Zechariah 8:1–17

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

8And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, ²“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^sI am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. ³Thus says the Lord: ^tI have returned to Zion and ^uwill dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, ^vand Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, ^wand the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. ⁴Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^xOld men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. ⁵And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. ⁶Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^yIf it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, ^zshould it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? ⁷Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, ^aI will save my people ^bfrom the east country and from the west country, ⁸and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. ^cAnd they shall be my people, and I will be their God, ^din faithfulness and in righteousness.”

⁹Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^e“Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of ^fthe prophets who were present on ^gthe day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. ¹⁰For before those days ^hthere was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. ¹¹But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. ¹²ⁱFor there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, ^jand the heavens shall give their dew. ^kAnd I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. ¹³And as ^lyou have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, ^mso will I save you, and ⁿyou shall be a blessing. ^oFear not, but ^elet your hands be strong.”

¹⁴For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^p“As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, ¹⁵so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; ^ofear not. ¹⁶These are the things that you shall do: ^qSpeak the truth to one another; ^rrender in your gates judgments ^sthat are true and make for peace; ^17tdo not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ^ulove no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”