1. In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the Lord’s word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
2. “The Lord was very displeased with your fathers.
3. Therefore tell them: the Lord of Hosts says: ‘Return to me,’ says the Lord of Hosts, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord of Hosts.
4. Don’t you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: the Lord of Hosts says, ‘Return now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings;’ but they didn’t hear, nor listen to me, says the Lord.
5. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
6. But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, didn’t they overtake your fathers?“Then they repented and said, ‘Just as the Lord of Hosts determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.’”
7. On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the Lord’s word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
8. “I had a vision in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood amongst the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses.
9. Then I asked, ‘My lord, what are these?’”The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.”
10. The man who stood amongst the myrtle trees answered, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go back and forth through the earth.”