Zechariah 1

The book opens with a call to repentance: “Return to me... and I will return to you,” warning the people not to be like their fathers who ignored the prophets and reaped exile. Then the first two of eight night visions come. In the first, a rider on a red horse stands among the myrtle trees with angelic patrols who report the earth at rest; the angel of the LORD pleads for Jerusalem, and God answers that He is “exceedingly jealous for Zion” and will return to it with mercy and rebuild it. In the second vision, four horns that scattered Judah are confronted by four craftsmen who come to cast them down — God’s assurance that the powers who harmed His people will themselves be broken.