Zechariah 7–8

¹And it cometh to pass, in the fourth year of Darius the king hath a word of Jehovah been unto Zechariah, in the fourth of the ninth month, in Chisleu. ²And Beth-El sendeth Sherezer and Regem-Melech, and its men, to appease the face of Jehovah, ³speaking unto the priests who are at the house of Jehovah of Hosts, and unto the prophets, saying, ‘Do I weep in the fifth month—being separated—as I have done these so many years?’ ⁴And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts unto me, saying: ⁵‘Speak unto all the people of the land, and unto the priests, saying: ⁶When ye fasted with mourning in the fifth and in the seventh months—even these seventy years—did ye keep the fast to Me—Me? And when ye eat, and when ye drink, is it not ye who are eating, and ye who are drinking?

⁷‘Are not these the words that Jehovah proclaimed by the hand of the former prophets, in Jerusalem’s being inhabited, and in safety, and its cities round about it, and the south and the plain—abiding?’

⁸And there is a word of Jehovah unto Zechariah, saying: ⁹‘Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts, saying: True judgment judge ye, And kindness and mercy do one with another. ¹⁰And widow, and fatherless, Sojourner, and poor, ye do not oppress, And the calamity of one another ye do not devise in your heart. ¹¹And they refuse to attend, And they give a refractory shoulder, And their ears have made heavy against hearing. ¹²And their heart they have made adamant, Against hearing the law, and the words, That Jehovah of Hosts sent by His Spirit, By the hand of the former prophets, And there is great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts. ¹³And it cometh to pass, as He called, And they have not hearkened, So do they call, and I do not hearken, Said Jehovah of Hosts. ¹⁴And I toss them on all the nations, That they have not known, The land hath been desolate behind them, Of any passing by and turning back, And they set a desirable land for a desolation!

Chapter 8

¹And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts, saying: ²‘Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: I have been zealous for Zion with great zeal, With great heat I have been zealous for her. ³Thus said Jehovah: I have turned back unto Zion, And I have dwelt in the midst of Jerusalem, And Jerusalem hath been called ‘The city of truth,’ And the mountain of Jehovah of Hosts, ‘The holy mountain.’ ⁴Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Again dwell do old men and old women, In broad places of Jerusalem, And each his staff in his hand, Because of abundance of days. ⁵And broad places of the city are full of boys and girls, Playing in its broad places. ⁶Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Surely it is wonderful in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, Also in Mine eyes it is wonderful, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts. ⁷Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Lo, I am saving My people from the land of the rising, And from the land of the going in, of the sun, ⁸And I have brought them in, They have dwelt in the midst of Jerusalem, And they have been to Me for a people, And I am to them for God, In truth and in righteousness.

⁹Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Let your hands be strong, Ye who are hearing in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets, That in the day the house of Jehovah of Hosts Hath been founded, the temple is to be built. ¹⁰For, before those days there hath been no hiring of man, Yea, a hiring of beasts there is none; And to him who is going out, And to him who is coming in, There is no peace because of the adversary, And I send all men—each against his neighbour. ¹¹And now, not as in the former days am I to the remnant of this people, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts. ¹²Because of the sowing of peace, The vine doth give her fruit, And the earth doth give her increase, And the heavens do give their dew, And I have caused the remnant of this people To inherit all these. ¹³And it hath come to pass, As ye have been a reviling among nations, O house of Judah, and house of Israel, So I save you, and ye have been a blessing, Do not fear, let your hands be strong. ¹⁴For, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, As I did purpose to do evil to you, When your fathers made Me wroth, Said Jehovah of Hosts, and I did not repent, ¹⁵So I have turned back, I have purposed, in these days, To do good with Jerusalem, And with the house of Judah—fear not! ¹⁶These are the things that ye do: Speak ye truth each with his neighbour, Truth and peaceful judgment judge in your gates, ¹⁷And each the evil of his neighbour ye do not devise in your heart, And a false oath ye do not love, For all these are things that I have hated, An affirmation of Jehovah.’

¹⁸And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts unto me, saying: ¹⁹‘Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth months, are to the house of Judah for joy and for rejoicing, and for pleasant appointed seasons, and the truth and the peace they have loved. ²⁰Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Yet come do peoples, and inhabitants of many cities, ²¹Yea, gone have inhabitants of one To another, saying: We go diligently, To appease the face of Jehovah, To seek Jehovah of Hosts—I go, even I. ²²Yea, come in have many peoples, and mighty nations, To seek Jehovah of Hosts in Jerusalem, And to appease the face of Jehovah. ²³Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: In those days take hold do ten men of all languages of the nations, Yea, they have taken hold on the skirt of a man, a Jew, saying: We go with you, for we heard God is with you!

Chapter 9