The Apple Of His Eye

1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lordcame to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo saying, ² “The Lord was very angry with your fathers. ³ Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of armies, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of armies. ⁴ “Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.”’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me,” declares the Lord. ⁵ “Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? ⁶ But did My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, not overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘Just as the Lord of armies planned to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has dealt with us.’”’”

Patrol of the Earth

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, that is, the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, as follows:⁸ I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a red horse, and he was standing among the myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel, and white horses behind him. ⁹ Then I said, “What are these, my lord?” And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.” ¹⁰ And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees responded and said, “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.” ¹¹ So they responded to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees and said, “We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is still and quiet.”

¹² Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord of armies, how long will You take no pity on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been indignant for these seventy years?” ¹³ And the Lord responded to the angel who was speaking with me with gracious words, comforting words. ¹⁴ So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. ¹⁵ But I am very angry with the nations who are carefree; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster.”¹⁶ Therefore the Lord says this: “I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it,” declares the Lord of armies, “and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.”’ ¹⁷ Again, proclaim, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”’”

¹⁸ Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, there were four horns.¹⁹ So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. ²¹ And I said, “What are these coming to do?” And he said, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah so that no one lifts up his head; but these craftsmen have come to frighten them, to throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.”

God’s Favor to Zion

2 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. ² So I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is.” ³ And behold, the angel who had been speaking with me was going out, and another angel was going out to meet him. ⁴ And he said to him, “Run, speak to that young man there, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as open country because of the multitude of people and cattle within it.⁵ But I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire to her on all sides, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

⁶ “You there! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “because I have spread you out like the four winds of the heavens,” declares the Lord. ⁷ “You, Zion! Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon.” ⁸ For the Lord of armies says this: “After glory He has sent me against the nations that plunder you, for the one who touches you, touches the apple of His eye. ⁹ For behold, I am going to wave My hand over them so that they will be plunder for their slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of armies has sent Me. ¹⁰ Shout for joy and rejoice, daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” declares the Lord. ¹¹ “And many nations will join themselves to the Lordon that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the Lord of armies has sent Me to you. ¹² And the Lord will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.

¹³ “Be silent, all mankind, before the Lord; for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”