Zechariah

1Two prophets spoke to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem. Their names were Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Iddo. They spoke in the name of the God of Israel.

Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.

NoteA prophet is a person who tells others what God says. Judah was the land around the city of Jerusalem. The Jews were the people who lived there.

2So Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak got up. They began to build God's house in Jerusalem again. God's prophets were right there helping them.

Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.

NoteGod's house means the temple, the building where people worshiped God. It had been knocked down many years before this. That is why they were building it again.

14The Jewish leaders kept building, and the work went well. Two prophets helped them, Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished the house as the God of Israel commanded. They also followed the orders of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.

And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

NoteA prophet was someone who told people what God said. Haggai and Zechariah spoke to the workers and kept them going.

15The house was finished on the third day of the month Adar. That was in the sixth year that King Darius ruled.

And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

NoteAdar was the last month of their year. It came near the end of our winter, around February and March.

1It was the eighth month of the year. Darius the king had ruled for two years. God's message came to Zechariah. Zechariah was a prophet, someone who tells people what God says. He was the son of Berechiah and the grandson of Iddo. This is what God said.

In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

NoteDarius was the king of Persia, a huge and powerful country. God's people lived under his rule then. Their year started in spring. So the eighth month came near our November.

2"I was very angry with your fathers long ago."

The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.

NoteFathers here means grandparents and great-grandparents. It means the family members who lived long before.

3"So tell the people this. The LORD who commands all the armies of heaven says: Come back to me. Then I will come back to you."

Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.

NoteCome back to me means being sorry for doing wrong. It means living God's way again.

4"Do not be like your fathers. Long ago, prophets told them what God said. God told them to stop doing wrong things. But your fathers would not listen. They paid no attention to me at all."

Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.

NoteThose earlier prophets were men like Isaiah and Jeremiah. They spoke God's words many years before Zechariah was born.

5"Your fathers are gone now. Where are they? And the prophets did not live forever either."

Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?

6"But my words and my rules caught up with your fathers in the end. I had given those words to the prophets who served me. Then your fathers were sorry. They said, 'God planned to punish us for the way we lived. And that is just what he did.'"

But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.

NoteLong ago, soldiers from a land called Babylon burned Jerusalem. They took the people far away from home. That is the punishment these words talk about.

7It was the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month. That month is called Shebat. Darius had ruled for two years. God's message came again to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo.

Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

NoteShebat was the name of a month. It came near our January and February.

8At night I saw a man riding a red horse. He was standing among some myrtle trees down in a low valley. Behind him were other horses. They were red, reddish brown, and white.

I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.

NoteMyrtle trees are small trees with shiny leaves and white flowers. Zechariah saw all this like a picture in his mind. God showed it to him at night.

9I asked, "Sir, what are these?" The angel who was talking with me said, "I will show you what they are."

Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.

NoteAn angel is a messenger sent from God.

10The man standing among the myrtle trees said, "God sent these to go all over the earth and watch it."

And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

NoteThese riders were like scouts. They rode all over to see what was happening. Then they came back and told what they saw.

11The riders spoke to the angel of the LORD among the myrtle trees. They said, "We went all over the earth. The whole earth is quiet and calm."

And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

NoteQuiet and calm means no wars were going on anywhere.

12Then the angel of the LORD said, "LORD who commands all the armies of heaven, how long will you wait? Jerusalem and the towns of Judah need your kindness. You have been angry with them for seventy years now."

Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?

NoteJerusalem was the most important city of God's people. Judah was the land around it. Enemies had knocked the city down about seventy years before this.

13The LORD answered the angel who was talking with me. He spoke kind words that gave comfort.

And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.

14Then the angel said to me, "Say this out loud. The LORD who commands all the armies of heaven says: I care about Jerusalem very much. I care about Zion very much. Zion is another name for the city of Jerusalem."

So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

NoteThe King James says God is "jealous" for Jerusalem. Here that word means loving someone very much. It means holding on and never giving them up.

15"But I am very angry with the nations that live comfortably. I was only a little angry with my people. Those nations made their trouble much worse."

And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

NoteThe King James calls them "the heathen". That word means people from other countries. At ease means safe and comfortable, with no troubles.

16"So the LORD says: I am coming back to Jerusalem to be kind to it. My house will be built there again. And a measuring line will be stretched out over the city."

Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

NoteMy house means the temple. The temple was the special building in Jerusalem for worshiping God. Enemies had knocked it down. A measuring line was a long cord that builders used, like a tape measure. Stretching it over the city meant the city would be built again.

17"Say this too. The LORD who commands all the armies of heaven says: my towns will be full of good things again. I will comfort Zion again. I will choose Jerusalem again."

Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.

18Then I looked up. I saw four horns.

Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.

NoteA horn is the hard, pointed part on a bull's head. A bull uses its horns to push and fight. So horns are a picture of strong nations with great power.

19I asked the angel who was talking with me, "What are these?" He said, "These are the horns that scattered the people of Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."

And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.

NoteScattered means the people were forced away from home. They ended up spread out in faraway lands. Judah and Israel were the two parts of the land God's people lived in.

20Then the LORD showed me four workmen with tools.

And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.

NoteThe King James calls them "carpenters". They were workmen who shaped wood, stone, or metal. Their tools were strong enough to break horns off.

21I asked, "What have these come to do?" He said, "Those horns scattered the people of Judah. No one could even lift up his head. But these workmen have come to frighten the horns. They will throw down the horns of the nations. Those nations used their power against the land of Judah and scattered its people."

Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.

Note"No man did lift up his head" means the people were too sad and scared to look up. The King James word "fray" means to frighten. "Gentiles" means people who were not part of God's people.

1It was the fourth year that Darius was king. A message from the LORD came to a man named Zechariah. It came on the fourth day of the ninth month, called Chislev.

And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;

NoteDarius was the king of Persia, a huge and powerful country far away. God's people lived under his rule at this time. Chislev was the name of a month in their calendar. It came near the end of our year, around November and December. Zechariah was a prophet, a man who told people what God said.

2The people of the town of Bethel sent two men to pray to the LORD. Their names were Sharezer and Regem-melech. Other men came with them.

When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,

NoteBethel was a town north of Jerusalem, about a day's walk away. These men traveled that whole way to bring God a question. Sharezer and Regem-melech are simply the two men's names.

3They came to ask the priests and prophets at the LORD's house a question. Priests were men who served God at his house. Prophets were men who told people what God said. The question was this: "Should I cry and go without food in the fifth month, as I have done for many years?"

And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

NoteThe LORD's house means the temple in Jerusalem. It was a special building where people came to worship God. Going without food on purpose is called fasting. People did it to show God they were sad. Long ago, in the fifth month, enemies burned the temple down. Every year after that, people were sad in that same month.

4Then this message came to me from the LORD of armies.

Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,

NoteThe King James Bible says "the LORD of hosts." A host meant a great big army. So the name pictures God as a king with countless soldiers.

5"Ask all the people of the land, and ask the priests too. For seventy years you went without food and cried in the fifth month and the seventh month. Were you really doing that for me?

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

NoteSeventy years is a very long time, longer than most people lived. Enemies had carried God's people far away to a land called Babylon. They stayed there about seventy years before they came home again. The fifth and seventh months each held a sad day they remembered.

6And when you ate and drank, were you not doing that just for yourselves?

And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

7These are the same words the LORD said long ago. He said them through prophets who lived before you. Back then Jerusalem was full of people and doing well. Towns stood all around it. People lived in the dry land to the south and in the low hills."

Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?

NoteThe earlier prophets lived long before Zechariah was born. They told people the very same things, and no one listened. The dry land to the south was called the Negev. Almost no rain falls there. The low hills lay between the tall mountains and the sea.

8Another message from the LORD came to Zechariah.

And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,

9This is what the LORD of armies says: "Be fair and honest when you judge. Be kind and gentle to one another.

Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

NoteA judge was a person who listened when two people argued. He decided which one was right. God wanted judges to treat rich and poor the same way.

10Do not be cruel to a widow, a woman whose husband has died. Do not be cruel to a child with no father, to a stranger from another land, or to a poor person. Do not plan to hurt anyone in your heart."

And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

NoteIn those days your family kept you safe and fed you. A woman with no husband had no one to look after her. Neither did a child with no father or a visitor from far away. That is why these people are listed together here.

11But the people would not listen. They turned their shoulders away. They covered their ears so they could not hear.

But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

NoteTurning the shoulder away is a picture taken from farm animals. An ox would twist its shoulder out of the wooden bar it pulled. It did not want to do the work. The people were acting like that stubborn ox.

12They made their hearts as hard as the hardest stone. They would not listen to God's law. They would not listen to the words the LORD of armies sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD of armies became very angry.

Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

NoteThe King James Bible says they made their hearts "as an adamant stone." Adamant meant the hardest stone anyone knew about. In the Bible, the heart means the part of you that thinks and chooses. God's law was the set of rules God gave his people long ago.

13The LORD of armies says, "I called to them, and they would not listen. So when they called to me, I would not listen.

Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:

14I blew them away like a strong wind. I scattered them among nations they had never known. The land was left empty behind them. No one came or went. They turned that good land into an empty place."

But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

NoteA whirlwind is wind that spins fast and lifts things off the ground. Enemies carried the people away to countries they had never seen. That is what scattering means here. Their land sat empty, with no farmers and no busy towns. The King James calls it "the pleasant land" because it grew good food.

34"So listen. I am sending you prophets, wise men, and teachers. Some of them you will kill. Some you will nail to crosses. Some you will whip in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town."

Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

NoteCrucify means to nail someone to a wooden cross. That is how the Romans killed people. To whip someone was to beat them with a lash.

35"So the blood of every good person killed on earth will come on you. It starts with good Abel. It ends with Zacharias, the son of Barachias. You killed him between the temple and the altar."

That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

NoteAbel was killed by his brother. That story is in the very first book of the Bible. Zacharias was killed much later, right by the temple. Jesus means every killing from the first one to the last.

36"I tell you the truth. All these things will happen to the people living now."

Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.