THE PROPHET
ZECHARIAH
Zechariah 8 ©
The prophet comforts the Jews, who were active in the building of the temple, that God would bless them abundantly and restore His decayed church by Christ, v. 1, etc. After that he exhorts them to godliness, 16. With the promise, that instead of the former miseries, they would have cause to rejoice, 18. And lastly, he speaks of the calling of the Gentiles unto Christ, 20.
AGAIN the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was 1jealous 2for Zion with great jealousy, and I wasa jealous for her with great fury.
Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called 3a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; 4There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand 5for very age.
And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in 6the streets thereof.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If 7it be 8marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people 9in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, 10I will save my people from the east country, and from 11the west country;
And I will bring them, 12and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, 13in truth and in righteousness.
¶Thus saith the LORD of hosts; 14Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, 15which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.
For 16before these days there 17was no hire for man, 18nor any hire 19for beast; neither was there any peace to him 20that went out or came in 21because of the affliction: for 22I set all men every one against his neighbour.
But 23now I will not be unto the residue of this people 24as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts.
For 25the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people 26to possess all these things.
And it shall come to pass, that as ye were 27a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and 28ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.
For thus saith the LORD of hosts; 29As I thought 30to punish 31you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not:
So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.
¶These are the things that ye shall do; Speakb ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace 32in your gates:
And letc none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and loved no false oath: for 33all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
¶And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying,
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; 34The fast of the fourth month, and 35the fast of the fifth, and the fast of 36the seventh, and 37the fast of the tenth, shall be to 38the house of Judah 39joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; 40It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:
And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, 41Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: 42I will go also.
Yea, many people and 43strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that 44ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of 45the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, 46We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.