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: *ch. 1:14I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3 Thus says the Lord: *ch. 1:16I have returned to Zion and *See ch. 2:10will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, *[Isa. 1:26] and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, *See Isa. 2:3and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: *[Ps. 128:6;Prov. 10:27]Old 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: *[Ps. 118:23] If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, *See Gen. 18:14should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, *ch. 10:6I will save my people *Ps. 107:3;Isa. 43:5;[Isa. 49:12;Ezek. 37:21]from the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. *ch. 13:9;See Jer. 31:33And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, *Jer. 4:2in faithfulness and in righteousness."

9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: *2 Sam. 16:21;[Hag. 2:4] "Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of *ch. 7:3;Ezra 5:1,2the prophets who were present on *Hag. 2:18the 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 *[Hag. 1:6]there 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 *Hos. 2:21,22;Hag. 2:19For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, *[Hag. 1:10] and the heavens shall give their dew. *See Jer. 3:18And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And as *[Isa. 43:28;65:15] you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, *ch. 10:6so will I save you, and *See Gen. 12:2,3you shall be a blessing. *Hag. 2:5Fear not, but *[See ver. 9above]let your hands be strong."

14 For thus says the Lord of hosts: *[Jer. 31:28;32:42]"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; *[See ver. 13above]fear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do: *Cited Eph. 4:25;See Ps. 15:2Speak the truth to one another; *See ch. 7:9render in your gates judgments *ver. 19that are true and make for peace; 17 *ch. 7:10do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and *See ch. 5:4love 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 *[Jer. 39:2] fourth month and the fast of the *ch. 7:3fifth and the fast of the *ch. 7:5seventh and the fast of the *2 Kgs. 25:1tenth shall be to the house of Judah *Isa. 35:10seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love *ver. 16truth 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, *[ch. 2:11;14:16;Isa. 2:3] ‘Let us go at once *See ch. 7:2to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ 22 *[See ver. 21above] Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and *[See ver. 21above]to entreat the favor of the Lord. 23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days *See Gen. 31:7ten men *[Isa. 66:18;Rev. 5:9] from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for *[1 Cor. 14:25]we have heard that God is with you.’"