Zechariah 4

The Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees

4 <1> Then the angel who was talking to me returned and woke me up. I was like a person waking up from sleep. <2> Then the angel asked me, "What do you see?"

I said, "I see a solid gold lampstand. There are seven lamps[6] on the lampstand, and there is a bowl on top of it. There are seven tubes coming from the bowl. One tube goes to each lamp. [The tubes bring the oil in the bowl to each of the lamps.] <3> There are two olive trees by the bowl, one on the right side and one on the left side. [These trees produce the oil for the lamps.]" <4> Then I asked the angel who was speaking with me, "Sir, what do these things mean?"

<5> The angel speaking with me said, "Don't you know what these things are?"

"No sir," I said.

<6> He said, "This is the message from the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Your help will not come from your own strength and power. No, your help will come from my Spirit.' This is what the Lord All-Powerful says. <7> That tall mountain will be like a flat place for Zerubbabel. He will build the Temple, and when the most important stone is put in place, the people will shout, 'Beautiful! Beautiful!'"

<8> The Lord's message to me also said, <9> "Zerubbabel will lay the foundations for my Temple, and he will finish building it. Then you will know that the Lord All-Powerful sent me to you people. <10> People will not be ashamed of the small beginnings, and they will be very happy when they see Zerubbabel with the plumb line,[7] measuring and checking the finished building. Now the seven sides[8] of the stone you saw represent the eyes of the Lord looking in every direction. They see everything on earth."

<11> Then I said to him, "I saw one olive tree on the right side of the lampstand and one on the left side. What do those two olive trees mean?" <12> I also said to him, "I saw two olive branches by the gold tubes with gold colored oil flowing from them. What do these things mean?"

<13> Then the angel said to me, "Don't you know what these things mean?"

I said, "No, sir."

<14> So he said, "They represent the two men chosen[9] to serve the Lord of the whole world."