Zechariah 7 - 8 — Legacy Standard Bible

The People’s Hard Hearts

7Now it happened that in the fourth year of King Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^aChislev. ²And the town of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and ¹their men to ²^,^aentreat the favor of Yahweh, ³speaking to the ^apriests, who belong to the house of Yahweh of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the ^bfifth month ¹and abstain, as I have done these many years?” ⁴Then the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying, ⁵“Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months ¹these ^aseventy years, was it actually for ^bMe that you fasted? ⁶‘And when you eat and when you drink, ¹are you not eating for yourselves and are you not drinking for yourselves? ⁷‘Are not these the words which Yahweh ^acalled out by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^bat ease along with its cities around it, and the ¹^,^cNegev and the ²Shephelah were inhabited?’”

⁸Then the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah saying, ⁹“Thus has Yahweh of hosts said, ‘^aJudge with true justice and show ^blovingkindness and compassion each to his brother; ¹⁰and ^ado not oppress the widow or the ¹orphan, the sojourner or the afflicted; and do ^bnot devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ ¹¹“But they ^arefused to give heed and ¹^,^bturned a stubborn shoulder and ²^,^cdulled their ears from hearing. ¹²“And they made their ^ahearts ¹^,^bdiamond-hard ²so that they could not hear the law and the ^cwords which Yahweh of hosts had sent by His Spirit by the hand of the ^dformer prophets; therefore great ^ewrath came from Yahweh of hosts. ¹³“And it happened that just as ^aHe called and they would not listen, so ^bthey called and I would not listen,” says Yahweh of hosts; ¹⁴“but I ¹^,^ascattered them with a ^bstorm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is ^cdesolated behind them ²so that ^dno one was passing through and returning, for they ^emade the pleasant land desolate.”

Jerusalem, the City of Truth

8Then the word of Yahweh of hosts came, saying, ²“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘¹I am ^ajealous with great jealousy for Zion, and with great wrath I am jealous for her.’ ³“Thus says Yahweh, ‘I will return to Zion and will ^adwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of ^bTruth, and the mountain of Yahweh of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’ ⁴“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘^aOld men and old women will again sit in the ¹streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of ²age. ⁵‘And the ¹streets of the city will be filled with ^aboys and girls playing in its ²streets.’ ⁶“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘If it is ¹^,^atoo difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be ²^,^btoo difficult in My sight?’ declares Yahweh of hosts. ⁷“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land where the ¹^,^asun rises and from the land where the ²sun sets; ⁸and I will ^abring them back, and they will ^bdwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be ^cMy people, and I will be their God in ¹truth and righteousness.’

⁹“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Let your hands be ^astrong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the ^bprophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of Yahweh of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be built. ¹⁰‘For before those days there was ^ano wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no ¹^,^bpeace because of the adversary, and I ^cset all men one against another. ¹¹‘But now I will ^anot ¹treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares Yahweh of hosts. ¹²‘For there will be ^apeace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the heavens will give their ^bdew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit ^call these things. ¹³‘And it will be that just as you were a ^acurse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a ^bblessing. Do not fear; let your ^chands be strong.’

¹⁴“For thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Just as I ^apurposed to bring about evil to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says Yahweh of hosts, ‘and I have not ^brelented, ¹⁵so I have again purposed in these days to ^ado good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. ^bDo not fear! ¹⁶‘These are the things which you should do: speak the ^atruth to one another; ^bjudge with truth and judgment for peace in your ¹gates. ¹⁷‘Also let none of you ^adevise evil in your heart against another, and do not love ¹^,^bfalse oaths; for all these are what I ^chate,’ declares Yahweh.”

¹⁸Then the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying, ¹⁹“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘The fast of the ^afourth, the fast of the ^bfifth, the fast of the ^cseventh, and the fast of the ^dtenth months will become ^ejoy, gladness, and ¹merry appointed feasts for the house of Judah; so ^flove truth and peace.’

²⁰“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘It will yet be that ^apeoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. ²¹‘The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to ¹^,^aentreat the favor of Yahweh and to seek Yahweh of hosts; ²I will also go.” ²²‘So ^amany peoples and mighty nations will come to seek Yahweh of hosts in Jerusalem and to ¹^,^bentreat the favor of Yahweh.’ ²³“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from every tongue of the nations will ¹^,^atake hold of the ²garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”