Zechariah 1 - EasyEnglish Bible 2024（EASY）

Chapter 1Zechariah tells the people to turn back to God

1The Lord gave his message to the prophet Zechariah in the second year that Darius ruled Persia as king. It happened in the eighth month of that year. Zechariah was the son of Berekiah and the grandson of Iddo.

2This was the Lord's message:

I, the Lord, was very angry with your ancestors.

3So you must say to the people, ‘The Lord Almighty says, “You must turn back to me, and I will return to you.” That is the message from the Lord Almighty.

4He says, “Do not be like your ancestors. Many years ago the prophets told them, ‘Stop doing those evil and wicked things.’ But they refused to obey me.

5Your ancestors have been dead for a long time. Those prophets also are no longer alive.

6But my commands and my laws which the prophets spoke to the people are still true. I punished your ancestors, as I had warned them. Then they turned back to me. They said, ‘The Lord Almighty has punished us as we deserved for our sins. He has done as he said he would do.’ ” That is what the Lord says.’

Zechariah's vision of a man on a horse

7On 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.

8During 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.

9I 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.’

10Then 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.’

11The 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.’

12Then 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.’

13The Lord answered the angel who was speaking to me. He spoke kind words to the angel.

14The 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.

15I 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.”

16So 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.” 

17Tell 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.” ’

Zechariah's vision of four horns

18Then I looked up and I saw four horns.

19I asked the angel who was speaking with me, ‘What are these horns?’

The angel replied, ‘These are the powerful enemies that took away the people of Judah, the people of Israel and the people of Jerusalem.’

20Then the Lord showed me four workers with hammers.

21I said, ‘What are these men coming to do?’

The Lord answered, ‘The horns are the enemies that took away Judah's people so that they have become helpless. But the workers have come to frighten the nations that have attacked Judah. The workers will take away the power of those nations.’