1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD {YHWH, Message Sender} came to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet {navi: God’s spokesperson}, saying,
2 The LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} was very angry with your fathers {avotekhem: male ancestors}.
3 And you shall say to them, “Thus says the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tzevaot, Commander of Armies}: Return {shu-vu: imperative appeal to restore covenant allegiance} to Me,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the LORD of hosts.
4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets called, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Commander of Armies}, ‘Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds {ma‘alal: actions},’” but they did not listen or pay attention to Me, says the LORD.
5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets {hannevi’im: divine spokesmen}, do they live forever {hal‘olam: without end}?
6 But truly, My words {devarai: spoken commands} and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? And they returned and said, “Just as the LORD of Hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Sovereign Executor} purposed to do to us according to our ways and according to our deeds, so has He dealt with us.”
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD {YHWH, Message Sender} came to Zechariah, son of Berechiah {berekyahu: YHWH blesses}, son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
8 I saw by night, and behold, a man was riding on a red horse, and he was standing among the myrtle trees {hadasim: evergreen fragrant shrubs} that were in the hollow {mutzah: low-lying place}, and behind him were red, dappled, and white horses.
9 And I said, “What are these, my lord {adoni: respectful address}?” And the angel {malakh: heavenly envoy} who spoke with me said, “I will show you what they are.”
10 And the man who stands among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are they whom the LORD {YHWH, Heavenly Sender} has sent to walk about {le-hit-ha-lekh: to patrol} in the earth.”
11 And they answered the angel of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Lord} who was standing among the myrtles {hadassim: fragrant shrubs}, and they said, "We have walked about throughout the land, and behold, all the earth is at rest."
12 And the angel of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Lord} answered and said, “O LORD of hosts, how long will You not have compassion {racham: steadfast mercy} on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You have been angry these seventy years?”
13 And the LORD {YHWH, Comfort Giver} answered the angel who spoke with me with good words {devarim: spoken message} and pleasant words.
14 And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “Cry out, saying: Thus says the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Sovereign Commander}: I am jealous for Jerusalem {Yerushalayim: City of Peace} and for Zion with great jealousy.”
15 And with great wrath I {YHWH, Divine Judge} am angry against the nations at ease, for I was angry only a little, but they helped {azru: extended aid} toward disaster.
16 Therefore, this is the word that the LORD {YHWH, Compassionate Restorer} speaks: I have come back to Jerusalem with compassion {berachamim: deep mercies}; there My house will be rebuilt, declares the LORD of hosts, and a line will be extended over Jerusalem.
17 Cry out once more and say, “Thus says the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Commander of Armies}: My cities will again be filled with prosperity {mituv: Abundance}, and the LORD will comfort Zion again and will choose Jerusalem again.”
18 And I lifted my eyes and saw—behold, four {arba: symbolic completeness} horns {qerannot: power symbol}.
19 And I said to the messenger {malakh: divine envoy} who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem {Yerushalayim: city of peace}.”
20 And the LORD {YHWH, Vision Giver} showed me four craftsmen {charashim: skilled workers}.
21 And I said, “What are these coming to do?” And he said, “These are the horns {karnot: political emblems} that scattered Judah so that no one lifted his head; but these have come to terrify them and to bring down the horns of the nations that lifted a horn against the land of Judah to scatter {zarotah: disperse territory} it.”