The Living Bible (292 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
Subject: messages from the Lord. These messages from the Lord were given to Zechariah (son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo the prophet) in early November of the second year of the reign of King Darius.
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The Lord Almighty was very angry with your fathers.
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But he will turn again and favor you if only you return to him.
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Don’t be like your fathers were! The earlier prophets pled in vain with them to turn from all their evil ways.
“Come, return to me,” the Lord God said. But no, they wouldn’t listen; they paid no attention at all.
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Your fathers and their prophets are now long dead, but remember the lesson they learned, that
God’s Word endures!
It caught up with them and punished them. Then at last they repented.
“We have gotten what we deserved from God,” they said. “He has done just what he warned us he would.”
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The following February, still in the second year of the reign of King Darius, another message from the Lord came to Zechariah (son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo the prophet), in a vision in the night:
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I saw a Man sitting on a red horse that was standing among the myrtle trees beside a river. Behind him were other horses, red and bay and white, each with its rider.
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An angel stood beside me, and I asked him, “Sir, what are all those horses for?”
“I’ll tell you,” he replied.
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Then the rider on the red horse—he was the Angel of the Lord—answered me, “The Lord has sent them to patrol the earth for him.”
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Then the other riders reported to the Angel of the Lord, “We have patrolled the whole earth, and everywhere there is prosperity and peace.”
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Upon hearing this, the Angel of the Lord prayed this prayer: “O Lord Almighty, for seventy years your anger has raged against Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. How long will it be until you again show mercy to them?”
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And the Lord answered the angel who stood beside me, speaking words of comfort and assurance.
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Then the angel said, “Shout out this message from the Lord Almighty: ‘Don’t you think I care about what has happened to Judah and Jerusalem? I am as jealous as a husband for his captive wife.
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I am very angry with the heathen nations sitting around at ease, for I was only a little displeased with my people, but the nations afflicted them far beyond my intentions.’
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Therefore the Lord declares: ‘I have returned to Jerusalem filled with mercy; my Temple will be rebuilt,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and so will all Jerusalem.’
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Say it again: ‘The Lord Almighty declares that the cities of Israel will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Jerusalem and bless her and live in her.’ ”
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Then I looked and saw four animal horns!
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“What are these?” I asked the angel.
He replied, “They represent the four world powers that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
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Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths.
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“What have these men come to do?” I asked.
The angel replied, “They have come to take hold of the four horns that scattered Judah so terribly, and to pound them on the anvil and throw them away.”
When I looked around me again, I saw a man carrying a yardstick in his hand.
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“Where are you going?” I asked.
“To measure Jerusalem,” he said. “I want to see whether it is big enough for all the people!”
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Then the angel who was talking to me went over to meet another angel coming toward him.
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“Go tell this young man,” said the other angel, “that Jerusalem will some day be so full of people that she won’t have room enough for all! Many will live outside the city walls, with all their many cattle—and yet they will be safe.
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For the Lord himself will be a wall of fire protecting them and all Jerusalem; he will be the glory of the city.
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“Come, flee from the land of the north, from Babylon,” says the Lord to all his exiles there; “I scattered you to the winds, but I will bring you back again. Escape, escape to Zion now!” says the Lord.
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“The Lord of Glory has sent me
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against the nations that oppressed you, for he who harms you sticks his finger in Jehovah’s eye!
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“I will smash them with my fist and their slaves will be their rulers!
Then you will know it was the Lord Almighty who sent me.
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Sing, Jerusalem, and rejoice! For I have come to live among you,” says the Lord.
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“At that time many nations will be converted to the Lord, and they too shall be my people; I will live among them all.
Then you will know it was the Lord Almighty who sent me to you.
And Judah shall be the Lord’s inheritance in the Holy Land, for God shall once more choose to bless Jerusalem.
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“Be silent, all mankind, before the Lord, for he has come to earth from heaven, from his holy home.”
Then the Angel showed me (in my vision) Joshua the High Priest standing before the Angel of the Lord; and Satan was there too, at the Angel’s right hand, accusing Joshua of many things.
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And the Lord said to Satan, “I reject your accusations, Satan;
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yes, I, the Lord, for I have decided to be merciful to Jerusalem—I rebuke you. I have decreed mercy to Joshua and his nation; they are like a burning stick pulled out of the fire.”
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Joshua’s clothing was filthy as he stood before the Angel of the Lord.
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Then the Angel said to the others standing there, “Remove his filthy clothing.” And turning to Joshua he said, “See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.”
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Then I said, “Please, could he also have a clean turban on his head?” So they gave him one.
Then the Angel of the Lord spoke very solemnly to Joshua and said,
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“The Lord Almighty declares: ‘If you will follow the paths I set for you and do all I tell you to, then I will put you in charge of my Temple, to keep it holy; and I will let you walk in and out of my presence with these angels.
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Listen to me, O Joshua the High Priest, and all you other priests, you are illustrations of the good things to come. Don’t you see?—Joshua represents my servant the Branch
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whom I will send.
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He will be the Foundation Stone of the Temple that Joshua is standing beside, and I will engrave this inscription on it seven times:
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I will remove the sins of this land in a single day.
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And after that,’ the Lord Almighty declares, ‘you will all live in peace and prosperity, and each of you will own a home of your own where you can invite your neighbors.’”
Then the angel who had been talking with me woke me, as though I had been asleep.
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“What do you see now?” he asked.
I answered, “I see a gold lampstand holding seven lamps, and at the top there is a reservoir for the olive oil that feeds the lamps, flowing into them through seven tubes.
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And I see two olive trees carved upon the lampstand, one on each side of the reservoir.
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What is it, sir?” I asked. “What does this mean?”
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“Don’t you really know?” the angel asked.
“No, sir,” I said, “I don’t.”
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Then he said, “This is God’s message to Zerubbabel:
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‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty—you will succeed because of my Spirit, though you are few and weak.’
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Therefore no mountain, however high, can stand before Zerubbabel! For it will flatten out before him! And Zerubbabel will finish building this Temple
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with mighty shouts of thanksgiving for God’s mercy, declaring that all was done by grace alone.”
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Another message that I received from the Lord said:
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“Zerubbabel laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. (Then you will know these messages are from God, the Lord Almighty.)
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Do not despise this small beginning, for the eyes of the Lord rejoice to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. For these seven lamps represent the eyes of the Lord that see everywhere around the world.”
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Then I asked him about the two olive trees on each side of the lampstand,
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and about the two olive branches that emptied oil into gold bowls through two gold tubes.
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“Don’t you know?” he asked.
“No, sir,” I said.
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Then he told me, “They represent the two anointed ones who assist the Lord of all the earth.”