4:1 AND THE angel who talked with me came again and awakened me, like a man who is wakened out of his sleep. |
4:2 And said to me, What do you see? I said, I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with its bowl [for oil] on the top of it and its seven lamps on it, and [there are] seven pipes to each of the seven lamps which are upon the top of it. |
4:3 And there are two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left side of it [feeding it continuously with oil]. |
4:4 So I asked the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord? |
4:5 Then the angel who talked with me answered me, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my lord. |
4:6 Then he said to me, This [addition of the bowl to the candlestick, causing it to yield a ceaseless supply of oil from the olive trees] is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit [of Whom the oil is a symbol], says the Lord of hosts. |
4:7 For who are you, O great mountain [of human obstacles]? Before Zerubbabel [who with Joshua had led the return of the exiles from Babylon and was undertaking the rebuilding of the temple, before him] you shall become a plain [a mere molehill]! And he shall bring forth the finishing gable stone [of the new temple] with loud shoutings of the people, crying, Grace, grace to it! |
4:8 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, |
4:9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this house; his hands shall also finish it. Then you shall know (recognize and understand) that the Lord of hosts has sent me [His messenger] to you. |
4:10 Who [with reason] despises the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice when they see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. [These seven] are the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro throughout the whole earth. |
4:11 Then I said to him [the angel who talked with me], What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lampstand and on the left side of it? |
4:12 And a second time I said to him, What are these two olive branches which are beside the two golden tubes {or} spouts by which the golden oil is emptied out? |
4:13 And he answered me, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my lord. |
4:14 Then said he, These are the two sons of oil [Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the prince of Judah, the two anointed ones] who stand before the Lord of the whole earth [as His anointed instruments]. |