New Century Version

Zechariah 1:11-21 New Century Version (NCV)

11. Then they spoke to the Lord’s angel, who was standing among the myrtle trees. They said, “We have gone through all the earth, and everything is calm and quiet.”

12. Then the Lord’s angel asked, “Lord All-Powerful, how long will it be before you show mercy to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? You have been angry with them for seventy years now.”

13. So the Lord answered the angel who was talking with me, and his words were comforting and good.

14. Then the angel who was talking to me said to me, “Announce this: This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘I have a strong love for Jerusalem.

15. And I am very angry with the nations that feel so safe. I was only a little angry at them, but they made things worse.’

16. “So this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy. My Temple will be rebuilt,’ says the Lord All-Powerful, ‘and the measuring line will be used to rebuild Jerusalem.’

17. “Also announce: This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘My towns will be rich again. The Lord will comfort Jerusalem again, and I will again choose Jerusalem.’ ”

18. Then I looked up and saw four animal horns.

19. I asked the angel who was talking with me, “What are these?”He said, “These are the horns that scattered the people of Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

20. Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.

21. I asked, “What are they coming to do?”He answered, “They have come to scare and throw down the horns. These horns scattered the people of Judah so that no one could even lift up his head. These horns stand for the nations that attacked the people of Judah and scattered them.”