1 Againe the worde of the Lord of hostes came to me, saying, 2 Thus saith the Lord of hostes, I was ielous for Zion with great ielousie, and I was ielous for her with great wrath. 3 Thus saith the Lord, I wil returne vnto Zion, and wil dwel in the mids of Ierusalem: and Ierusalem shalbe called a citie of trueth, and the Mountaine of the Lord of hostes, the holy Mountaine. 4 Thus sayth the Lord of hostes, There shall yet olde men and olde women dwell in the streetes of Ierusalem, and euery man with his staffe in his hand for very age. 5 And the streetes of the citie shalbe full of boyes and girles, playing in the streetes thereof. 6 Thus saith the Lord of hostes, Though it be vnpossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these dayes, should it therefore be vnpossible in my sight, sayth the Lord of hostes? 7 Thus sayth the Lord of hostes, Beholde, I will deliuer my people from the East countrey, and from the West countrey. 8 And I wil bring them, and they shall dwel in the mids of Ierusalem, and they shalbe my people, and I wil be their God in trueth, and in righteousnes. 9 Thus sayth the Lord of hostes, Let your hands be strong, ye that heare in these dayes these words by the mouth of the Prophets, which were in the day, that the foundation of the House of the Lord of hostes was laide, that the Temple might be builded. 10 For before these dayes there was no hire for man nor any hire for beast, neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men, euery one against his neighbour. 11 But nowe, I wil not intreate the residue of this people as aforetime, saith the Lord of hostes. 12 For the seede shall be prosperous: the vine shall giue her fruite, and the ground shall giue her increase, and the heauens shall giue their dewe, and I will cause the remnant of this people to possesse all these things. 13 And it shall come to passe, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Iudah, and house of Israel, so wil I deliuer you, and ye shalbe a blessing: feare not, but let your hands be strong. 14 For thus sayth the Lord of hostes, As I thought to punish you, when your fathers prouoked me vnto wrath, sayth the Lord of hostes, and repented not, 15 So againe haue I determined in these daies to doe well vnto Ierusalem, and to the house of Iudah: feare ye not. 16 These are ye things that ye shall doe. Speake ye euery man the trueth vnto his neighbour: execute iudgement truely and vprightly in your gates, 17 And let none of you imagine euill in your hearts against his neighbour, and loue no false othe: for all these are the things that I hate, saith the Lord. 18 And the worde of the Lord of hostes came vnto me, saying, 19 Thus sayth the Lord of hostes, The fast of the fourth moneth, and the fast of the fift, and the fast of the seuenth, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Iudah ioy and gladnes, and prosperous hie feasts: therefore loue the trueth and peace. 20 Thus saith the Lord of hostes, That there shall yet come people, and the inhabitants of great cities. 21 And they that dwell in one citie, shall go to another, saying, Vp, let vs go and pray before the Lord, and seeke the Lord of hostes: I wil go also. 22 Yea, great people and mightie nations shall come to seeke the Lord of hostes in Ierusalem, and to pray before the Lord. 23 Thus sayth the Lord of hostes, In those dayes shall ten men take holde out of all languages of the nations, euen take holde of the skirt of him that is a Iewe, and say, We will go with you: for we haue heard that God is with you.
The Lord Promises to Restore Jerusalem
1 The Lord Almighty gave this message to Zechariah: 2 “I have longed to help Jerusalem because of my deep love for her people, a love which has made me angry with her enemies. 3 I will return to Jerusalem, my holy city, and live there. It will be known as the faithful city, and the hill of the Lord Almighty will be called the sacred hill. 4 Once again old men and women, so old that they use canes when they walk, will be sitting in the city squares. 5 And the streets will again be full of boys and girls playing.
6 “This may seem impossible to those of the nation who are now left, but it's not impossible for me. 7 I will rescue my people from the lands where they have been taken, 8 and will bring them back from east and west to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, ruling over them faithfully and justly.
9 “Have courage! You are now hearing the same words the prophets spoke at the time the foundation was being laid for rebuilding my Temple. 10 Before that time no one could afford to hire either men or animals, and no one was safe from enemies. I turned people against one another. 11 But now I am treating the survivors of this nation differently. 12 They will plant their crops in peace. Their vines will bear grapes, the earth will produce crops, and there will be plenty of rain. I will give all these blessings to the people of my nation who survive. 13 People of Judah and Israel! In the past foreigners have cursed one another by saying, ‘May the same disasters fall on you that fell on Judah and Israel!’ But I will save you, and then those foreigners will say to one another, ‘May you receive the same blessings that came to Judah and Israel!’ So have courage and don't be afraid.”
14 The Lord Almighty says, “When your ancestors made me angry, I planned disaster for them and did not change my mind, but carried out my plans. 15 But now I am planning to bless the people of Jerusalem and Judah. So don't be afraid. 16 These are the things you should do: Speak the truth to one another. In the courts give real justice—the kind that brings peace. 17 Do not plan ways of harming one another. Do not give false testimony under oath. I hate lying, injustice, and violence.”
18 The Lord Almighty gave this message to Zechariah: 19 “The fasts held in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become festivals of joy and gladness for the people of Judah. You must love truth and peace.”
20 The Lord Almighty says, “The time is coming when people from many cities will come to Jerusalem. 21 Those from one city will say to those from another, ‘We are going to worship the Lord Almighty and pray for his blessing. Come with us!’ 22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord Almighty and to pray for his blessing. 23 In those days ten foreigners will come to one Jew and say, ‘We want to share in your destiny, because we have heard that God is with you.’”