Zechariah 4:4

THE MESSAGE

Then I asked the Messenger-Angel, "What does this mean, sir?"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”

Hebrew Names Version
I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, "What are these, my lord?"

King James Version (1611)
So I answered and spake to the Angell that talked with mee, saying: What are these, my Lord?

King James Version
So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

English Standard Version
And I said to the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?"

New American Standard Bible
Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me, saying, "What are these, my lord?"

New Century Version
I asked the angel who talked with me, "Sir, what are these?"

Amplified Bible
So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, "What are these, my lord?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
So I answered, and spake to the Angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my Lord?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, "What are these, my lord?"

Legacy Standard Bible
Then I answered and said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, "What are these, my lord?"

Berean Standard Bible
"What are these, my lord?" I asked the angel who was speaking with me.

Contemporary English Version
But, sir, what do these mean?"

Complete Jewish Bible
I then asked the angel speaking with me, "What are these, my Lord?" The angel speaking with me said,

Darby Translation
And I answered and spoke to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

Easy-to-Read Version
Then I asked the angel who was speaking with me, "Sir, what do these things mean?"

George Lamsa Translation
So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

Good News Translation
Then I asked the angel, "What do these things stand for, sir?"

Lexham English Bible
And I answered and said to the angel who was talking to me, "What are these, my lord?"

Literal Translation
And I answered and spoke to the angel who was talking with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

American Standard Version
And I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

Bible in Basic English
And I made answer and said to the angel who was talking to me, What are these, my lord?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And I answered and spoke to the angel that spoke with me, saying: 'What are these, my lord?'

Bishop's Bible (1568)
So I aunswered, and spake to the angell that talked with me, saying, O my Lorde, what are these?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And I inquired, and spoke to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these things, my lord?

English Revised Version
And I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

World English Bible
I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, "What are these, my lord?"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y answeride, and seide to the aungel that spak in me, and Y seide, What ben these thingis, my lord?

Update Bible Version
And I answered and spoke to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

Webster's Bible Translation
So I answered and spoke to the angel that talked with me, saying, What [are] these, my lord?

New English Translation
Then I asked the messenger who spoke with me, "What are these, sir?"

New King James Version
So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, "What are these, my lord?"

New Living Translation
Then I asked the angel, "What are these, my lord? What do they mean?"

New Life Bible
Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me, "What are these, my lord?"

New Revised Standard
I said to the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then responded I, and said unto the messenger who was speaking with me, saying, - What are these, my lord?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I answered, and said to the angel that spoke in me, saying: What are these things, my lord?

Revised Standard Version
And I said to the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?"

Young's Literal Translation
And I answer and speak unto the messenger who is speaking with me, saying, `What [are] these, my lord?'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
So I answered, & spake to the angel yt talked with me, sayenge: O my lorde what are these?

Contextual Overview

¹ The Messenger-Angel again called me to attention. It was like being wakened out of deep sleep. ²He said, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top. Seven lamps, each with seven spouts, are set on the bowl. And there are two olive trees, one on either side of the bowl." ⁴ Then I asked the Messenger-Angel, "What does this mean, sir?" ⁵The Messenger-Angel said, "Can't you tell?" "No, sir," I said. Then he said, "This is God 's Message to Zerubbabel: ‘You can't force these things. They only come about through my Spirit,' says God -of-the-Angel-Armies. ‘So, big mountain, who do you think you are? Next to Zerubbabel you're nothing but a molehill. He'll proceed to set the Cornerstone in place, accompanied by cheers: Yes! Yes! Do it!'" ⁸After that, the Word of God came to me: "Zerubbabel started rebuilding this Temple and he will complete it. That will be your confirmation that God -of-the-Angel-Armies sent me to you. Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings? They'll change their tune when they see Zerubbabel setting the last stone in place!" Going back to the vision, the Messenger-Angel said, "The seven lamps are the eyes of God probing the dark corners of the world like searchlights."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

What: Zechariah 4:12-14, Zechariah 1:9, Zechariah 1:19, Zechariah 5:6, Zechariah 6:4, Daniel 7:16-19, Daniel 12:8, Matthew 13:36, Revelation 7:13, Revelation 7:14

Cross-References

Genesis 4:16
Cain left the presence of God and lived in No-Man's-Land, east of Eden.

Genesis 4:17
Cain slept with his wife. She conceived and had Enoch. He then built a city and named it after his son, Enoch. Enoch had Irad, Irad had Mehujael, Mehujael had Methushael, Methushael had Lamech.

Genesis 4:19
Lamech married two wives, Adah and Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal, the ancestor of all who live in tents and herd cattle. His brother's name was Jubal, the ancestor of all who play the lyre and flute. Zillah gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who worked at the forge making bronze and iron tools. Tubal-Cain's sister was Naamah.

Genesis 15:17
When the sun was down and it was dark, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch moved between the split carcasses. That's when God made a covenant with Abram: "I'm giving this land to your children, from the Nile River in Egypt to the River Euphrates in Assyria—the country of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."

Numbers 16:35
Then God sent lightning. The fire cremated the 250 men who were offering the incense.

Numbers 18:17
"On the other hand, you don't redeem a firstborn ox, sheep, or goat—they are holy. Instead splash their blood on the Altar and burn their fat as a Fire-Gift, a pleasing fragrance to God . But you get the meat, just as you get the breast from the Wave-Offering and the right thigh. All the holy offerings that the People of Israel set aside for God , I'm turning over to you and your children. That's the standard rule and includes both you and your children—a Covenant-of-Salt, eternal and unchangeable before God ."

Judges 6:21
The angel of God stretched out the tip of the stick he was holding and touched the meat and the bread. Fire broke out of the rock and burned up the meat and bread while the angel of God slipped away out of sight. And Gideon knew it was the angel of God! Gideon said, "Oh no! Master, God ! I have seen the angel of God face-to-face!"

1 Kings 18:38
Immediately the fire of God fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench.

2 Chronicles 7:1
When Solomon finished praying, a bolt of lightning out of heaven struck the Whole-Burnt-Offering and sacrifices and the Glory of God filled The Temple. The Glory was so dense that the priests couldn't get in— God so filled The Temple that there was no room for the priests! When all Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the Glory of God fill The Temple, they fell on their knees, bowed their heads, and worshiped, thanking God : Yes! God is good! His love never quits!

Hebrews 11:4
By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That's what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

So I answered, and spake to the angel that talked with me,.... The same that awoke him out of sleep, and asked him what he saw:

saying, What [are] these, my lord? that is, what do they signify? what do they represent? or what are they emblems of? for he knew what they were; that they were a candlestick, and two olive trees; but he was desirous of knowing what the meaning of them were.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Osorius: “Awakened from his state of sleep, even thus the prophet seemed slowly to understand what was shown him. He asks then of the instructing angel. The angel, almost amazed, asks if he knowns it not, and when he plainly declares his ignorance, makes clear the enigma of the vision.”