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Thursday, September 11th, 2025
the Week of Proper 18 / Ordinary 23
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Read the Bible

New Revised Standard

Zechariah 1:9

Then I said, "What are these, my lord?" The angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what they are."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Angel (a Spirit);   Prophets;   Vision;   Thompson Chain Reference - Angels;   Appearances;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Angels;   Apocalyptic literature;   Zechariah, book of;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Apocalyptic;   Prophet, Prophetess, Prophecy;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Angel;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Zechariah, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Flowers;   Zechariah, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Angel;   Angel of the Lord (Jahweh);   Apocalyptic Literature;   Zechariah, Book of;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Zechariah, Prophecy of;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Myrtle;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Zechariah, Book of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Angelology;   Myrtle;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I asked, “What are these, my lord?”
Hebrew Names Version
Then I asked, 'My lord, what are these?'" The angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what these are."
King James Version (1611)
Then said I, O my Lord, what are these? And the Angel that talked with me, said vnto me, I wil shew thee what these be.
King James Version
Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.
English Standard Version
Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?' The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.'
New American Standard Bible
Then I said, "What are these, my lord?" And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, "I will show you what these are."
New Century Version
I asked, "What are these, sir?" The angel who was talking with me answered, "I'll show you what they are."
Amplified Bible
Then I said, "O my lord, what are these?" And the angel who was speaking with me said, "I will show you what these are."
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then sayd I, O my Lorde, what are these? And the Angel that talked with me, sayde vnto me, I wil shew thee what these be.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then I said, "My lord, what are these?" And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, "I will show you what these are."
Legacy Standard Bible
Then I said, "My lord, what are these?" And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, "I will show you what these are."
Berean Standard Bible
"What are these, my lord?" I asked. And the angel who was speaking with me replied, "I will show you what they are."
Contemporary English Version
An angel was there to explain things to me, and I asked, "Sir, who are these riders?" "I'll tell you," the angel answered.
Complete Jewish Bible
I asked, "What are these, my Lord?" The angel speaking with me said to me, "I will show you what these are."
Darby Translation
And I said, My lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these are.
Easy-to-Read Version
I said, "Sir, what are these horses for?" Then the angel speaking to me said, "I will show you what these horses are for."
George Lamsa Translation
Then I said, O my LORD, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said to me, I will show you what they are.
Good News Translation
I asked him, "Sir, what do these horses mean?" He answered, "I will show you what they mean.
Lexham English Bible
And I asked, "What are these, my lord?" And the angel who was talking with me said, "I will show you what these are."
Literal Translation
Then I said, My lord, what are these? And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, I will show you what these are .
American Standard Version
Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee what these are.
Bible in Basic English
Then I said, O my lord, what are these? And the angel who was talking to me said to me, I will make clear to you what they are.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said I: 'O my lord, what are these?' And the angel that spoke with me said unto me: 'I will show thee what these are.'
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayde I, O my Lorde, what are these? And the angel that talked with me, sayde vnto me: I will shewe thee what these be.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And I said, What are these, my lord? And the angel spoke with me said to me, I will shew thee what these things are.
English Revised Version
Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.
World English Bible
Then I asked, 'My lord, what are these?'" The angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what these are."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y seide, My lord, who ben these? And an aungel of the Lord seide to me, that spak in me, Y schal schewe to thee what these ben.
Update Bible Version
Then I said, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said to me, I will show you what these are.
Webster's Bible Translation
Then said I, O my lord, what [are these]? And the angel that talked with me said to me, I will show thee what these [are].
New English Translation
Then I asked one nearby, "What are these, sir?" The angelic messenger who replied to me said, "I will show you what these are."
New King James Version
Then I said, "My lord, what are these?" So the angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what they are."
New Living Translation
I asked the angel who was talking with me, "My lord, what do these horses mean?" "I will show you," the angel replied.
New Life Bible
I asked, "My lord, what are these?" And the angel who was speaking with me said, "I will show you what these are."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said I, What are these, my lord? And the messenger who was speaking with me, said unto me, I, will shew thee what these, are.
Douay-Rheims Bible
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:
Revised Standard Version
Then I said, 'What are these, my lord?' The angel who talked with me said to me, 'I will show you what they are.'
Young's Literal Translation
And I say, `What [are] these, my lord?' And the messenger who is speaking with me saith unto me, `I -- I do shew thee what these [are].'
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde I: O my LORDE, what are these? And the angel that talked with me, sayed vnto me: I will shewe the what these be.
THE MESSAGE
I said, "Sir, what are these horses doing here? What's the meaning of this?" The Angel-Messenger said, "Let me show you."

Contextual Overview

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo; and Zechariah said, 8 In the night I saw a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen; and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. 9 Then I said, "What are these, my lord?" The angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what they are." 10 So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, "They are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth." 11 Then they spoke to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, "We have patrolled the earth, and lo, the whole earth remains at peace." 12 Then the angel of the Lord said, "O Lord of hosts, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry these seventy years?" 13 Then the Lord replied with gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. 14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, Proclaim this message: Thus says the Lord of hosts; I am very jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 And I am extremely angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they made the disaster worse. 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord , I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it, says the Lord of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

what: Zechariah 1:19, Zechariah 4:4, Zechariah 4:11, Zechariah 6:4, Daniel 7:16, Daniel 8:15, Revelation 7:13, Revelation 7:14

the angel: Zechariah 2:3, Zechariah 4:5, Zechariah 5:5, Zechariah 6:4, Zechariah 6:5, Genesis 31:11, Daniel 8:16, Daniel 9:22, Daniel 9:23, Daniel 10:11-14, Revelation 17:1-7, Revelation 19:9, Revelation 19:10, Revelation 22:8-16

Reciprocal: Daniel 8:13 - one saint Zechariah 1:14 - the angel Zechariah 3:1 - he

Cross-References

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,
Genesis 1:2
the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:5
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Genesis 1:6
And God said, "Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."
Genesis 1:8
God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
Genesis 1:9
And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.
Genesis 1:11
Then God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." And it was so.
Genesis 1:28
God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."
Genesis 1:29
God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.
Job 26:7
He stretches out Zaphon over the void, and hangs the earth upon nothing.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said I, O my Lord,.... These are the words of the Prophet Zechariah to the angel that showed him this vision:

what are these? what is the meaning of this vision? particularly who are meant by the horses, red, speckled, and white, and those upon them?

And the angel that talked with me; who seems to be different from the Angel of the Lord, the man among the myrtle trees, Zechariah 1:8 he was one of the ministering spirits; see

Revelation 17:1:

said unto me, I will show thee what these [be]; that is, give an interpretation of the vision, and point out the persons intended by the horses.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

What are these? - He asks, not who, but what they import.

The angel that talked with me - Literally, “spake in me.” The very rare expression seems meant to convey the thought of an inward speaking, whereby the words should be borne directly into the soul, without the intervention of the ordinary outward organs. God says to Moses, “If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will make Myself known unto him in a vision, I will speak (literally) in him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so - In him will I speak mouth to mouth Numbers 12:6-9;” and Habakkuk says of the like inward teaching, “I will watch to see, what He will speak in me” . It is the characteristic title of one attendant-angel, who was God’s expositor of the visions to Zechariah (Zechariah 1:13-14, Zechariah 1:19, (Zechariah 2:2 Hebrew) Zechariah 2:3; (7) Zechariah 4:1, Zechariah 4:4-5; Zechariah 5:5, Zechariah 5:10; Zechariah 6:4). Dionysius: “By his ministry God showed me things to come, in that that angel formed in the spirit and imaginative power of Zechariah phantasms or images of things which were foreshown him, and gave him to understand what those images signified.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Zechariah 1:9. O my lord, what are these — The angel here mentioned was distinct from those mentioned in the eighth verse; he who talked with the prophet, Zechariah 1:13.


 
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