Zechariah 5

Chapter 5

A Flying Scroll

1 I looked up again and saw a scroll flying through the air.

2 “What do you see?” the angel asked.
“I see a flying scroll,” I replied. “It appears to be about 30 feet long and 15 feet wide.t”
3 Then he said to me, “This scroll contains the curse that is going out over the entire land. One side of the scroll says that those who steal will be banished from the land; the other side says that those who swear falsely will be banished from the land.

4 And this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: I am sending this curse into the house of every thief and into the house of everyone who swears falsely using my name. And my curse will remain in that house and completely destroy it—even its timbers and stones.”

A Woman in a Basket

5 Then the angel who was talking with me came forward and said, “Look up and see what’s coming.”

6 “What is it?” I asked.
He replied, “It is a basket for measuring grain,t and it’s filled with the sinst of everyone throughout the land.”
7 Then the heavy lead cover was lifted off the basket, and there was a woman sitting inside it.

8 The angel said, “The woman’s name is Wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and closed the heavy lid again.

9 Then I looked up and saw two women flying toward us, gliding on the wind. They had wings like a stork, and they picked up the basket and flew into the sky.

10 “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel.

11 He replied, “To the land of Babylonia,t where they will build a temple for the basket. And when the temple is ready, they will set the basket there on its pedestal.”

Zechariah 6

Chapter 6

Four Chariots

1 Then I looked up again and saw four chariots coming from between two bronze mountains.2 The first chariot was pulled by red horses, the second by black horses,3 the third by white horses, and the fourth by powerful dappled-gray horses.

4 “And what are these, my lord?” I asked the angel who was talking with me.
5 The angel replied, “These are the four spiritst of heaven who stand before the Lord of all the earth. They are going out to do his work.

6 The chariot with black horses is going north, the chariot with white horses is going west,t and the chariot with dappled-gray horses is going south.”

7 The powerful horses were eager to set out to patrol the earth. And the LORD said, “Go and patrol the earth!” So they left at once on their patrol.

8 Then the LORD summoned me and said, “Look, those who went north have vented the anger of my Spiritt there in the land of the north.”

The Crowning of Jeshua

9 Then I received another message from the LORD:10 “Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah will bring gifts of silver and gold from the Jews exiled in Babylon. As soon as they arrive, meet them at the home of Josiah son of Zephaniah.11 Accept their gifts, and make a crownt from the silver and gold. Then put the crown on the head of Jeshuat son of Jehozadak, the high priest.12 Tell him, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Here is the man called the Branch. He will branch out from where he is and build the Temple of the LORD.

13 Yes, he will build the Temple of the LORD. Then he will receive royal honor and will rule as king from his throne. He will also serve as priest from his throne,t and there will be perfect harmony between his two roles.’

14 “The crown will be a memorial in the Temple of the LORD to honor those who gave it—Heldai,t Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiaht son of Zephaniah.”

15 People will come from distant lands to rebuild the Temple of the LORD. And when this happens, you will know that my messages have been from the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. All this will happen if you carefully obey what the LORD your God says.

Zechariah 7

Chapter 7

A Call to Justice and Mercy

1 On December 7t of the fourth year of King Darius’s reign, another message came to Zechariah from the LORD.2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech,t along with their attendants, to seek the LORD’s favor.

3 They were to ask this question of the prophets and the priests at the Temple of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies: “Should we continue to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction,t as we have done for so many years?”
4 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies sent me this message in reply:5 “Say to all your people and your priests, ‘During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn,t was it really for me that you were fasting?6 And even now in your holy festivals, aren’t you eating and drinking just to please yourselves?

7 Isn’t this the same message the LORD proclaimed through the prophets in years past when Jerusalem and the towns of Judah were bustling with people, and the Negev and the foothills of Judaht were well populated?’”
8 Then this message came to Zechariah from the LORD:9 “This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another.

10 Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.
11 “Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing.

12 They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the LORD of Heaven’s Armies was so angry with them.
13 “Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

14 As with a whirlwind, I scattered them among the distant nations, where they lived as strangers. Their land became so desolate that no one even traveled through it. They turned their pleasant land into a desert.”