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Zechariah 8

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

1 And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^aI am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3 Thus says the Lord: ^bI have returned to Zion and ^cwill dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, ^dand Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, ^eand the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^fOld men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. 6 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^gIf it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days ^hshould it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold ⁱI will save my people ^jfrom the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. ^kAnd they shall be my people, and I will be their God, ^lin faithfulness and in righteousness.”

9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^m“Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of ⁿthe prophets who were present on ^othe day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days ^pthere was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. 12 ^qFor there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce ^rand the heavens shall give their dew. ^sAnd I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And as ^tyou have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, ^uso will I save you, and ^vyou shall be a blessing. ^wFear not, but ^xlet your hands be strong.”

14 For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^y“As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, 15 so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; ^zfear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do: ^aaSpeak the truth to one another; ^abrender in your gates judgments ^acthat are true and make for peace; 17 ^addo not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ^aelove no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”

18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the ^affourth month and the fast of the ^agfifth and the fast of the ^ahseventh and the fast of the ^aitenth shall be to the house of Judah ^ajseasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love ^aktruth and peace.

20 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ^al‘Let us go at once ^amto entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ 22 ^anMany peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and ^aoto entreat the favor of the Lord. 23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ^apten men ^aqfrom the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for ^arwe have heard that God is with you.’”