Zechariah 5–8; Revelation 19

red bookmark icon blue bookmark icon gold bookmark icon
Zechariah 5–8

A Vision of a Flying Scroll

Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying ascroll! And he said to me, What do you see? I answered, I see a flying ascroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.1 Then he said to me, This is bthe curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who csteals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who dswears falsely2 shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of ehim who swears falsely by my name. And fit shall remain in his house and gconsume it, both timber and stones.

A Vision of a Woman in a Basket

hThen the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, iLift your eyes and see what this is that is going out. And I said, What is it? He said, This is jthe basket3 that is going out. And he said, This is their iniquity4 in all the land. And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! And he said, This is Wickedness. And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down jthe leaden weight on its opening.

Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! kThe wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, Where are they taking the basket? 11 He said to me, To the lland of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.

A Vision of Four Chariots

Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of mbronze. The first chariot had nred horses, the second oblack horses, the third pwhite horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horsesall of them strong.5 Then I answered and said to qthe angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord? And the angel answered and said to me, rThese are going out to the four winds of heaven, after spresenting themselves before tthe Lord of all the earth. The chariot with the black horses goes toward uthe north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward vthe south country. When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and wpatrol the earth. And he said, Go, wpatrol the earth. wSo they patrolled the earth. Then he cried to me, Behold, those who go toward uthe north country have set my Spirit at rest in uthe north country.

The Crown and the Temple

And the word of the Lord came to me: 10 Take from the exiles xHeldai, Tobijah, and yJedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of zZephaniah. 11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, aand set it on the head of bJoshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 And say to him, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, the man whose name is cthe Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and dhe shall build the temple of the Lord. 13 dIt is he who shall build the temple of the Lord eand shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there6 shall be a fpriest on his throne, gand the counsel of peace shall be between them both. 14 And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as ha reminder to iHelem,7 jTobijah, jJedaiah, and Hen jthe son of Zephaniah.

15 kAnd those who are far off shall come and lhelp to build the temple of the Lord. mAnd you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. nAnd this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.

A Call for Justice and Mercy

oIn the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is pChislev. Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men qto entreat the favor of the Lord, rsaying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and sthe prophets, Should I weep and tabstain in uthe fifth month, as I have done for so many years?

Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned in uthe fifth month and in vthe seventh, for these wseventy years, xwas it xfor me that you fasted? yAnd when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? zWere not these the words that the Lord proclaimed aby the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, bwith her cities around her, and the bSouth and the blowland were inhabited?

And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, cRender true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 ddo not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, eor the poor, and flet none of you devise evil against another in your heart. 11 But gthey refused to pay attention hand turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.8 12 iThey made their hearts diamond-hard jlest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent jby his Spirit through kthe former prophets. lTherefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 mAs I9 called, and they would not hear, mso they called, and I would not hear, says the Lord of hosts, 14 nand I scattered them with a whirlwind among all othe nations that they had not known. pThus the land they left was desolate, qso that no one went to and fro, rand the pleasant land was made desolate.

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts: sI am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Thus says the Lord: tI have returned to Zion and uwill dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, vand Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, wand the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. Thus says the Lord of hosts: xOld men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Thus says the Lord of hosts: yIf it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, zshould it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, aI will save my people bfrom the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. cAnd they shall be my people, and I will be their God, din faithfulness and in righteousness.

Thus says the Lord of hosts: eLet your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of fthe prophets who were present on gthe day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days hthere was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. 12 iFor there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, jand the heavens shall give their dew. kAnd I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And as lyou have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, mso will I save you, and nyou shall be a blessing. oFear not, but elet your hands be strong.

14 For thus says the Lord of hosts: pAs I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, 15 so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; ofear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do: qSpeak the truth to one another; rrender in your gates judgments sthat are true and make for peace; 17 tdo not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ulove no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.

18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 19 Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the vfourth month and the fast of the wfifth and the fast of the xseventh and the fast of the ytenth shall be to the house of Judah zseasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love atruth and peace.

20 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, bLet us go at once cto entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going. 22 bMany peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and cto entreat the favor of the Lord. 23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days dten men efrom the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, Let us go with you, for fwe have heard that God is with you.


Revelation 19

Rejoicing in Heaven

After this I heard nwhat seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

Hallelujah!

oSalvation and glory and power belong to our God,

for phis judgments are true and just;

for he has judged qthe great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her immorality,

and rhas avenged on her the blood of his servants.

Once more they cried out,

Hallelujah!

sThe smoke from her goes up forever and ever.

And tthe twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, Amen. Hallelujah! And from the throne came a voice saying,

uPraise our God,

all you his servants,

vyou who fear him,

small and great.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Then I heard what seemed to be wthe voice of a great multitude, like xthe roar of many waters and ylike the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God

the Almighty zreigns.

Let us rejoice and exult

and give him the glory,

for athe marriage of the Lamb has come,

and bhis Bride has made herself ready;

cit was granted her to clothe herself

with fine linen, bright and pure

for the fine linen is dthe righteous deeds of the saints.

And the angel said1 to me, Write this: eBlessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, fThese are the true words of God. 10 Then gI fell down at his feet to worship him, hbut he said to me, You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to ithe testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on a White Horse

11 Then I saw jheaven opened, and behold, ka white horse! The one sitting on it is called lFaithful and True, and min righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 nHis eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are omany diadems, and he has pa name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in qa robe dipped in2 blood, and the name by which he is called is rThe Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, sarrayed in fine linen, white and pure, twere following him on white horses. 15 uFrom his mouth comes a sharp sword vwith which to strike down the nations, and whe will rule3 them with a rod of iron. xHe will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh yhe has a name written, zKing of kings and Lord of lords.

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to aall the birds that fly directly overhead, bCome, gather for cthe great supper of God, 18 dto eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,4 both small and great. 19 And I saw ethe beast and the kings of the earth with their armies fgathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it gthe false prophet hwho in its presence5 had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who iworshiped its image. These two were jthrown alive into the lake of kfire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword lthat came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and mall the birds were gorged with their flesh.