1:12. 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 seige 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 Jeremias; which began in the fourth year of Joakim, and ended in the first year of king Cyrus. 1:13. And the Lord answered the angel, that spoke in me, good words, comfortable words. 1:14. 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. 1:15. And I am angry with a great anger with the wealthy nations: for I was angry a little, but they helped forward the evil. 1:16. 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. 1:17. 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. 1:18. 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 kingdom of God. 1:19. 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. 1:20. And the Lord shewed 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. 1:21. 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. Zacharias Chapter 2 Under the name of Jerusalem, he prophesieth the progress of the church of Christ, by the conversion of some Jews and many Gentiles. 2:1. And I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold a man, with a measuring line in his hand. 2:2. And I said: Whither goest thou? and he said to me: To measure Jerusalem, and to see how great is the breadth thereof, and how great the length thereof. 2:3. And behold the angel that spoke in me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him. 2:4. And he said to him: Run, speak to this young man, saying: Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls, by reason of the multitude of men, and of the beasts in the midst thereof. Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls... This must be understood of the spiritual Jerusalem, the church of Christ.