the angel of the LORD who was standing b-among the myrtles,-b “We have roamed the earth, and have found all the earth dwelling in tranquility.”e 12Thereupon the angel of the LORD exclaimed, “O LORD of Hosts! How long will You withhold pardon from Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, which You placed under a curse seventy years ago?”
13The LORD replied with kind, comforting words to the angel who talked with me.
14Then the angel who talked with me said to me: “Proclaim! Thus said the LORD of Hosts: I am very jealous for Jerusalem—for Zion—15and I am very angry with those nations that are at ease; for I was only angry a little, but they overdid the punishment. 16Assuredly, thus said the LORD: I graciously return to Jerusalem. My House shall be built in her—declares the LORD of Hosts—the measuring line is being applied to Jerusalem. 17Proclaim further: Thus said the LORD of Hosts: My towns shall yet overflow with bounty. For the LORD will again comfort Zion; He will choose Jerusalem again.”
2 I looked up, and I saw four horns.a 2I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are those?” “Those,” he replied, “are the horns that tossed Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”a 3Then the LORD showed me four smiths. 4“What are they coming to do?” I asked. He replied: “Those are the horns that tossed Judah, so that no man could raise his head; and these men have come b-to throw them into a panic,-b to c-hew down-c the horns of the nations that raise a horn against the land of Judah, to toss it.”
5I looked up, and I saw a man holding a measuring line. 6“Where are you going?” I asked. “To measure Jerusalem,” he replied, “to see how long and wide it is to be.” 7But the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him. 8The former said to him, “Run to that young man and tell him:
“Jerusalem shall be peopled as a city without walls, so many shall be the men and cattle it contains. 9And I Myself—declares the LORD—will be a wall of fire all around it, and I will be a glory inside it.
10“Away, away! Flee from the land of the north—says the LORD— though I swept you [there] like the four winds of heaven—declares the LORD.”
11Away, escape, O Zion, you who dwell in Fair Babylon! 12For thus said the LORD of Hosts—He d-who sent me after glory-d—concerning the nations that have taken you as spoil: “Whoever touches you touches the pupil of e-his own-e eye. 13For I will lift My hand against them, and they shall be spoil for those they enslaved.”— Then you shall know that I was sent by the LORD of Hosts.
14Shout for joy, Fair Zion! For lo, I come; and I will dwell in your midst—declares the LORD. 15In that day many nations will attach themselves to the LORD and become Hisf people, and Heg will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that I was sent to you by the LORD of Hosts.
16The LORD will h- take Judah to Himself as His portion-h in the Holy Land, and He will choose Jerusalem once more.
17Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD!
For He is roused from His holy habitation.
3 He further showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the LORD, and the Accusera standing at his right to accuse him. 2But [the angel of] the LORD said to the Accuser, “The LORD rebuke you, O Accuser; may the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! For this is a brand plucked from the fire.”b 3Now Joshua was clothed in filthy garments when he stood before the angel. 4The latter spoke up and said to his attendants, “Take the filthy garments off him!” And he said to him, “See, I have removed your guilt from you, and you shall be clothed in [priestly] robes.” 5Then hec gave the order, “Let a pured diadem be placed on his head.” And they placed the pure diadem on his head and clothed him in [priestly] garments,e as the angel of the LORD stood by.
6And the angel of the LORD charged Joshua as follows: 7“Thus said the LORD of Hosts: If you walk in My paths and keep My charge, you in turn will rule My House and guard My courts, and I will permit you to move about among these attendants. 8Hearken well, O High Priest Joshua, you and your fellow priests sitting before you! For those men are a sign that I am going to bring My servant the Branch.f 9For mark well this stone which I place before Joshua, a single stone with seven eyes.g I will execute its engraving—declares the LORD of Hosts—and I will remove that country’s guilt in a single day. 10In that day—declares the LORD of Hosts—you will be inviting each other to the shade of vines and fig trees.”
4 The angel who talked with me came back and woke me as a man is wakened from sleep. 2He said to me, “What do you see?” And I answered, “I see a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl above it. The lamps on it are seven in number, and the a-lamps above it have-a seven pipes; 3and by it are two olive trees, one on the right of the bowl and one on its left.” 4I, in turn, asked the angel who talked with me, “What do those things mean, my lord?” 5“Do you not know what those things mean?” asked the angel who talked with me; and I said, “No, my lord.” 6Then he explained to me as follows:b
“This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel:c Not by might, nor by power, but by My spiritd—said the LORD of Hosts. 7Whoever you are, O great mountain in the path of Zerubbabel, turn into level ground! For he shall produce that excellent stone; it shall be greeted with shouts of ‘Beautiful! Beautiful!’ ”
8And the word of the LORD came to me: 9“Zerubbabel’s hands have founded this House and Zerubbabel’s hands shall complete it. Then you shall know that it was the LORD of Hosts who sent me to you. 10Does anyone scorn a day of small beginnings? When they see e-the stone of distinction-e in the hand of Zerubbabel, they shall rejoice.
“Those seven are the eyes of the LORD, ranging over the whole earth.”
11“And what,” I asked him, “are those two olive trees, one on the right and one on the left of the lampstand?” 12And I further asked him, “What are the two topsf of the olive trees that feed their goldg through those two golden tubes?”h 13He asked me, “Don’t you know what they are?” And I replied, “No, my lord.” 14Then he explained, “They are the two i-anointed dignitaries-i who attend the Lord of all the earth.”
5 I looked up again, and I saw a flying scroll. 2“What do you see?” he asked. And I replied, “A flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.” 3“That,” he explained to me, “is the curse which goes out over the whole land. a-For everyone who has stolen, as is forbidden on one side [of the scroll], has gone unpunished; and everyone who has sworn [falsely], as is forbidden on the other side of it, has gone unpunished.-a 4[But] I have sent it forth—declares the LORD of Hosts—and [the curse] shall enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name, and it shall lodge inside their houses and shall consume them to the last timber and stone.”
5Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said, “Now look up and note this other object that is approaching.” 6I asked, “What is it?” And he said, “This tubb that is approaching—this,” said he, “is their eyec in all the land.” 7And behold, a disk of lead was lifted, revealing a woman seated inside the tub. 8“That,” he said, “is Wickedness”; and, thrusting her down into the tub, he pressed the leaden weight into its mouth.
9I looked up again and saw two women come soaring with the wind in their wings—they had wings like those of a stork—and carry off the tub between earth and sky. 10“Where are they taking the tub?” I asked the angel who talked with me. 11And he answered, “To build a shrine for it in the land of Shinar;d [a stand] shall be erected for it, and it shall be set down there upon the stand.”
6 I looked up again, and I saw: Four chariots were coming out from between the two mountains; the mountains were of copper. 2The horses of the first chariot were bay, the horses of the second chariot were black; 3the horses of the third chariot were white, and the horses of the fourth chariot were spotted—dappled. 4And I spoke up and asked the angel who talked with me: “What are those, my lord?” 5In reply, the angel said to me, “Those are the four winds of heaven coming out after presenting themselves to the Lord of all the earth. 6The one with the black horses is going out to the region of the north; the white ones a-have gone out-a to b-what is to the west of them;-b the spotted ones a-have gone out-a to the region of the south; 7and c-the dappled ones have gone out.…”-c They were ready to start out and range the earth, and he gave them the order, “Start out and range the earth!” And they ranged the earth. 8Then