Zechariah 3

World English Bible 86 include this book

1 He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the LORD’s angel, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.

2 The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Yes, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn’t this a burning stick plucked out of the fire?”

3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel.

4 He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, “Take the filthy garments off him.” To him he said, “Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich clothing.”

5 I said, “Let them set a clean turban on his head.” So they set a clean turban on his head, and clothed him; and the LORD’s angel was standing by.

6 The LORD’s angel solemnly assured Joshua, saying,

7 “The LORD of Armies says: ‘If you will walk in my ways, and if you will follow my instructions, then you also shall judge my house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you a place of access among these who stand by.

8 Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign; for, behold, I will bring out my servant, the Branch.

9 For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua: on one stone are seven eyes; behold, I will engrave its inscription,’ says the LORD of Armies, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

10 In that day,’ says the LORD of Armies, ‘you will invite every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.’”

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1 place named in this chapter.

Where this was written

Jerusalem attested Same setting as Haggai.

When this was written

Traditions differ. Each position is shown rather than one asserted as settled.

Traditional: 520 BC–480 BC Zechariah
The whole book ascribed to the prophet of the return.
Critical: 520 BC–400 BC Zechariah and later hands
Chapters 1-8 are firmly dated; 9-14 differ in style and outlook and are usually placed later.

Elsewhere in the world

Events overlapping the period this book is dated to (520 BC–400 BC).

1200 BC–400 BC Olmec civilisation Mesoamerica
The earliest major Mesoamerican civilisation, known for colossal stone heads and an early calendar.
1070 BC–350 AD The kingdom of Kush Africa
A Nubian power on the upper Nile that ruled Egypt itself as its twenty-fifth dynasty.
600 BC–500 BC Daoism takes shape in China China
The teaching associated with Laozi, emphasising harmony with the natural order.
570 BC–495 BC Pythagoras Greece
Mathematician and mystic whose school treated number as the structure of reality.
563 BC–483 BC Life of Siddhartha Gautama India
The founder of Buddhism taught in the Ganges plain, roughly contemporary with the Judean exile.
550 BC–330 BC The Persian empire founded Persia
Cyrus and his successors ruled from the Aegean to the Indus, the largest empire the world had yet seen.
516 BC Second Temple completed Levant
The rebuilt temple in Jerusalem was finished under Persian authorisation.
509 BC The Roman republic founded Rome
The last king was expelled and Rome became a republic governed by elected magistrates.

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