A Call to Repentance (Jeremiah 3:11–25; Hosea 14:1–3)
1 UST I am Zechariah, a prophet, the son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo. When Darius had been the emperor of Persia for almost two years, in the eighth month of that year, Yahweh gave me this message: BSB BSB: In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying:
2 UST “Yahweh was very angry with your ancestors. BSB BSB: “The LORD was very angry with your fathers.
3 UST So tell the people this:‘Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says,“Come back to me”— this is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, solemnly declares—“and I will help you again, says Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies. BSB BSB: So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’
4 UST Do not be like your ancestors. The prophets who lived before you continually told your ancestors that Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, said,‘Stop doing the evil things that you are doing!’ However, they refused to listen to me or pay attention to me,” solemnly declares Yahweh. BSB BSB: Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD.
5 UST “Your ancestors have all died. The prophets also did not live forever. BSB BSB: Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever?
6 UST However, the warnings and decrees that I commanded my servants the prophets to tell your ancestors did come true. So your ancestors repented and said,‘Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, has punished us for the way we behaved and for the things we did, just as he said he would do.’”’” BSB BSB: But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Hosts purposed to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.’”
The Vision of the Horses 7 UST Three months later, on the twenty- fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, when Darius had been emperor for almost two years, Yahweh gave another message to me, Zechariah the son of Berechiah the son of Iddo, the prophet. BSB BSB: 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 son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo.
8 UST During the night I had a vision. In the vision I saw a man riding a red horse. He stood among the myrtle trees in a deep valley, and behind him other riders sat on red, reddish- brown, and white horses. BSB BSB: I looked out into the night and saw a man riding on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the hollow, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.
9 UST I asked the angel who had been talking to me,“Sir, who are those riders?” The angel replied,“I will show you who they are.” BSB BSB: “What are these, my lord?” I asked. And the angel who was speaking with me replied, “I will show you what they are.”
10 UST Then the man who stood among the myrtle trees explained. He said,“Yahweh sent these riders to patrol throughout the earth.” BSB BSB: Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.”
11 UST Then those riders reported to an angel representing Yahweh, who stood among the myrtle trees. They said,“We have patrolled throughout the earth, and everywhere the nations are living peacefully and undisturbed.” BSB BSB: And the riders answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and tranquil.”
12 UST Then the angel representing Yahweh pleaded,“Yahweh, commander of the heavenly armies, how long will you continue to not show mercy to the people of Jerusalem and the people of the other cities of Judah? You have been angry with them for 70 years!” BSB BSB: Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”
13 UST So Yahweh spoke kind and encouraging words to the angel who had been talking to me. BSB BSB: So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me.
14 UST Then the angel who had been talking to me said to me,“Proclaim this message:‘Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says,“I care very deeply about the people of Jerusalem and of Zion. BSB BSB: Then the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,
15 UST I am extremely angry with the nations that feel so secure. I was only a little angry with my people, but those nations made things much worse by harming them so much.” BSB BSB: but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’
16 UST Therefore, this is what Yahweh says,“I have once again chosen to show mercy to the people of Jerusalem. They will rebuild my temple there,” solemnly declares Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies,“and workers will stretch out a measuring line to rebuild Jerusalem.” BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt, declares the LORD of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’
17 UST Therefore, this is what Yahweh says,“I have once again chosen to show mercy to the people of Jerusalem. They will rebuild my temple there,” solemnly declares Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies,“and workers will stretch out a measuring line to rebuild Jerusalem.” BSB BSB: Proclaim further that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘My cities will again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”
The Vision of the Horns and the Craftsmen 18 UST Then I looked up and in front of me I saw four horns. BSB BSB: Then I looked up and saw four horns.
19 UST I asked the angel who had been talking to me,“What are those?” He replied,“Those horns represent the powerful nations that used their military power to scatter the people of Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” BSB BSB: So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he told me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
20 UST Then Yahweh showed me four craftsmen. BSB BSB: Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.
21 UST I asked,“What are these craftsmen coming to do?” He replied,“Those horns represent the powerful nations that scattered the people of Judah so badly that no one could resist them. These craftsmen have come to terrify those nations and to crush the military power that those nations used against the people of Judah to scatter them.” BSB BSB: “What are these coming to do?” I asked. And He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head; but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations that have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”