Zechariah 4

World English Bible 86 include this book

1 The angel who talked with me came again and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep.

2 He said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I have seen, and behold, a lamp stand all of gold, with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps which are on the top of it;

3 and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side of it.”

4 I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”

5 Then the angel who talked with me answered me, “Don’t you know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.”

6 Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, “This is the LORD’s word to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD of Armies.

7 Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace, to it!’”

8 Moreover the LORD’s word came to me, saying,

9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it; and you will know that the LORD of Armies has sent me to you.

10 Indeed, who despises the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These are the LORD’s eyes, which run back and forth through the whole earth.”

11 Then I asked him, “What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lamp stand and on the left side of it?”

12 I asked him the second time, “What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts that pour the golden oil out of themselves?”

13 He answered me, “Don’t you know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.”

14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

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21 places named in this book — no place is named in this chapter, so the whole book is shown.

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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