Zechariah 7:1–8:23
7 Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev, 2 when 1the people sent 2Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to 3the house of God, 4to pray before the Lord, 3 and to aask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in bthe fifth month and 5fast as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then 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 cfasted and mourned in the fifth dand seventh months eduring those seventy years, did you really fast ffor Me—for Me? 6 gWhen you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? 7 Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the hformer prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and ithe 6South and the Lowland were inhabited?’ ”
Disobedience Resulted in Captivity
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
j‘Execute true justice,
Show 7mercy and compassion
Everyone to his brother.
10 kDo not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
lLet none of you plan evil in his heart
Against his brother.’
11 But they refused to heed, mshrugged 8their shoulders, and nstopped 9their ears so that they could not hear. 12 Yes, they made their ohearts like flint, prefusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. qThus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so rthey called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts. 14 “But sI scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.”
Jerusalem, Holy City of the Future
8 Again the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
a‘I am 1zealous for Zion with great 2zeal;
With great 3fervor I am zealous for her.’
b‘I will return to Zion,
And cdwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem dshall be called the City of Truth,
eThe Mountain of the Lord of hosts,
fThe Holy Mountain.’
4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
g‘Old men and old women shall again sit
In the streets of Jerusalem,
Each one with his staff in his hand
Because of 4great age.
Shall be hfull of boys and girls
Playing in its streets.’
6 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘If it is 5marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days,
iWill it also be marvelous in My eyes?’
Says the Lord of hosts.
7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘Behold, jI will save My people from the land of the 6east
And from the land of the 7west;
8 I will kbring them back,
And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
lThey shall be My people
And I will be their God,
mIn truth and righteousness.’
9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
n‘Let your hands be strong,
You who have been hearing in these days
These words by the mouth of othe prophets,
Who spoke in pthe day the foundation was laid
For the house of the Lord of hosts,
That the temple might be built.
There were no qwages for man nor any hire for beast;
There was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in;
For I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor.
11 rBut now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ says the Lord of hosts.
12 ‘For sthe 8seed shall be prosperous,
The vine shall give its fruit,
tThe ground shall give her increase,
And uthe heavens shall give their dew—
I will cause the remnant of this people
To possess all these.
That just as you were va curse among the nations,
O house of Judah and house of Israel,
So I will save you, and wyou shall be a blessing.
Do not fear,
Let your hands be strong.’
14 “For thus says the Lord of hosts:
x‘Just as I determined to 9punish you
When your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’
Says the Lord of hosts,
y‘And I would not relent,
I am determined to do good
To Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
Do not fear.
16 These are the things you shall zdo:
aSpeak each man the truth to his neighbor;
Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace;
17 bLet none of you think evil in 1your heart against your neighbor;
And do not love a false oath.
For all these are things that I hate,’
Says the Lord.”
18 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
c‘The fast of the fourth month,
dThe fast of the fifth,
eThe fast of the seventh,
fAnd the fast of the tenth,
Shall be gjoy and gladness and cheerful feasts
For the house of Judah.
hTherefore love truth and peace.’
20 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘Peoples shall yet come,
Inhabitants of many cities;
21 The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying,
i“Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord,
And seek the Lord of hosts.
I myself will go also.”
22 Yes, jmany peoples and strong nations
Shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem,
And to pray before the Lord.’
23 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘In those days ten men kfrom every language of the nations shall lgrasp the 2sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard mthat God is with you.” ’ ”