Zacharias 8

1 And the word of the Lord Almighty came, saying,

And there is a word of YHWH of Hosts, saying,

2 Thus says the Lord Almighty; I have been jealous for Jerusalem and for Sion with great jealousy, and I have been jealous for her with great fury.

“Thus said YHWH of Hosts: I have been zealous for Zion with great zeal, With great heat I have been zealous for her.

3 Thus says the Lord; I will return to Sion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a true city, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty a holy mountain.

Thus said YHWH: I have turned back to Zion, And I have dwelt in the midst of Jerusalem, And Jerusalem has been called The City of Truth, And The Mountain of YHWH of Hosts, The Holy Mountain.

4 Thus says the Lord Almighty; There shall yet dwell old men and old women in the streets of Jerusalem, every one holding his staff in his hand for age.

Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Again old men and old women dwell In broad places of Jerusalem, And each his staff in his hand, Because of abundance of days.

5 And the broad places of the city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

And broad places of the city are full of boys and girls, Playing in its broad places.

6 Thus says the Lord Almighty; If it shall be impossible in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, shall it also be impossible in my sight? says the Lord Almighty.

Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Surely it is wonderful in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, Also in My eyes it is wonderful, A declaration of YHWH of Hosts.

7 Thus says the Lord Almighty; Behold, I [will] save my people from the east country, and the west country;

Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Behold, I am saving My people from the land of the rising, And from the land of the going in, of the sun,

8 and I will bring them in, and cause [them] to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God, in truth and in righteousness.

And 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.

9 Thus says the Lord Almighty; Let your hands be strong, [you that] hear in these days these words out of the mouth of the prophets, from the day that the house of the Lord Almighty was founded, and from the time that the temple was built.

Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Let your hands be strong, You who are hearing in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets, That in the day the house of YHWH of Hosts has been founded, The temple [is] to be built.

10 For before those days the wages of men could not be profitable, and there could be no hire of cattle, and there could be no peace by reason of the affliction to him that went out or to him that came in: for I would have let loose all men, every one against his neighbor.

For before those days there has been no hiring of man, Indeed, 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 neighbor.

11 But now I [will] not do to the remnant of this people according to the former days, says the Lord Almighty.

And now, not as [in] the former days [am] I to the remnant of this people, A declaration of YHWH of Hosts.

12 But I will show peace: the vine shall yield her fruit, and the land shall yield her produce, and the heaven shall give its dew: and I will give as an inheritance all these things to the remnant of my people.

Because of the sowing of peace, The vine gives her fruit, And the earth gives her increase, And the heavens give their dew, And I have caused the remnant of this people To inherit all these.

13 And it shall come to pass, as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Juda, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing: be of good courage, and strengthen your hands.

And it has come to pass, As you have been a reviling among nations, O house of Judah, and house of Israel, So I save you, and you have been a blessing, Do not fear, let your hands be strong.

14 For thus says the Lord Almighty; As I took counsel to afflict you when your fathers provoked me, says the Lord Almighty, and I repented not:

For thus said YHWH of Hosts: As I purposed to do evil to you, When your fathers made Me angry—said YHWH of Hosts—And I did not relent,

15 so have I prepared and taken counsel in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Juda: be you of good courage.

So I have turned back, I have purposed, in these days, To do good with Jerusalem, And with the house of Judah—do not fear!

16 These [are] the things which you shall do; speak truth every one with his neighbor; judge truth and peaceful judgment in your gates:

These [are] the things that you do: Each speak truth with his neighbor, Judge [with] truth and peaceful judgment in your gates,

17 and let none of you devise evil in his heart against his neighbor; and love not a false oath: for all these things I hate, says the Lord Almighty.

And do not devise the evil of his neighbor in your heart, And do not love a false oath, For all these [are] things that I have hated, A declaration of YHWH.”

18 And the word of the Lord Almighty came to me, saying,

And there is a word of YHWH of Hosts to me, saying,

19 Thus says the Lord Almighty, The fourth fast, and the fifth fast, and the seventh fast, and the tenth fast, shall be to the house of Juda for joy and gladness, and for good feasts; and you shall rejoice; and love you the truth and peace.

“Thus said YHWH 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 times, and the truth and the peace they have loved.

20 Thus says the Lord Almighty; Yet shall many peoples come, and the inhabitants of many cities;

Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Yet peoples come, and inhabitants of many cities,

21 and the inhabitants of five cities shall come together to one city, saying, Let us go to make supplication to the Lord, and to seek the face of the Lord Almighty; I will go also.

Indeed, inhabitants of one Have gone to another, saying, We go diligently, To appease the face of YHWH, To seek YHWH of Hosts—I go, even I.

22 And many peoples and many nations shall come to seek earnestly the face of the Lord Almighty in Jerusalem, and to obtain favor of the Lord.

Indeed, many peoples have come in, and mighty nations, To seek YHWH of Hosts in Jerusalem, And to appease the face of YHWH.

23 Thus says the Lord Almighty; In those days [my word shall be fulfilled] if ten men of all the languages of the nations should take hold—even take hold of the hem of a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you.

Thus said YHWH of Hosts: In those days ten men of all languages of the nations take hold, Indeed, they have taken hold on the skirt of a man, a Jew, saying, We go with you, for we heard God [is] with you!”