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The Four Chariots

Then I turned around. I looked up and saw four chariots going between two bronze mountains. Red horses were pulling the first chariot. Black horses were pulling the second chariot. White horses were pulling the third chariot, and horses with red spots were pulling the fourth chariot. I asked the angel who was talking with me, “Sir, what does this mean?”

The angel said, “These are the four winds.[a] They have just come from the Lord of the whole world. The black horses will go north, the red horses will go east, the white horses will go west, and the horses with red spots will go south.”

The red spotted horses were anxious to go look at their part of the earth, so the angel told them, “Go walk through the earth.” So they went walking through their part of the earth.

Then he shouted at me and said, “Look, those horses that were going north finished their job in Babylon. They have calmed my spirit; I am not angry now!”

Joshua the Priest Gets a Crown

Then I received another message from the Lord. He said, 10 “Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah have come from the captives[b] in Babylon. Get silver and gold from these men and then go to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11 Use the silver and gold to make a crown. Put it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak. 12 Then tell him this is what the Lord All-Powerful says:

‘There is a man called the Branch.
    He will grow strong,
    and he will build the Lord’s Temple.
13 He will build the Lord’s Temple,
    and he will receive the honor.
He will sit on his throne and be the ruler,
    and a priest will stand by his throne.
These two men will work together in peace.’

14 The crown will be kept in my Temple,[c] so that when people see it, they will remember Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and the kindness of Zephaniah’s son Josiah.”

15 People living far away will come and build the Lord’s Temple. Then you will know for sure that the Lord All-Powerful sent me to you people. All these things will happen if you do what the Lord your God says.

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 6:5 four winds Or “four spirits.” Four winds often means “winds that blow from every direction: north, south, east, and west.”
  2. Zechariah 6:10 captives People taken away as prisoners. Here, it means the Jewish people who were taken to Babylon.
  3. Zechariah 6:14 my Temple Literally, “the Temple of the Lord.”

Four Chariots

I looked up again, and there before me were four chariots(A) coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. The first chariot had red horses, the second black,(B) the third white,(C) and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”

The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits[a](D) of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world.(E) The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west,[b] and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth.(F) And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.

Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit[c] rest(G) in the land of the north.”(H)

A Crown for Joshua

The word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon.(I) Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11 Take the silver and gold and make a crown,(J) and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua(K) son of Jozadak.[d](L) 12 Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch,(M) and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord.(N) 13 It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he[e] will be a priest(O) on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’ 14 The crown will be given to Heldai,[f] Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen[g] son of Zephaniah as a memorial(P) in the temple of the Lord. 15 Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the Lord,(Q) and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.(R) This will happen if you diligently obey(S) the Lord your God.”

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 6:5 Or winds
  2. Zechariah 6:6 Or horses after them
  3. Zechariah 6:8 Or spirit
  4. Zechariah 6:11 Hebrew Jehozadak, a variant of Jozadak
  5. Zechariah 6:13 Or there
  6. Zechariah 6:14 Syriac; Hebrew Helem
  7. Zechariah 6:14 Or and the gracious one, the