Sermon Central
Zechariah 1-8
A Call to Return to the LORD 1In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo: 2“The LORD was very angry with your ancestors. 3Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty. 4Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD . 5Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever?
6But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors? “Then they repented and said, ‘The LORD Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.’ ”
The Man Among the Myrtle Trees 7On 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 Berekiah, the son of Iddo.
8During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.
9I asked, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.”
10Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to go throughout the earth.”
11And they reported to the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.” 12Then the angel of the LORD said, “ LORD Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?”
13So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. 14Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,
15and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’
16“Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the LORD Almighty.
17“Proclaim further: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’ ”
Four Horns and Four Craftsmen 18Then I looked up, and there before me were four horns.
19I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”
20Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.
21I asked, “What are these coming to do?” He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”
A Man With a Measuring Line
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2I asked, “Where are you going?” He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.” 3While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him 4and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it.
5And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will be its glory within.’
6“Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the LORD, “for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven,” declares the LORD . 7“Come, Zion! Escape, you who live in Daughter Babylon!” 8For this is what the LORD Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye—
9I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them.
Clean Garments for the High Priest
1Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan
2The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” 3Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.
4The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.”
5Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by. 6The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua:
7“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here. 8“ ‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.
9See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes
The Gold Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees 1Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep.
2He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps.
3Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
4I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5He answered, “Do you not know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I replied.
6So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.
7“What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ ” 8Then the word of the LORD came to me:
9“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.
10“Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the LORD that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone
11Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”
12Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”
13He replied, “Do you not know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I said.
14So he said, “These are the two who are anointed to
The Flying Scroll 1I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.
2He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.
4The LORD Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.’ ”
The Woman in a Basket 5Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.”
6I asked, “What is it?” He replied, “It is a basket.” And he added, “This is the iniquity
8He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.
9Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.
10“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.
11He replied, “To the country of Babylonia
Four Chariots 1I looked up again, and there before me were four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. 2The first chariot had red horses, the second black, 3the third white, and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful.
4I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”
5The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits
6The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west,
7When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth. And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.
8Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit
A Crown for Joshua
9The word of the LORD came to me:
10“Take silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon. Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.
11Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jozadak.
Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting 1In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev. 2The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the LORD
3by asking the priests of the house of the LORD Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” 4Then the word of the LORD Almighty came to me: 5“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?
7Are these not the words the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’ ” 8And the word of the LORD came again to Zechariah: 9“This is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.
10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ 11“But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears.
12They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry. 13“ ‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the LORD Almighty. 14‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’ ”
The LORD Promises to Bless Jerusalem 1The word of the LORD Almighty came to me.
2This is what the LORD Almighty says: “I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.”
3This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the LORD Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.” 4This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age.
5The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.”
6This is what the LORD Almighty says: “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to me?” declares the LORD Almighty. 7This is what the LORD Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west.
8I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.” 9This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Now hear these words, ‘Let your hands be strong so that the temple may be built.’ This is also what the prophets said who were present when the foundation was laid for the house of the LORD Almighty. 10Before that time there were no wages for people or hire for animals. No one could go about their business safely because of their enemies, since I had turned everyone against their neighbor.
11But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as I did in the past,” declares the LORD Almighty. 12“The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of this people.
13Just as you, Judah and Israel, have been a curse
17do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the LORD .
18The word of the LORD Almighty came to me.
19This is what the LORD Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.” 20This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, 21and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the LORD and seek the LORD Almighty. I myself am going.’
22And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD Almighty and to entreat him.” 23This is what the LORD Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’ ”