Zechariah 7–8

DISOBEDIENCE AND FASTING

7In the fourth year of King Darius,^v the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. ²Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer, Regem-melech, and their men to plead for the Lord’s favor^{w 3}by asking the priests who were at the house of the Lord of Armies as well as the prophets, “Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done these many years?”

⁴Then the word of the Lord of Armies came to me: ⁵“Ask all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for me?^{a 6}When you eat and drink, don’t you eat and drink simply for yourselves?^{b 7}Aren’t these the words that the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and secure,^C along with its surrounding cities, and when the southern region and the Judean foothills were inhabited?”

⁸The word of the Lord came to Zechariah: ⁹“The Lord of Armies says this: ‘Make fair decisions.^c Show faithful love and compassion^d to one another. ¹⁰Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the resident alien or the poor,^e and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’^{f 11}But they refused to pay attention^g and turned a stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear.^{h 12}They made their hearts like a rock so as not to obey the law or the words that the Lord of Armies had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.ⁱ Therefore intense anger came from the Lord of Armies. ¹³Just as he had called, and they would not listen, so when they called, I would not listen, says the Lord of Armies. ¹⁴I scattered them with a windstorm over all the nations that had not known them, and the land was left desolate behind them, with no one coming or going. They turned a pleasant land into a desolation.”

OBEDIENCE AND FEASTING

8The word of the Lord of Armies came: ²The Lord of Armies says this: “I am extremely jealous^j for Zion; I am jealous for her with great wrath.” ³The Lord says this: “I will return to Zion and live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City;^k the mountain of the Lord of Armies will be called the Holy Mountain.” ⁴The Lord of Armies says this: “Old men and women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of advanced age. ⁵The streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in them.” ⁶The Lord of Armies says this: “Though it may seem impossible to the remnant of this people in those days, should it also seem impossible to me?”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. ⁷The Lord of Armies says this: “I will save my people from the land of the east and the land of the west.^{A 8}I will bring them back^l to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their faithful and righteous God.”^m

⁹The Lord of Armies says this: “Let your hands be strong, you who now hear these words that the prophets spoke when the foundations were laid for the rebuilding of the temple, the house of the Lord of Armies. ¹⁰For prior to those days neither people nor animals had wages. There was no safety from the enemy for anyone who came or went, for I turned everyone against his neighbor. ¹¹But now, I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. ¹²“For they will sow in peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the skies will yield their dew. I will give the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance.^{n 13}As you have been a curse among the nations,^o house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing.^p Don’t be afraid; let your hands be strong.” ¹⁴For the Lord of Armies says this: “As I resolved to treat you badly when your ancestors provoked me to anger, and I did not relent,” says the Lord of Armies, ¹⁵“so I have resolved again in these days to do what is good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah.^q Don’t be afraid. ¹⁶These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another; make true and sound decisions within your city gates. ¹⁷Do not plot evil^r in your hearts against your neighbor,^s and do not love perjury,^t for I hate all this”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

¹⁸Then the word of the Lord of Armies came to me: ¹⁹The Lord of Armies says this: “The fast of the fourth month,^u the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth^v will become times of joy, gladness, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah. Therefore, love truth and peace.” ²⁰The Lord of Armies says this: “Peoples will yet come, the residents of many cities; ²¹the residents of one city will go to another, saying: Let’s go at once to plead for the Lord’s favor and to seek the Lord of Armies. I am also going. ²²Many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of Armies in Jerusalem and to plead for the Lord’s favor.”^{w 23}The Lord of Armies says this: “In those days, ten men from nations of every language will grab the robe of a Jewish man tightly, urging: Let us go with you,^x for we have heard that God is with you.”