Zechariah 8

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

And the word of the Lord of armies came to me, saying,

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

These are the words of the Lord of armies: I am angry about the fate of Zion, I am angry about her with great wrath.

3 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.

This is what the Lord has said: I have come back to Zion, and will make my living-place in Jerusalem: and Jerusalem will be named The town of good faith; and the mountain of the Lord of armies The holy mountain.

4 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.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: There will again be old men and old women seated in the open spaces of Jerusalem, every man with his stick in his hand because he is so old.

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

And the open spaces of the town will be full of boys and girls playing in its open spaces.

6 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.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: If this is a wonder to the rest of this people, is it a wonder to me? says the Lord of armies.

7 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,

This is what the Lord of armies has said: See, I will be the saviour of my people from the east country, and from the west country;

8 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.

And I will make them come and be living in Jerusalem and they will be to me a people and I will be to them a God, in good faith and in righteousness.

9 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.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: Let your hands be strong, you who are now hearing these words from the mouths of the prophets, that is to say, in the days when the base of the house of the Lord of armies has been put in place for the building of the house, that is the Temple.

10 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.

For before those days there was no payment for a man's work, or for the use of a beast, and there was no peace for him who went out or him who came in, because of the attacker: for I had every man turned against his neighbour.

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

But now I will not be to the rest of this people as I was in the past, says the Lord of armies.

12 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.

For I will let the seed of peace be planted; the vine will give her fruit and the land will give her increase and the heavens will give their dew; and I will give to the rest of this people all these things for their heritage.

13 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.

And it will come about that, as you were a curse among the nations, O children of Judah and children of Israel, so I will give you salvation and you will be a blessing: have no fear and let your hands be strong.

14 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,

For this is what the Lord of armies has said: As it was my purpose to do evil to you when your fathers made me angry, says the Lord of armies, and my purpose was not changed:

15 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!

So in these days it is again my purpose to do good to Jerusalem and to the children of Judah: have no fear.

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

These are the things which you are to do: Let every man say what is true to his neighbour; and let your judging give peace in your towns.

17 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.”

Let no one have any evil thought in his heart against his neighbour; and have no love for false oaths: for all these things are hated by me, says the Lord.

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

And the word of the Lord of armies came to me, saying,

19 “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.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: The times of going without food in the fourth month and in the fifth and the seventh and the tenth months, will be for the people of Judah times of joy and happy meetings; so be lovers of good faith and of peace.

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

This is what the Lord of armies has said: It will again come about that when peoples and those living in great towns come,

21 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.

And the people of one town go to another and say, Let us certainly go with a request for grace from the Lord, and to give worship to the Lord of armies, then I will go with you.

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

And great peoples and strong nations will come to give worship to the Lord of armies in Jerusalem and to make requests for grace from the Lord.

23 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!”

This is what the Lord of armies has said: In those days, ten men from all the languages of the nations will put out their hands and take a grip of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for it has come to our ears that God is with you.