Zechariah 7–8

Chapter 7

Hearts like Flint

¹In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^aChislev.

²Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and ¹their men to ^2aseek the favor of the Lord,

³speaking to the ^apriests who belong to the house of the Lord 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 the Lord of hosts came to me, saying,

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

⁶‘When you eat and drink, ¹do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?

⁷‘Are not these the words which the Lord ^aproclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^1bprosperous along with its cities around it, and the ^2cNegev and the ³foothills were inhabited?’ ”

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying,

⁹“Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘^aDispense true justice and practice ^bkindness and compassion each to his brother;

¹⁰and ^ado not oppress the widow or the ¹orphan, the ²stranger or the poor; and do ^bnot devise evil in your hearts against one another.’

¹¹“But they ^arefused to pay attention and ^1bturned a stubborn shoulder and ^2cstopped their ears from hearing.

¹²“They made their ^ahearts like ^1bflint ²so that they could not hear the law and the ^cwords which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the ^dformer prophets; therefore great ^ewrath came from the Lord of hosts.

¹³“And just as ^aHe called and they would not listen, so ^bthey called and I would not listen,” says the Lord 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 went back and forth, for they ^emade the pleasant land desolate.”

Chapter 8

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

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

²“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I am ^aexceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’

³“Thus says the Lord, ‘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 the Lord of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’

⁴“Thus says the Lord 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 streets.’

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

⁷“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the ^1aeast and from the land of the ²west;

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

⁹“Thus says the Lord 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 the Lord 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 ²his enemies, 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 the Lord 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‘It will come about 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 the Lord of hosts, ‘Just as I ^apurposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the Lord 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 ^1bperjury; for all these are what I ^chate,’ declares the Lord.”

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

¹⁹“Thus says the Lord 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 ¹cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so ^flove truth and peace.’

²⁰“Thus says the Lord 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 ^aentreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; ¹I will also go.”

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

²³“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the ¹nations will ^2agrasp the ³garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” ’ ”