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: 2 The Lord hath been exceeding angry with your fathers. 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.
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.
5 Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, shall they live always?
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.
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: 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. 9 And I said: What are these, my lord? and the angel that spoke in me, said to me: I will show thee what these are: 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. 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. 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 siege 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 Jeremiah; which began in the fourth year of Joakim, and ended in the first year of king Cyrus. 13 And the Lord answered the angel, that spoke in me, good words, comfortable words. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 kingdome of God. 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. 20 And the Lord showed 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. 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.
Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899
1 In mense octavo, in anno secundo Darii regis, factum est verbum Domini ad Zachariam filium Barachiæ filii Addo prophetam, dicens: 2 Iratus est Dominus super patres vestros iracundia. 3 Et dices ad eos:
Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum:
Convertimini ad me, ait Dominus exercituum,
et convertar ad vos, dicit Dominus exercituum.
4 Ne sitis sicut patres vestri,
ad quos clamabant prophetæ priores, dicentes:
Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum:
Convertimini de viis vestris malis,
et de cogitationibus vestris pessimis:
et non audierunt, neque attenderunt ad me,
dicit Dominus.
5 Patres vestri, ubi sunt?
et prophetæ numquid in sempiternum vivent?
6 Verumtamen verba mea, et legitima mea,
quæ mandavi servis meis prophetis,
numquid non comprehenderunt patres vestros,
et conversi sunt, et dixerunt:
Sicut cogitavit Dominus exercituum facere nobis
secundum vias nostras, et secundum adinventiones nostras,
fecit nobis?
7 In die vigesima et quarta undecimi mensis Sabath, in anno secundo Darii, factum est verbum Domini ad Zachariam filium Barachiæ filii Addo prophetam, dicens: 8 Vidi per noctem, et ecce vir ascendens super equum rufum, et ipse stabat inter myrteta, quæ erant in profundo, et post eum equi rufi, varii, et albi. 9 Et dixi: Quid sunt isti, domine mi? Et dixit ad me angelus qui loquebatur in me: Ego ostendam tibi quid sint hæc. 10 Et respondit vir qui stabat inter myrteta, et dixit: Isti sunt quos misit Dominus ut perambulent terram. 11 Et responderunt angelo Domini, qui stabat inter myrteta, et dixerunt: Perambulavimus terram, et ecce omnis terra habitatur, et quiescit. 12 Et respondit angelus Domini, et dixit: Domine exercituum, usquequo tu non misereberis Jerusalem, et urbium Juda, quibus iratus es? iste jam septuagesimus annus est. 13 Et respondit Dominus angelo qui loquebatur in me verba bona, verba consolatoria. 14 Et dixit ad me angelus qui loquebatur in me: Clama, dicens:
Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum:
Zelatus sum Jerusalem et Sion zelo magno,
15 et ira magna ego irascor super gentes opulentas,
quia ego iratus sum parum,
ipsi vero adjuverunt in malum.
16 Propterea hæc dicit Dominus:
Revertar ad Jerusalem in misericordiis,
et domus mea ædificabitur in ea, ait Dominus exercituum,
et perpendiculum extendetur super Jerusalem.
17 Adhuc clama, dicens:
Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum:
Adhuc affluent civitates meæ bonis,
et consolabitur adhuc Dominus Sion, et eliget adhuc Jerusalem.
18 Et levavi oculos meos, et vidi, et ecce quatuor cornua. 19 Et dixi ad angelum qui loquebatur in me: Quid sunt hæc? Et dixit ad me: Hæc sunt cornua quæ ventilaverunt Judam, et Israël, et Jerusalem. 20 Et ostendit mihi Dominus quatuor fabros. 21 Et dixi: Quid isti veniunt facere? Qui ait, dicens: Hæc sunt cornua quæ ventilaverunt Judam per singulos viros, et nemo eorum levavit caput suum: et venerunt isti deterrere ea, ut dejiciant cornua gentium, quæ levaverunt cornu super terram Juda ut dispergerent eam.
Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
Please notify the original transcriber (little.mouth@soon.com) of any errors in this Latin edition