The Daily Audio Bible

Eighth Vision: Four Chariots

6 And again I looked up and saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. ² The first chariot had red horses, the second chariot black horses,^{(A) 3} the third chariot white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled gray^[a] horses.^{(B) 4} Then I said to the angel who spoke with me, “What are these, my lord?” ⁵ The angel answered me, “These are the four winds^[b] of heaven going out, after presenting themselves before the Lord of the whole earth.^{(C) 6} The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go toward the west country,^[c] and the dappled ones go toward the south country.”^{(D) 7} When the steeds came out, they were impatient to get off and patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth. ⁸ Then he cried out to me, “See, those who go toward the north country have set my spirit at rest in the north country.”^(E)

The Coronation of the Branch

⁹ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁰ “Collect silver and gold^[d] from the exiles—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah—who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.^{(F) 11} Take the silver and gold and make a crown^[e] and set it on the head of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak;^{(G) 12} say to him: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Here is a man whose name is Branch, for he shall branch out in his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord.^{(H) 13} It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord; he shall bear royal honor and shall sit upon his throne and rule. There shall be a priest by his throne, with peaceful understanding between the two of them.^{(I) 14} And the crown^[f] shall be in the care of Heldai,^[g] Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah^[h] son of Zephaniah, as a memorial in the temple of the Lord.

¹⁵ “Those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”^(J)

Hypocritical Fasting Condemned

7 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 Chislev.^{(K) 2} Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord^{(L) 3} and to ask the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, “Should I mourn and practice abstinence in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”^{(M) 4} Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: ⁵ “Say to all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth month and in the seventh for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?^{(N) 6} And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink only for yourselves? ⁷ Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, along with the towns around it, and when the Negeb and the Shephelah were inhabited?”

Punishment for Rejecting God’s Demands

⁸ The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: ⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another;^{(O) 10} do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.^{(P) 11} But they refused to listen and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears in order not to hear.^{(Q) 12} They made their hearts adamant in order not to hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.^{(R) 13} Just as, when I^[i] called, they would not hear, so, when they called, I would not hear, says the Lord of hosts,^{(S) 14} and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and a pleasant land was made desolate.”^(T)

The Angels with the Seven Last Plagues

15 Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended.^(A)

² And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.^{(B) 3} And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:

⁵ After this I looked, and the temple of the tent^[b] of witness in heaven was opened, ⁶ and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen,^[c] with golden sashes across their chests. ⁷ Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever;^{(E) 8} and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.^(F)

Psalm 143

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

A Psalm of David.