Zechariah 6

1And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.

2In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;

3And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.footnote a

4Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?

5And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.footnote b

6The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country.

7And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.

8Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.

9And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

10Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;

11Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;

12And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:footnote c

13Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

14And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the LORD.

15And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the LORD, and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.

The Vision of the Four Chariots

1And again I lifted up my eyes and saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. 2The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses, 3the third white horses, and the fourth dappled horses—all of them strong.

4So I inquired of the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”

5And the angel told me, “These are the four spiritsfootnote a of heaven, going forth from their station before the Lord of all the earth. 6The one with the black horses is going toward the land of the north, the one with the white horses toward the west,footnote b and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

7As the strong horses went out, they were eager to go and patrol the earth; and the LORD said, “Go and patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth.

8Then the LORD summoned me and said, “Behold, those going to the land of the north have given rest to My Spirit in the land of the north.”

The Crown and the Temple

9The word of the LORD also came to me, saying, 10“Take an offering from the exiles—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon—and go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak.footnote c

12And you are to tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Here is a man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build the temple of the LORD. 13Yes, He will build the temple of the LORD; He will be clothed in splendor and will sit on His throne and rule. And He will be a priest on His throne,footnote d and there will be peaceful counsel between the two.’

14The crown will reside in the temple of the LORD as a memorial to Helem,footnote e Tobijah, Jedaiah, and the graciousfootnote f son of Zephaniah. 15Even those far away will come and build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.”