Zechariah's vision of a man on a horse
7 On the 24th day of Shebat, the 11th month of the year, the Lord gave his message to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berekiah and the grandson of Iddo. This happened in the second year that Darius ruled as king.
1:7Shebat is the name of a Jewish month, which comes in January or February.
8 During the night I had a vision. I saw a man who was sitting on a red horse. The horse was standing among some myrtle trees in a valley. Behind him there were red, brown and white horses.
9 I asked the angel who was talking with me, ‘Please sir, what is the meaning of these horses?’
The angel said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’
10 Then the man who was standing among the myrtle trees said, ‘The Lord has sent these horses to go and look in all the places on the earth.’
11 The men on the other horses agreed with the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees. They said, ‘We have gone to look at things all over the earth. We have seen that everywhere is now resting in peace.’
12 Then the angel of the Lord said, ‘Lord Almighty, how long will you be angry with Jerusalem before you are kind to them? How long will you be angry with the cities of Judah? You have already been angry with them for 70 years.’ 13 The Lord answered the angel who was speaking to me. He spoke kind words to the angel.
1:12Judah was the land that belonged to the Israelite tribe of Judah. When the nation of Israel divided into two kingdoms, Judah was the name of the kingdom in the south.
14 The angel then spoke to me again. He said, ‘Give this message to the people. Tell them clearly that the Lord Almighty says, “I love Jerusalem and Mount Zion very much. It is my special place. 15 I am very angry with the nations which think that they are safe. I was a little bit angry with my own people, but those nations caused my people to suffer too much.”
16 So this is what the Lord says: “Now I will return to Jerusalem and I will be kind to the people there. I will build my house there again.” That is what the Lord Almighty says. “Builders will measure the land in the city and they will build houses there again.”
17 Tell the people clearly that the Lord Almighty says, “The towns where my people live will have great riches again. I will cause the people of Zion to live in peace. I will show that I have chosen Jerusalem as my own special city.” ’
