For the household gods ¹  have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. Therefore the people set out like sheep and become scattered because they have no shepherd. ² 

Then he cried out to me, “Look! The ones going to the northland have brought me ¹  peace about the northland.” ² 

The angel of the Lord then asked, “Lord who rules over all, ¹  how long before you have compassion on Jerusalem ²  and the other cities of Judah which you have been so angry with for these seventy years?” ³ 

so, to the contrary, I have planned in these days to do good to Jerusalem and Judah – do not fear!

“Choose some people ¹  from among the exiles, namely, Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, all of whom have come from Babylon, and when you have done so go to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. ² 

I asked, “What are these going to do?” He answered, “These horns are the ones that have scattered Judah so that there is no one to be seen. ¹  But the blacksmiths have come to terrify Judah’s enemies ²  and cut off the horns of the nations that have thrust themselves against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people.” ³ 

“You there! ¹  Flee from the northland!” says the Lord, “for like the four winds of heaven ²  I have scattered you,” says the Lord.

I will signal for them and gather them, for I have already redeemed them; then they will become as numerous as they were before.

So I asked the angelic messenger ¹  who spoke with me, “What are these?” He replied, “These are the horns ²  that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ³ 

Howl, fir tree, because the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees have been destroyed. Howl, oaks of Bashan, because the impenetrable forest has fallen.

Those who buy them ¹  slaughter them and are not held guilty; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

The riders then agreed with the angel of the Lord, ¹  who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have been walking about on the earth, and now everything is at rest and quiet.”

by asking both the priests of the temple ¹  of the Lord who rules over all and the prophets, “Should we weep in the fifth month, ²  fasting as we have done over the years?”

Listen to the howling of shepherds, because their magnificence has been destroyed. Listen to the roaring of young lions, because the thickets of the Jordan have been devastated.

The angel ¹  spoke up to those standing all around, “Remove his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “I have freely forgiven your iniquity and will dress you ²  in fine clothing.”

“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple, ¹  and his hands will complete it.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you.

“Sing out and be happy, Zion my daughter! ¹  For look, I have come; I will settle in your midst,” says the Lord.

The messenger replied, “These are the four spirits ¹  of heaven that have been presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth.

“‘Therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘I have become compassionate ¹  toward Jerusalem ²  and will rebuild my temple ³  in it,’ says the Lord who rules over all. ‘Once more a surveyor’s measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’

Then I will surround my temple ¹  to protect it like a guard ²  from anyone crossing back and forth; so no one will cross over against them anymore as an oppressor, for now I myself have seen it.