9. “What do these horses mean, sir?” I asked.The angel who was speaking with me answered, “I will show you what they mean.”
10. The man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They’re the horses the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.”
11. Then they reported to the Messenger of the Lord standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth. The whole world is at rest and in peace.”
12. Then the Messenger of the Lord said, “Lord of Armies, how much longer until you show compassion to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? You’ve been angry with them for 70 years.”
13. The Lord responded to the angel who was speaking with me, using kind and comforting words.
14. The angel who was speaking with me said, “Announce: This is what the Lord of Armies says: I’m very jealous about Jerusalem and Zion,
15. and I’m very angry with the nations who think they are at ease. I was only a little angry, but they made things worse.
16. This is what the Lord of Armies says: I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion. My house will be rebuilt in it, declares the Lord of Armies. A measuring line will be used to rebuild Jerusalem.
17. “Announce again: This is what the Lord of Armies says: My cities will overflow with prosperity once more. The Lord will again comfort Zion and will again choose Jerusalem.”
18. I looked up and saw four animal horns.
19. So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What do these horns mean?”He said to me, “These are the horns ⌊of the nations⌋ that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
20. Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.
21. I asked, “What are they going to do?”He answered, “Those horns scattered Judah so widely that no one could lift up his head. But the craftsmen have come to terrify them, to throw down the horns of the nations. The nations raised their horns to scatter the land of Judah.”