6. The prophets were my servants. I used them to tell your ancestors about my laws and teachings. Your ancestors finally learned their lesson and said, ‘The Lord All-Powerful did what he said he would do. He punished us for the way we lived and for all the evil things we did.’ So they came back to God.”
7. On the 24th day of the eleventh month (Shebat) of the second year that Darius was king of Persia, Zechariah received another message from the Lord. (This was Zechariah son of Berekiah, son of Iddo.) This is the message:
8. At night I saw a man riding a red horse. He was standing among some myrtle bushes in the valley. Behind him, there were red, brown, and white horses.
9. I said, “Sir, what are these horses for?” Then the angel speaking to me said, “I will show you what these horses are for.”
10. Then the man standing among the myrtle bushes said, “The Lord sent these horses to go here and there on earth.”
11. Then the horses spoke to the Lord’S angel standing among the myrtle bushes and said, “We have walked here and there on the earth, and everything is calm and quiet.”
12. Then the Lord’S angel said, “Lord All-Powerful, how long before you comfort Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? You have shown your anger at these cities for 70 years now.”
13. Then the Lord answered the angel who was talking with me. He spoke good, comforting words.