sisters in Palestine, because God has for the first time returned to his temple (see Ezek 43:1-12).
- Zechariah 3:1 Although they have been set free, the Jews do not enjoy political independence. Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, is only the high commissioner of the king of Persia. The Jews still hope to see him invested with the royal dignity and seated on the throne of David; this is a dream that will soon fade. The high priest Joshua, who had been repatriated with the others, occupies a position of the first importance. Since the people have no real political autonomy, they attach themselves to the high priest, the one leader who can do something about their religious destiny. He is the one who will inherit the royal power, and under his influence the religious aspect of Israel’s life will take precedence over the political. The two visions that follow shed light on this situation.
- Zechariah 3:1 The new garments in which Joshua is robed signify that, after the Exile, he has to be reinstated in his office as high priest of the new temple; at the same time, the garments convey the idea that in his person the entire forgiven people will experience prosperity, each individual (according to the traditional image) under his own vine and his own fig tree. The mysterious rock with seven eyes (v. 9) doubtless symbolizes the coming Messiah, whose knowledge will be complete and who is foretold under the name Branch because he must come from the royal line of David.
- Zechariah 4:1 The golden seven-branched lampstand (see Ex 25:31-38) represents divine providence, which concerns itself with human beings. The two olive trees are Joshua, who is dedicated to worship, and Zerubbabel, whom the Jews hope to see anointed king, since he is a descendant of David. The vision is, then, a promise that the two powers, the religious and the civil, will be linked together to restore the prestige of the chosen but now impoverished people (see Jer 33:14-18). The words: This is the Lord’s message to Zerubbabel (v. 6a) and in the hands of Zerubbabel (v. 10a), should be placed at the end of the chapter.
- Zechariah 5:1 It is not enough to restore political and religious buildings and structures; the essential thing is to implement the moral and spiritual conditions that are needed for a new community. These final three visions proclaim that the Lord intends to sanctify his people and make them truly faithful to their mission of salvation.
- Zechariah 5:1 A scroll was a strip of parchment that was written on and then rolled up. The ancients thought that a prediction written on a scroll would certainly be fulfilled.
- Zechariah 5:5 The woman seen in a dream personifies the evil which God will remove from his people when he comes to save them.
- Zechariah 6:9 This part of the Book, the last that really belongs to the prophet Zechariah, focuses on the theme of the rebuilding of the temple and the national restoration that has already begun. It begins, however, with a promise of a more universal, but also more distant salvation. It is already foreseen, but for a time that remains still undetermined, that the Lord will save his people once and for all and that he will reign from Jerusalem over the entire earth. This is a perspective that the second part of the Book will broaden considerably.
- Zechariah 6:9 This prophecy retains its value, to the extent that it looks beyond the immediate moment. It foretells the work of salvation to be accomplished by Jesus the Messiah, an authentic descendant of David by way of Zerubbabel (see Mt 1:12-13; Lk 3:27) and a True Priest, even the One High Priest.
- Zechariah 7:1 The time is November, 518 B.C. Twenty years have passed since the first group of Jews made the return.
- Zechariah 7:2 Bethel-sarezer: a city about twenty km north of Jerusalem. The prophets: Haggai and Zechariah.
- Zechariah 7:3 The fast of the fifth month was for the anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem; the fast of the seventh month was for the assassination of Gedaliah (see Jer 41:1-2).
- Zechariah 8:19 The added fasts of the fourth and tenth months were for the opening of the breach in the walls of Jerusalem and for the beginning of the siege (see 2 Ki 25:1-4).
