Chapter 5

The Flying Scroll

1 Then I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, there was a flying ascroll.

2 And he said to me, “aWhat do you see?” And I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty 1cubits and its width ten cubits.”

3 Then he said to me, “This is the acurse that is going forth over the face of the whole 1land; surely everyone who bsteals will be purged away according to 2the writing on one side, and everyone who cswears will be purged away according to 2the writing on the other side.

4 “I will amake it go forth,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and it will benter the house of the cthief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night within that house and dconsume it with its timber and stones.”

5 Then athe angel who was speaking with me went out and said to me, “Lift up now your eyes and see what this is going forth.”

6 I said, “What is it?” And he said, “This is the 1aephah going forth.” Again he said, “This is their 2appearance in all the 3land

7 (and behold, a lead cover was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting inside the ephah.”

8 Then he said, “This is aWickedness!” And he threw her down into the middle of the ephah and cast the lead weight on its 1opening.

9 Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and there two women were coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a astork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens.

10 I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the ephah?”

11 Then he said to me, “To build a 1temple for her in the land of aShinar; and when it is prepared, she will be set there on her own pedestal.”

Chapter 6

The Four Chariots

1 Now I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, afour chariots were coming forth from between the two mountains; and the mountains were bronze mountains.

2 With the first chariot were ared horses, with the second chariot bblack horses,

3 with the third chariot awhite horses, and with the fourth chariot strong bdappled horses.

4 Then I spoke and said to the angel who was speaking with me, “aWhat are these, my lord?”

5 The angel replied to me, “These are the afour spirits of heaven, going forth after standing before the Lord of all the earth,

6 with one of which the black horses are going forth to the anorth country; and the white ones go forth after them, while the dappled ones go forth to the bsouth country.

7 “When the strong ones went out, they 1were eager to go to 2apatrol the earth.” And He said, “Go, 2patrol the earth.” So they 3patrolled the earth.

8 Then He cried out to me and spoke to me saying, “See, those who are going to the land of the north have 1aappeased My wrath in the land of the north.”

9 The aword of the Lord also came to me, saying,

10 “aTake an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah; and you go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon.

The Symbolic Crowns

11 “Take silver and gold, make an ornate acrown and set it on the head of bJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

12 “Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is 1aBranch, for He will 2bbranch out from where He is; and He will cbuild the temple of the Lord.

13 “Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will abear the honor and sit and brule on His throne. Thus, He will be a cpriest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two 1offices.” ’

14 “Now the acrown will become a reminder in the temple of the Lord to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah and 1Hen the son of Zephaniah.

15 “aThose who are far off will come and 1build the temple of the Lord.” Then you will bknow that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And it will take place if you completely cobey the Lord your God.

Chapter 7

Hearts like Flint

1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is aChislev.

2 Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and 1their men to 2aseek the favor of the Lord,

3 speaking to the apriests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the bfifth month 1and abstain, as I have done these many years?”

4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying,

5 “Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months 1these aseventy years, was it actually for bMe that you fasted?

6 ‘When you eat and drink, 1do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?

7 ‘Are not these the words which the Lord aproclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and 1bprosperous along with its cities around it, and the 2cNegev and the 3foothills were inhabited?’ ”

8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying,

9 “Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘aDispense true justice and practice bkindness and compassion each to his brother;

10 and ado not oppress the widow or the 1orphan, the 2stranger or the poor; and do bnot devise evil in your hearts against one another.’

11 “But they arefused to pay attention and 1bturned a stubborn shoulder and 2cstopped their ears from hearing.

12 “They made their ahearts like 1bflint 2so that they could not hear the law and the cwords which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the dformer prophets; therefore great ewrath came from the Lord of hosts.

13 “And just as aHe called and they would not listen, so bthey called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts;

14 “but I 1ascattered them with a bstorm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is cdesolated behind them 2so that dno one went back and forth, for they emade the pleasant land desolate.”