-
Zechariah 4:6-10
So he said to me,“ This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:‘ Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.“ What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of‘ God bless it! God bless it!’”Then the word of the Lord came to me:“ The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.“ Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”
-
Haggai 1:1-2:1
In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest:This is what the Lord Almighty says:“ These people say,‘ The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:“ Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”Now this is what the Lord Almighty says:“ Give careful thought to your ways.You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”This is what the Lord Almighty says:“ Give careful thought to your ways.Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord.“ You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty.“ Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people:“ I am with you,” declares the Lord.So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God,on the twenty- fourth day of the sixth month. In the second year of King Darius,on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:
-
Zechariah 1:1-21
In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo:“ The Lord was very angry with your ancestors.Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says:‘ Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty,‘ and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says:‘ Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord.Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever?But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?“ Then they repented and said,‘ The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.’”On 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 Berekiah, the son of Iddo.During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.I asked,“ What are these, my lord?” The angel who was talking with me answered,“ I will show you what they are.”Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained,“ They are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth.”And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees,“ We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”Then the angel of the Lord said,“ Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?”So the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.Then the angel who was speaking to me said,“ Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says:‘ I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’“ Therefore this is what the Lord says:‘ I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty.“ Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says:‘ My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”Then I looked up, and there before me were four horns.I asked the angel who was speaking to me,“ What are these?” He answered me,“ These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.I asked,“ What are these coming to do?” He answered,“ These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”
-
Micah 5:4
He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.