Add parallel Print Page Options

And the angel who spoke with me replied, “Do you not know what these things are?” I said, “No, my lord.”

An Oracle. Then he said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, and not by power, but by my spirit,[a](A) says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain?[b] Before Zerubbabel you become a plain. He will bring forth the first stone amid shouts of ‘Favor, favor be upon it!’”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 4:6 Not by might…my spirit: one of the most quoted verses from the Old Testament, particularly in Jewish tradition, which connects it with the theme of Hanukkah, sometimes called the Festival of Lights.
  2. 4:7 Great mountain: part of symbolic imagery for the Temple on Mount Zion, as embodiment of the cosmic mountain where heaven and earth connect. Plain: leveled ground serving as the foundation area for the construction of the Temple, and symbolizing the foundation of the cosmos. First stone: foundation stone of a major public building. Such stones were laid with great ceremony in foundation rituals when monumental buildings were newly built or rebuilt in the biblical world.

He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I replied.(A)

So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:(B) ‘Not(C) by might nor by power,(D) but by my Spirit,’(E) says the Lord Almighty.

“What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground.(F) Then he will bring out the capstone(G) to shouts(H) of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”

Read full chapter