The Bible, Douay Rheims, Book 43: Zacharias
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Unknown >> The Bible, Douay Rheims, Book 43: Zacharias
This eBook was produced by David Widger [widger@cecomet.net]
from etext #1581 prepared by Dennis McCarthy, Atlanta, Georgia
and Tad Book, student, Pontifical North American College, Rome.
THE HOLY BIBLE
Translated from the Latin Vulgate
Diligently Compared with the Hebrew, Greek,
and Other Editions in Divers Languages
THE OLD TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Douay
A.D. 1609 & 1610
and
THE NEW TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Rheims
A.D. 1582
With Annotations
The Whole Revised and Diligently Compared with
the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner
A.D. 1749-1752
THE PROPHECY OF ZACHARIAS
ZACHARIAS began to prophesy in the same year as Aggeus, and upon the
same occasion. His prophecy is full of mysterious figures and promises
of blessings, partly relating to the synagogue, and partly to the church
of Christ.
Zacharias Chapter 1
The prophet exhorts the people to return to God, and declares his
visions, by which he puts them in hopes of better times.
1:1. In the eighth month, in the second year of king Darius, the word of
the Lord came to Zacharias the son of Barachias, the son of Addo, the
prophet, saying:
1:2. The Lord hath been exceeding angry with your fathers.
1:3. And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Turn ye
to me, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will turn to you, saith the Lord
of hosts.
1:4. Be not as your fathers, to whom the former prophets have cried,
saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Turn ye from your evil ways, and
from your wicked thoughts: but they did not give ear, neither did they
hearken to me, saith the Lord.
1:5. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, shall they live
always?
1:6. But yet my words, and my ordinances, which I gave in charge to my
servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers, and they
returned, and said: As the Lord of hosts thought to do to us according
to our ways, and according to our devices, so he hath done to us.
1:7. In the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month which is called
Sabath, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to
Zacharias the son of Barachias, the son of Addo, the prophet, saying:
1:8. I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he
stood among the myrtle trees, that were in the bottom: and behind him
were horses, red, speckled, and white.
A man... An angel in the shape of a man. It was probably Michael, the
guardian angel of the church of God.
1:9. And I said: What are these, my lord? and the angel that spoke in
me, said to me: I will shew thee what these are:
1:10. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered, and said:
These are they, whom the Lord hath sent to walk through the earth.
These are they, etc... The guardian angels of provinces and nations.
1:11. And they answered the angel of the Lord, that stood among the
myrtle trees, and said: We have walked through the earth, and behold all
the earth is inhabited, and is at rest.
1:12. And the angel of the Lord answered, and said: O Lord of hosts, how
long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Juda,
with which thou hast been angry? this is now the seventieth year.
The seventieth year... Viz., from the beginning of the seige of
Jerusalem, in the ninth year of king Sedecias, to the second year of
king Darius. These seventy years of the desolation of Jerusalem and the
cities of Juda, are different from the seventy years of captivity
foretold by Jeremias; which began in the fourth year of Joakim, and
ended in the first year of king Cyrus.
1:13. And the Lord answered the angel, that spoke in me, good words,
comfortable words.
1:14. And the angel that spoke in me, said to me: Cry thou, saying: Thus
saith the Lord of hosts: I am zealous for Jerusalem, and Sion with a
great zeal.
1:15. And I am angry with a great anger with the wealthy nations: for I
was angry a little, but they helped forward the evil.
1:16. Therefore thus saith the Lord: I will return to Jerusalem in
mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts: and the
building line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.
1:17. Cry yet, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: My cities shall yet
flow with good things: and the Lord will yet comfort Sion, and he will
yet choose Jerusalem.
1:18. And I lifted up my eyes, and saw: and behold four horns.
Four horns... The four horns represent the empires, or kingdoms, that
persecute and oppress the kingdom of God.
1:19. And I said to the angel that spoke in me: What are these? And he
said to me: These are the horns that have scattered Juda, and Israel,
and Jerusalem.
1:20. And the Lord shewed me four smiths.
Four smiths... The four smiths, or carpenters ( for faber may signify
either) represent those whom God makes his instruments in bringing to
nothing the power of persecutors.
1:21. And I said: What come these to do? and he spoke, saying: These are
the horns which have scattered Juda every man apart, and none of them
lifted up his head: and these are come to fray them, to cast down the
horns of the nations, that have lifted up the horn upon the land of Juda
to scatter it.
Zacharias Chapter 2
Under the name of Jerusalem, he prophesieth the progress of the church
of Christ, by the conversion of some Jews and many Gentiles.
2:1. And I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold a man, with a
measuring line in his hand.
2:2. And I said: Whither goest thou? and he said to me: To measure
Jerusalem, and to see how great is the breadth thereof, and how great
the length thereof.
2:3. And behold the angel that spoke in me went forth, and another angel
went out to meet him.
2:4. And he said to him: Run, speak to this young man, saying: Jerusalem
shall be inhabited without walls, by reason of the multitude of men, and
of the beasts in the midst thereof.
Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls... This must be understood of
the spiritual Jerusalem, the church of Christ.
2:5. And I will be to it, saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about:
and I will be in glory in the midst thereof.
2:6. O, O flee ye out of the land of the north, saith the Lord, for I
have scattered you into the four winds of heaven, saith the Lord.
2:7. O Sion, flee, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon:
2:8. For thus saith the Lord of hosts: After the glory he hath sent me
to the nations that have robbed you: for he that toucheth you, toucheth
the apple of my eye:
2:9. For behold, I lift up my hand upon them, and they shall be a prey
to those that served them: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts
sent me.
2:10. Sing praise, and rejoice, O daughter of Sion: for behold I come,
and I will dwell in the midst of thee: saith the Lord.
2:11. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they
shall be my people, and I will dwell in the midst of thee: and thou
shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me to thee.
2:12. And the Lord shall possess Juda his portion in the sanctified
land: and he shall yet choose Jerusalem.
2:13. Let all flesh be silent at the presence of the Lord: for he is
risen up out of his holy habitation.
Zacharias Chapter 3
In a vision Satan appeareth accusing the high priest. He is cleansed
from his sins. Christ is promised, and great fruit from his passion.
3:1. And the Lord shewed me Jesus the high priest standing before the
angel of the Lord: and Satan stood on his right hand to be his
adversary.
Jesus... Alias, Josue, the son of Josedec, the high priest of that time.
3:2. And the Lord said to Satan: The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan: and the
Lord that chose Jerusalem rebuke thee: Is not this a brand plucked out
of the fire?
3:3. And Jesus was clothed with filthy garments: and he stood before the
face of the angel.
With filthy garments... Negligences and sins.
3:4. Who answered, and said to them that stood before him, saying: Take
away the filthy garments from him. And he said to him: Behold I have
taken away thy iniquity, and have clothed thee with change of garments.
3:5. And he said: Put a clean mitre upon his head: and they put a clean
mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments, and the angel of the
Lord stood.
3:6. And the angel of the Lord protested to Jesus, saying:
3:7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If thou wilt walk in my ways, and
keep my charge, thou also shalt judge my house, and shalt keep my
courts, and I will give thee some of them that are now present here to
walk with thee.
I will give thee, etc... Angels to attend and assist thee.
3:8. Hear, O Jesus thou high priest, thou and thy friends that dwell
before thee, for they are portending men: for behold, I WILL BRING MY
SERVANT THE ORIENT.
Portending men... That is, men, who by words and actions are to foreshew
wonders that are to come.-Ibid. My servant the Orient... Christ, who
according to his humanity is the servant of God, is called the Orient
from his rising like the sun in the east to enlighten the world.
3:9. For behold the stone that I have laid before Jesus: upon one stone
there are seven eyes: behold I will grave the graving thereof, saith the
Lord of hosts: and I will take away the iniquity of that land in one
day.
The stone... Another emblem of Christ, the rock, foundation, and corner
stone of his church.-Ibid. Seven eyes... The manifold providence of
Christ over his church, or the seven gifts of the spirit of God.-Ibid.
One day... Viz., the day of the passion of Christ, the source of all our
good: when this precious stone shall be graved, that is, cut and
pierced, with whips, thorns, nails, and spear.
3:10. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, every man shall call his
friend under the vine and under the fig tree.
Zacharias Chapter 4
The vision of the golden candlestick and seven lamps, and of the two
olive trees.
4:1. And the angel that spoke in me came again: and he waked me, as a
man that is wakened out of his sleep.
4:2. And he said to me: What seest thou? And I said: I have looked, and
behold a candlestick all of gold, and its lamp upon the top of it: and
the seven lights thereof upon it: and seven funnels for the lights that
were upon the top thereof.
A candlestick, etc... The temple of God that was then in building; and
in a more sublime sense, the church of Christ.
4:3. And two olive trees over it: one upon the right side of the lamp,
and the other upon the left side thereof.
4:4. And I answered, and said to the angel that spoke in me, saying:
What are these things, my lord?
4:5. And the angel that spoke in me answered, and said to me: Knowest
thou not what these things are? And I said: No, my lord.
4:6. And he answered, and spoke to me, saying: This is the word of the
Lord to Zorobabel, saying: Not with an army, nor by might, but by my
spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
To Zorobabel... This vision was in favour of Zorobabel: to assure him of
success in the building of the temple, which he had begun, signified by
the candlestick; the lamp of which, without any other industry, was
supplied with oil, dropping from the two olive trees, and distributed by
the seven funnels or pipes, to maintain the seven lights.
4:7. Who art thou, O great mountain, before Zorobabel? thou shalt become
a plain: and he shall bring out the chief stone, and shall give equal
grace to the grace thereof.
Great mountain... So he calls the opposition made by the enemies of
God's people; which nevertheless, without an army or might on their
side, was quashed by divine providence.-Ibid. Shall give equal grace,
etc... Shall add grace to grace, or beauty to beauty.
4:8. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
4:9. The hands of Zorobabel have laid the foundations of this house, and
his hands shall finish it: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts
hath sent me to you.
4:10. For who hath despised little days? and they shall rejoice, and
shall see the tin plummet in the hand of Zorobabel. These are the seven
eyes of the Lord, that run to and fro through the whole earth.
Little days... That is, these small and feeble beginnings of the temple
of God.-Ibid. The tin plummet... Literally, the stone of tin. He means
the builder's plummet, which Zorobabel shall hold in his hand for the
finishing the building.-Ibid. The seven eyes... The providence of God,
that oversees and orders all things.
4:11. And I answered, and said to him: What are these two olive trees
upon the right side of the candlestick, and upon the left side thereof?
4:12. And I answered again, and said to him: What are the two olive
branches, that are by the two golden beaks, in which are the funnels of
gold?
4:13. And he spoke to me, saying: Knowest thou not what these are? And I
said: No, my lord.
4:14. And he said: These are two sons of oil who stand before the Lord
of the whole earth.
Two sons of oil... That is, the two anointed ones of the Lord; viz.,
Jesus the high priest, and Zorobabel the prince.
Zacharias Chapter 5
The vision of the flying volume, and of the woman in the vessel.
5:1. And I turned and lifted up my eyes: and I saw, and behold a volume
flying.
A volume... That is, a parchment, according to the form of the ancient
books, which, from being rolled up, were called volumes.
5:2. And he said to me: What seest thou? And I said: I see a volume
flying: the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten
cubits.
5:3. And he said to me: This is the curse that goeth forth over the face
of the earth: for every thief shall be judged as is there written: and
every one that sweareth in like manner shall be judged by it.
5:4. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts: and it shall come
to the house of the thief, and to the house of him that sweareth falsely
by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall
consume it, with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof.
5:5. And the angel went forth that spoke in me, and he said to me: Lift
up thy eyes, and see what this is, that goeth forth.
5:6. And I said: What is it? And he said: This is a vessel going forth.
And he said: This is their eye in all the earth.
This is their eye... This is what they fix their eye upon: or this is a
resemblance and figure of them, viz., of sinners.
5:7. And behold a talent of lead was carried, and behold a woman sitting
in the midst of the vessel.
5:8. And he said: This is wickedness. And he cast her into the midst of
the vessel, and cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.
5:9. And I lifted up my eyes and looked: and behold there came out two
women, and wind was in their wings, and they had wings like the wings of
a kite: and they lifted up the vessel between the earth and the heaven.
5:10. And I said to the angel that spoke in me: Whither do these carry
the vessel?
5:11. And he said to me: That a house may be built for it in the land of
Sennaar, and that it may be established, and set there upon its own
basis.
The land of Sennaar... Where Babel or Babylon was built, Gen. 11., where
note, that Babylon in holy writ is often taken for the city of the
devil: that is, for the whole congregation of the wicked: as Jerusalem
is taken for the city and people of God.
Zacharias Chapter 6
The vision of the four chariots. Crowns are ordered for Jesus the high
priest, as a type of Christ.
6:1. And I turned, and lifted up my eyes, and saw: and behold four
chariots came out from the midst of two mountains: and the mountains
were mountains of brass.
Four chariots... The four great empires of the Chaldeans, Persians,
Grecians, and Romans. Or perhaps by the fourth chariot are represented
the kings of Egypt and of Asia, the descendants of Ptolemeus and
Seleucus.
6:2. In the first chariot were red horses, and in the second chariot
black horses.
6:3. And in the third chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot
grisled horses, and strong ones.
6:4. And I answered, and said to the angel that spoke in me: What are
these, my lord?
6:5. And the angel answered, and said to me: These are the four winds of
the heaven, which go forth to stand before the Lord of all the earth.
6:6. That in which were the black horses went forth into the land of the
north, and the white went forth after them: and the grisled went forth
to the land the south.
The land of the north... So Babylon is called; because it lay to the
north in respect of Jerusalem. The black horses, that is, the Medes and
Persians: and after them Alexander and his Greeks, signified by the
white horses, went thither because they conquered Babylon, executed upon
it the judgments of God, which is signified, ver. 8, by the expression
of quieting his spirit.-Ibid. The land of the south... Egypt, which lay
to the south of Jerusalem, and was occupied first by Ptolemeus, and then
by the Romans.
6:7. And they that were most strong, went out, and sought to go, and to
run to and fro through all the earth. And he said: Go, walk throughout
the earth: and they walked throughout the earth.
6:8. And he called me, and spoke to me, saying: Behold they that go
forth into the land of the north, have quieted my spirit in the land of
the north.
6:9. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
6:10. Take of them of the captivity, of Holdai, and of Tobias, and of
Idaias; thou shalt come in that day, a shalt go into the house of
Josias, the son of Sophonias, who came out of Babylon.
6:11. And thou shalt take gold and silver: and shalt make crowns, and
thou shalt set them on the head of Jesus the son of Josedec, the high
priest.
6:12. And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
saying: BEHOLD A MAN, THE ORIENT IS HIS NAME: and under him shall he
spring up, a shall build a temple to the Lord.
6:13. Yea, he shall build a temple to 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.
Between them both... That is, he shall unite in himself the two offices
or dignities of king and priest.
6:14. And the crowns shall be to Helem, and Tobias, and Idaias, and to
Hem, the son of Sophonias, a memorial in the temple of the Lord.
6:15. And they that are far off, shall come and shall build in the
temple of the Lord: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts sent me to
you. But this shall come to pass, if hearing you will hear the voice of
the Lord your God.
Zacharias Chapter 7
The people inquire concerning fasting: they are admonished to fast from
sin.
7:1. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the
word of the Lord came to Zacharias, in the fourth day of the ninth
month, which is Casleu.
7:2. When Sarasar, and Rogommelech, and the men that were with him, sent
to the house of God, to entreat the face of the Lord:
7:3. To speak to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to
the prophets, saying: Must I weep in the fifth month, or must I sanctify
myself as I have now done for many years?
The fifth month... They fasted on the tenth day of the fifth month;
because on that day the temple was burnt. Therefore they inquire whether
they are to continue the fast, after the temple is rebuilt. See this
query answered in the 19th verse of the following chapter.
7:4. And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:
7:5. Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying:
When you fasted, and mourned in the fifth and the seventh month for
these seventy years: did you keep a fast unto me?
7:6. And when you did eat and drink, did you not eat for yourselves, and
drink for yourselves?
7:7. Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of the
former prophets, when Jerusalem as yet was inhabited, and was wealthy,
both itself and the cities round about it, and there were inhabitants
towards the south, and in the plain?
7:8. And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying:
7:9. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: Judge ye true judgment, and
shew ye mercy and compassion every man to his brother.
7:10. And oppress not the widow, and the fatherless, and the stranger,
and the poor: and let not a man devise evil in his heart against his
brother.
7:11. But they would not hearken, and they turned away the shoulder to
depart: and they stopped their ears, not to hear.
7:12. And they made their heart as the adamant stone, lest they should
hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent in his spirit
by the hand of the former prophets: so a great indignation came from
Lord of hosts.
7:13. And it came to pass that as he spoke, and they heard not: so shall
they cry, and I will not hear, saith the Lord of hosts.
7:14. And I dispersed them throughout all kingdoms, which they know not:
and the land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed
through or returned: and they changed the delightful land into a
wilderness.
Zacharias Chapter 8
Joyful promises to Jerusalem: fully verified in the church of Christ.
8:1. And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:
8:2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I have been jealous for Sion with a
great jealousy, and with a great indignation have I been jealous for
her.
8:3. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am returned to Sion, and I will
dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called The city
of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, The sanctified
mountain.
8:4. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women
dwell in the streets of Jerusalem: and every man with his staff in his
hand through multitude of days.
8:5. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls,
playing in the streets thereo.
8:6. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If it seem hard in the eyes of the
remnant of this people in those days: shall it be hard in my eyes, saith
the Lord of hosts?
8:7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will save my people from the
land of the east, and from the land of the going down of the sun.
8:8. And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of
Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God in truth
and in justice.
8:9. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Let your hands be strengthened, you
that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, in the
day that the house of the Lord of hosts was founded, that the temple
might be built.
8:10. For before those days there was no hire for men, neither was there
hire for beasts, neither was there peace to him that came in, nor to him
that went out, because of the tribulation: and I let all men go every
one against his neighbour.
8:11. But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people according
to the former days, saith the Lord of hosts.
8:12. But there shall be the seed of peace: the vine shall yield her
fruit, and the earth shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give
their dew: and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all
these things.
8:13. And it shall come to pass, that as you were a curse among the
Gentiles, O house of Juda, and house of Israel: so will I save you, and
you shall be a blessing: fear not, let your hands be strengthened.
8:14. For thus saith the Lord of hosts: As I purposed to afflict you,
when your fathers had provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord,
8:15. And I had no mercy: so turning again I have thought in these days
to do good to the house of Juda, and Jerusalem: fear not.
8:16. These then are the things, which you shall do: Speak ye truth
every one to his neighbour; judge ye truth and judgment of peace in your
gates.
8:17. And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his
friend: and love not a false oath: for all these are the things that I
hate, saith the Lord.
8:18. And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:
8:19. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and
the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the
tenth shall be to the house of Juda, joy, and gladness, and great
solemnities: only love ye truth and peace.
The fast of the fourth month, etc... They fasted, on the ninth day of
the fourth month, because on that day Nabuchodonosor took Jerusalem,
Jer. 52.6. On the tenth day of the fifth month, because on that day the
temple was burnt, Jer. 52.12. On the third day of the seventh month, for
the murder of Godolias, Jer. 41.2. And on the tenth day of the tenth
month, because on that day the Chaldeans began to besiege Jerusalem, 4
Kings 25.1. All these fasts, if they will be obedient for the future,
shall be changed, as is here promised, into joyful solemnities.
8:20. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, until people come and dwell in many
cities,
8:21. And the inhabitants go one to another, saying: Let us go, and
entreat the face of the Lord, and let us seek the Lord of hosts: I also
will go.
8:22. And many peoples, and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord
of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the face of the Lord.
8:23. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: In those days, wherein ten men of
all languages of the Gentiles shall take hold, and shall hold fast the
skirt of one that is a Jew, saying: We will go with you: for we have
heard that God is with you.