Zechariah 7–9

7TH CHAPTER

You Should Have Obeyed the Lord’s Prophets

¹On the fourth day of the ninth month (the month of Chislev) in Darius’ fourth year as king, the Lord spoke his word to Zechariah. ²Now, ⸤the people from⸥ Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech with their men^ato ask the Lord for a blessing. ³They asked the priests from 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 for so many years?” 

⁴Then the Lord of Armies spoke his word to me. He said, ⁵“Tell all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these past 70 years, did you really do it for me? ⁶When you ate and drank, didn’t you do it to benefit yourselves? ⁷Aren’t these the same words that the Lord announced through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding cities were inhabited and undisturbed and the Negev and the foothills were still inhabited?’ ” 

⁸Then the Lord spoke his word to Zechariah. He said, ⁹“This is what the Lord of Armies says: Administer real justice, and be compassionate and kind to each other. ¹⁰Don’t oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and poor people. And don’t even think of doing evil to each other. 

¹¹“But people refused to pay attention. They shrugged their shoulders at me and shut their ears so that they couldn’t hear. ¹²They made their hearts as hard as flint so that they couldn’t hear the Lord’s teachings, the words that the Lord of Armies had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord of Armies became very angry. 

¹³“When I called, they wouldn’t listen. So now when they call, I won’t listen, says the Lord of Armies. ¹⁴I used a windstorm to scatter them among all the nations, nations they hadn’t even heard of. They left behind a land so ruined that no one is able to travel through it. They have turned a pleasant land into a wasteland.” 

8TH CHAPTER

What the Lord Will Do for Zion

¹The Lord of Armies spoke his word. 

²This is what the Lord of Armies says: 

I am very jealous about Zion. 

I am fiercely possessive of it. 

³This is what the Lord says: 

I will return to Zion and live in Jerusalem. 

Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth. 

The mountain of the Lord of Armies will be called the holy mountain. 

⁴This is what the Lord of Armies says: 

Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem. 

Each will have a cane in hand because of old age. 

⁵The city will be filled with boys and girls playing in the streets. 

⁶This is what the Lord of Armies says: 

It may seem impossible to the few remaining people in those days, 

but will it seem impossible to me? declares the Lord of Armies. 

⁷This is what the Lord of Armies says: 

I am going to save my people 

from the land where the sun rises 

and from the land where the sun sets. 

⁸I will bring them back, and they will live in Jerusalem. 

They will be my people, and I will be their God, who is faithful and just. 

⁹This is what the Lord of Armies says: 

Be strong so that the temple might be rebuilt, 

you people who are presently listening 

to the words from the mouths of the prophets 

who spoke when the foundation 

for the house of the Lord of Armies was laid. 

¹⁰Before that time there was no money to hire any person or animal. 

No one who traveled was safe from the enemy. 

I turned every person against his neighbor. 

¹¹But now I won’t deal with the few remaining people 

as I did in earlier times, declares the Lord of Armies. 

¹²Seeds will thrive in peacetime. 

Vines will produce their grapes. 

The land will yield its crops. 

The sky will produce its dew. 

I will give the few remaining people 

all these things as an inheritance. 

¹³Just as you, people of Judah and people of Israel, 

have been a curse among the nations, 

so I will now save you, 

and you will become a blessing. 

Don’t be afraid. Let your hands work hard. 

¹⁴This is what the Lord of Armies says: 

When your ancestors made me angry, 

I made plans to destroy you, declares the Lord of Armies, 

and I didn’t change my plans. 

¹⁵So now I have again made plans, but this time to do good 

to Jerusalem and the people of Judah. 

Don’t be afraid. 

¹⁶You must do these things: 

Speak the truth to each other. 

Give correct and fair verdicts for peace in your courts. 

¹⁷Don’t even think of doing evil to each other. 

Don’t enjoy false testimony. 

I hate all these things, declares the Lord. 

Many Nations Will Come to the Lord’s People

¹⁸The Lord of Armies spoke his word to me again. 

¹⁹This is what the Lord of Armies says: 

The fast in the fourth month, the fast in the fifth month, 

the fast in the seventh month, and the fast in the tenth month 

will become joyful and glad occasions 

as well as happy festivals for the nation of Judah. 

So love truth and peace. 

²⁰This is what the Lord of Armies says: 

People and citizens from many cities are going to come. 

²¹The citizens of one city will come to another city, saying, 

“Let’s make a habit of going to ask the Lord for a blessing 

and to seek the Lord of Armies. 

I’m also going.” 

²²Many people and powerful nations will come 

to seek the Lord of Armies in Jerusalem 

and to ask the Lord for a blessing. 

²³This is what the Lord of Armies says: 

In those days ten people from every language found among the nations 

will take hold of the clothes of a Jew. They will say, 

“Let us go with you 

because we have heard that God is with you.” 

9TH CHAPTER

The Lord Protects His House

¹This is the divine revelation. 

The Lord’s word is against the land of Hadrach 

and will rest on Damascus 

²and also Hamath, which borders on it, 

and Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. 

(The eyes of humanity and of all the tribes of Israel 

are on the Lord.)^a

³Tyre built itself a fortress. 

It piled up silver like dust 

and gold like mud in the streets. 

⁴The Lord will take away its possessions. 

He will throw its wealth into the sea 

and burn the city down. 

⁵Ashkelon will see ⸤this⸥ and be afraid. 

Gaza will also be in great pain, 

also Ekron, because its hope will fade. 

Gaza will lose its king. 

Ashkelon will no longer be lived in. 

⁶A mixed race will live in Ashdod, 

and I will cut off the Philistines’ arrogance. 

⁷I will remove the blood from their mouths 

and the disgusting things from between their teeth. 

Then only a few of them will be left for our God 

like a tribe in Judah, 

and Ekron will be like a Jebusite. 

⁸I will camp in front of my house 

as a guard against those who come and go. 

No oppressors will pass through them, 

because I have seen it with my own eyes. 

The Lord Sends His King

⁹Rejoice with all your heart, people of Zion! 

Shout in triumph, people of Jerusalem! 

Look! Your King is coming to you: 

He is righteous and victorious. 

He is humble and rides on a donkey, 

on a colt, a young pack animal. 

¹⁰He^cwill make sure there are no chariots in Ephraim 

or war horses in Jerusalem. 

There will be no battle bows. 

He will announce peace to the nations. 

He will rule from sea to sea 

and from the ⸤Euphrates⸥ River to the ends of the earth. 

¹¹I will set your captives free from the waterless pit 

because of the blood that sealed my promise^dto you. 

¹²Return to your fortress, you captives who have hope. 

Today I tell you that I will return to you double ⸤blessings⸥. 

¹³I will bend Judah as my bow 

and draw my bow with Ephraim ⸤as its arrow⸥. 

I will stir up your people, Zion, against your people, Greece, 

and I will use you like a warrior’s sword. 

¹⁴The Lord will appear over them, 

and his arrow will go out like lightning. 

The Almighty Lord will blow the ram’s horn 

and will march in the storms from the south. 

¹⁵The Lord of Armies will defend them. 

They will destroy and trample the stones used in slings. 

They will drink and shout as if they were drunk. 

They will be filled like a sacrificial bowl 

⸤used for sprinkling⸥ the corners of the altar. 

¹⁶On that day the Lord their God will rescue them 

as the flock of his people. 

They will certainly sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown. 

¹⁷They will be beautiful and lovely.^e

Young men will prosper on grain, 

and young women will prosper on new wine.