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About this book: Zechariah

Zechariah is a book of visions and promises written to encourage a discouraged community. The exiles had come home from Babylon, but the temple lay unfinished and the future looked small. Zechariah begins with a call to return to the Lord, then receives eight visions in a single night: riders patrolling the earth, a measuring line over Jerusalem, a high priest cleansed of his filthy clothes, a lampstand fed by olive trees, and more. Together they say that God has not abandoned his people, that he will purify them and that the work will be finished by his Spirit rather than by human power. The second half turns toward the future with two oracles about a humble king riding a donkey, a rejected shepherd, mourning over one who was pierced, and the Lord reigning over all the earth. The New Testament draws on these chapters often when it describes Jesus, especially in the events of his final week. Christians differ on how literally to read the last chapters, but nearly all hear in them the hope that God will dwell with his people.

Author
The prophet Zechariah, grandson of Iddo; many scholars think chapters 9–14 come from a later hand or period.
Date
Begins in 520 BC, in the second year of Darius; the later chapters are dated by scholars from the same period to somewhat later.
Audience
The Jews who returned to Jerusalem after the exile and were rebuilding the temple.

Themes

Return to the LordGod's Spirit, not human powerCleansing and renewalThe coming humble kingGod dwelling with his people

Outline

  1. 1:1–1:6A call to return
  2. 1:7–6:15Eight night visions
  3. 7:1–8:23A question about fasting and promises of restoration
  4. 9:1–11:17The coming king and the rejected shepherd
  5. 12:1–14:21Mourning, cleansing and the Lord's reign

Key verses

Zechariah 4:6 →Zechariah 9:9 →Zechariah 14:9 →
About this chapterIn the second year of Darius, Zechariah calls the returned exiles to return to the Lord, so that he will return to them, and not to be like their ancestors who ignored the earlier prophets. Those ancestors died, yet God's words caught up with them. Then Zechariah sees the first of eight night visions: a man on a red horse among myrtle trees, with riders who have patrolled the earth and found it at rest. The angel of the Lord asks how long God will withhold mercy from Jerusalem, and the Lord answers with kind words, saying he is jealous for Zion. Other visions show four horns that scattered Judah, and four craftsmen who will overturn them.

In the second year of Darius, Zechariah calls the returned exiles to return to the Lord, so that he will return to them, and not to be like their ancestors who ignored the earlier prophets. Those ancestors died, yet God's words caught up with them. Then Zechariah sees the first of eight night visions: a man on a red horse among myrtle trees, with riders who have patrolled the earth and found it at rest. The angel of the Lord asks how long God will withhold mercy from Jerusalem, and the Lord answers with kind words, saying he is jealous for Zion. Other visions show four horns that scattered Judah, and four craftsmen who will overturn them.

Themes

  • Return to the Lord
  • Night visions begin
  • God's jealous love for Zion

Key verses

Audio Bible · Zechariah 1

Listen while you go about your day.

Zechariah 1

Berean Standard Bible21 verses · 3 min read

1In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying: 2“The LORD was very angry with your fathers. 3So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’ 4Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD. 5Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Hosts purposed to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.’” 7On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo. 8I looked out into the night and saw a man riding on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the hollow, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. 9“What are these, my lord?” I asked. And the angel who was speaking with me replied, “I will show you what they are.” 10Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.” 11And the riders answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and tranquil.” 12Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?” 13So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me. 14Then the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, 15but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity. ’ 16Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt, declares the LORD of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’ 17Proclaim further that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘My cities will again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’” 18Then I looked up and saw four horns. 19So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he told me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 20Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. 21“What are these coming to do?” I asked. And He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head; but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations that have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”
Verses in Zechariah 1
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Chapters of Zechariah

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