The Daily Audio Bible

A Call to Repentance

1 In the eighth month of the second year of ^(A)Darius, the word of the Lord came to ^(B)Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of ^(C)Iddo saying, ² “The Lord was very ^(D)angry with your fathers. ³ Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “^(E)Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. ⁴ “Do not be ^(F)like your fathers, to whom the ^(G)former prophets proclaimed, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “^(H)Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.”’ But they did ^(I)not listen or give heed to Me,” declares the Lord. ⁵ “Your ^(J)fathers, where are they? And the ^(K)prophets, do they live forever? ⁶ But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, ^(L)overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘^(M)As the Lord of hosts purposed to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has dealt with us.’”’”

Patrol of the Earth

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, as follows: ⁸ I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a ^(N)red horse, and he was standing among the ^(O)myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel and ^(P)white horses behind him. ⁹ Then I said, “My ^(Q)lord, what are these?” And the ^(R)angel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.” ¹⁰ And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are those whom the Lord has sent to ^[a](S)patrol the earth.” ¹¹ So they answered the angel of the Lord who was ^(T)standing among the myrtle trees and said, “We have ^[b]patrolled the earth, and behold, ^(U)all the earth is ^[c]peaceful and quiet.”

¹² Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of hosts, ^(V)how long will You ^(W)have no compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been ^(X)indignant these ^(Y)seventy years?” ¹³ The Lord answered the ^(Z)angel who was speaking with me with ^[d]gracious words, ^(AA)comforting words. ¹⁴ So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “^(AB)Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I am ^(AC)exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. ¹⁵ But I am very ^(AD)angry with the nations who are ^(AE)at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they ^[e](AF)furthered the disaster.” ¹⁶ Therefore thus says the Lord, “I will ^(AG)return to Jerusalem with compassion; My ^(AH)house will be built in it,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and a measuring ^(AI)line will be stretched over Jerusalem.”’ ¹⁷ Again, proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “My ^(AJ)cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again ^(AK)comfort Zion and again ^(AL)choose Jerusalem.”’”

^18 [f]Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there were four horns. ¹⁹ So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he answered me, “These are the ^(AM)horns which have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.” ²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four ^(AN)craftsmen. ²¹ I said, “What are these coming to do?” And he said, “These are the ^(AO)horns which have scattered Judah so that no man lifts up his head; but these craftsmen have come to terrify them, to ^(AP)throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.”

The Woman, Israel

12 A great ^(A)sign appeared ^(B)in heaven: ^(C)a woman ^(D)clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; ² and she was with child; and she *^(E)cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.

The Red Dragon, Satan

³ Then ^(F)another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red ^(G)dragon having ^(H)seven heads and ^(I)ten horns, and on his heads were ^(J)seven diadems. ⁴ And his tail *swept away a ^(K)third of the stars of heaven and ^(L)threw them to the earth. And the ^(M)dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth ^(N)he might devour her child.

The Male Child, Christ

⁵ And ^(O)she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to ^[a](P)rule all the ^[b]nations with a rod of iron; and her child was ^(Q)caught up to God and to His throne. ⁶ Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there ^[c]she would be nourished for ^(R)one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

The Angel, Michael

⁷ And there was war in heaven, ^(S)Michael and his angels waging war with the ^(T)dragon. The dragon and ^(U)his angels waged war, ⁸ and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. ⁹ And the great ^(V)dragon was thrown down, the ^(W)serpent of old who is called the devil and ^(X)Satan, who ^(Y)deceives the whole ^[d]world; he was ^(Z)thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ Then I heard ^(AA)a loud voice in heaven, saying,

“Now the ^(AB)salvation, and the power, and the ^(AC)kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the ^(AD)accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. ¹¹ And they ^(AE)overcame him because of ^(AF)the blood of the Lamb and because of ^(AG)the word of their testimony, and they ^(AH)did not love their life even ^[e]when faced with death. ¹² For this reason, ^(AI)rejoice, O heavens and ^(AJ)you who ^[f]dwell in them. ^(AK)Woe to the earth and the sea, because ^(AL)the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only ^(AM)a short time.”

¹³ And when the ^(AN)dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted ^(AO)the woman who gave birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the ^(AP)two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly ^(AQ)into the wilderness to her place, where she *was nourished for ^(AR)a time and times and half a time, from the ^[g]presence of the serpent. ¹⁵ And the ^(AS)serpent ^[h]poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. ^16 [i]But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon ^[j]poured out of his mouth. ¹⁷ So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to ^(AT)make war with the rest of her ^[k](AU)children, who ^(AV)keep the commandments of God and ^(AW)hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Prayer for Protection against the Wicked.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.