Zacharie 8

The LORD returns to Zion

¹The word of the LORD of Armies came again: ²The LORD of Armies says this: I am deeply jealous for Zion, and I burn with jealous anger for her sake. ³The LORD says this: I have returned to Zion, and I will live in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the LORD of Armies will be called the Holy Mountain.^a

⁴The LORD of Armies says this: Once again old men and old women will sit in the squares of Jerusalem, each with a cane in hand because of their great age. ⁵And the city squares will be full of boys and girls playing there.

⁶The LORD of Armies says this: It may seem too wonderful to the remnant of this people in those days, but will it seem too wonderful to me? declares the LORD of Armies.

⁷The LORD of Armies says this: I am going to save my people from the lands of the east and from the lands of the west. ⁸I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, bound to them in faithfulness and righteousness.

Let your hands be strong

⁹The LORD of Armies says this: Be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouths of the prophets, who spoke when the foundation of the house of the LORD of Armies was laid so that the temple could be rebuilt. ¹⁰For before that time there were no wages for people or for animals. No one could go out or come in safely because of the enemy, and I had set everyone against their neighbor. ¹¹But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as I did in the former days, declares the LORD of Armies. ¹²For there will be a sowing of peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will give its crops, and the sky will give its dew. I will give all these things to the remnant of this people as their own.^{b 13}House of Judah and house of Israel, just as you were a curse among the nations, so I will save you, and you will become a blessing. So do not be afraid; let your hands be strong.

¹⁴For the LORD of Armies says this: When your ancestors made me angry, I resolved to bring disaster on you and did not relent, says the LORD of Armies, ¹⁵so now in these days I have resolved again to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not be afraid. ¹⁶These are the things you must do: Speak the truth to one another. In your courts, give judgments that are true and just and that make for peace. ¹⁷Do not plot evil in your hearts against one another, and do not love false oaths. I hate all these things, declares the LORD.

Fasts will become festivals

¹⁸Then the word of the LORD of Armies came to me: ¹⁹The LORD of Armies says this: The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become times of joy and gladness and happy festivals for the house of Judah. So love truth and peace.^c

The nations will seek the LORD

²⁰The LORD of Armies says this: Peoples will yet come, the inhabitants of many cities. ²¹The people of one city will go to another and say, “Come, let us go at once to seek the favor of the LORD and to seek the LORD of Armies. I am going myself.” ²²Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD of Armies and to seek the favor of the LORD.

²³The LORD of Armies says this: In those days ten people from nations of every language will take hold of the edge of a Jew’s robe and say, “Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.”