Zechariah 7–8

CHAPTER 7

The People’s Hard Hearts

¹Now it happened that in the fourth year of King Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^aChislev.

²And the town of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and ¹their men to ^2aentreat the favor of Yahweh,

³speaking to the ^apriests, who belong to the house of Yahweh of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the ^bfifth month ¹and abstain, as I have done these many years?”

⁴Then the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying,

⁵“Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months ¹these ^aseventy years, was it actually for ^bMe that you fasted?

⁶‘And when you eat and when you drink, ¹are you not eating for yourselves and are you not drinking for yourselves?

⁷‘Are not these the words which Yahweh ^acalled out by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^bat ease along with its cities around it, and the ^1cNegev and the ²Shephelah were inhabited?’”

⁸Then the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah saying,

⁹“Thus has Yahweh of hosts said, ‘^aJudge with true justice and show ^blovingkindness and compassion each to his brother;

¹⁰and ^ado not oppress the widow or the ¹orphan, the sojourner or the afflicted; and do ^bnot devise evil in your hearts against one another.’

¹¹“But they ^arefused to give heed and ^1bturned a stubborn shoulder and ^2cdulled their ears from hearing.

¹²“And they made their ^ahearts ^1bdiamond-hard ²so that they could not hear the law and the ^cwords which Yahweh of hosts had sent by His Spirit by the hand of the ^dformer prophets; therefore great ^ewrath came from Yahweh of hosts.

¹³“And it happened that just as ^aHe called and they would not listen, so ^bthey called and I would not listen,” says Yahweh of hosts;

¹⁴“but I ^1ascattered them with a ^bstorm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is ^cdesolated behind them ²so that ^dno one was passing through and returning, for they ^emade the pleasant land desolate.”

CHAPTER 8

Jerusalem, the City of Truth

¹Then the word of Yahweh of hosts came, saying,

²“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘¹I am ^ajealous with great jealousy for Zion, and with great wrath I am jealous for her.’

³“Thus says Yahweh, ‘I will return to Zion and will ^adwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of ^bTruth, and the mountain of Yahweh of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’

⁴“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘^aOld men and old women will again sit in the ¹streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of ²age.

⁵‘And the ¹streets of the city will be filled with ^aboys and girls playing in its ²streets.’

⁶“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘If it is ^1atoo difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be ^2btoo difficult in My sight?’ declares Yahweh of hosts.

⁷“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land where the ^1asun rises and from the land where the ²sun sets;

⁸and I will ^abring them back, and they will ^bdwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be ^cMy people, and I will be their God in ¹truth and righteousness.’

⁹“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Let your hands be ^astrong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the ^bprophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of Yahweh of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be built.

¹⁰‘For before those days there was ^ano wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no ^1bpeace because of the adversary, and I ^cset all men one against another.

¹¹‘But now I will ^anot ¹treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares Yahweh of hosts.

¹²‘For there will be ^apeace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the heavens will give their ^bdew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit ^call these things.

¹³‘And it will be that just as you were a ^acurse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a ^bblessing. Do not fear; let your ^chands be strong.’

¹⁴“For thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Just as I ^apurposed to bring about evil to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says Yahweh of hosts, ‘and I have not ^brelented,

¹⁵so I have again purposed in these days to ^ado good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. ^bDo not fear!

¹⁶‘These are the things which you should do: speak the ^atruth to one another; ^bjudge with truth and judgment for peace in your ¹gates.

¹⁷‘Also let none of you ^adevise evil in your heart against another, and do not love ^1bfalse oaths; for all these are what I ^chate,’ declares Yahweh.”

¹⁸Then the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying,

¹⁹“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘The fast of the ^afourth, the fast of the ^bfifth, the fast of the ^cseventh, and the fast of the ^dtenth months will become ^ejoy, gladness, and ¹merry appointed feasts for the house of Judah; so ^flove truth and peace.’

²⁰“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘It will yet be that ^apeoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities.

²¹‘The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to ^1aentreat the favor of Yahweh and to seek Yahweh of hosts; ²I will also go.”

²²‘So ^amany peoples and mighty nations will come to seek Yahweh of hosts in Jerusalem and to ^1bentreat the favor of Yahweh.’

²³“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from every tongue of the nations will ^1atake hold of the ²garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” ’ ”