The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

8 Then the word of the Lord of armies came, saying, ² “The Lord of armies says this: ‘I am ^(A)exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’ ³ The Lord says this: ‘I will return to Zion and ^(B)dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of ^(C)Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of armies will be called the Holy Mountain.’ ⁴ The Lord of armies says this: ‘^(D)Old men and old women will again sit in the public squares of Jerusalem, each person with his staff in his hand because of ^[a]age. ⁵ And the public squares of the city will be filled with ^(E)boys and girls playing in its squares.’ ⁶ The Lord of armies says this: ‘If it is ^(F)too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be ^(G)too difficult in My sight?’ declares the Lord of armies. ⁷ The Lord of armies says this: ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the ^[b](H)east and from the land of the ^[c]west; ⁸ and I will ^(I)bring them back and they will ^(J)live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be ^(K)My people, and I will be their God in ^[d]truth and righteousness.’

⁹ “The Lord of armies says this: ‘Let your hands be ^(L)strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the ^(M)prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of armies was laid, so that the temple might be built. ¹⁰ For before those days there was ^(N)no wage for man nor any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no ^[e](O)peace because of ^[f]his enemies, and I ^(P)sent all the people against one another. ¹¹ But now I will ^(Q)not ^[g]treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the Lord of armies. ¹² ‘For there will be ^(R)the seed of peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the heavens will provide their ^(S)dew; and I will give to the remnant of this people ^(T)all these things as an inheritance. ¹³ And it will come about that just as you were a ^(U)curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a ^(V)blessing. Do not fear; let your ^(W)hands be strong.’

¹⁴ “For this is what the Lord of armies says: ‘Just as I ^(X)determined to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to anger,’ says the Lord of armies, ‘and I have not ^(Y)relented, ¹⁵ so I have again determined in these days to ^(Z)do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. ^(AA)Do not fear! ¹⁶ These are the things which you shall do: speak the ^(AB)truth to one another; ^(AC)judge with truth and judgment for peace at your ^[h]gates. ¹⁷ Also let none of you ^(AD)devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love ^[i](AE)perjury; for all these things are what I ^(AF)hate,’ declares the Lord.”

¹⁸ Then the word of the Lord of armies came to me, saying, ¹⁹ “The Lord of armies says this: ‘The fast of the ^(AG)fourth, the fast of the ^(AH)fifth, the fast of the ^(AI)seventh, and the fast of the ^(AJ)tenth months will become ^(AK)joy, jubilation, and ^[j]cheerful festivals for the house of Judah; so ^(AL)love truth and peace.’

²⁰ “The Lord of armies says this: ‘It will yet turn out that ^(AM)peoples will come, that is, the inhabitants of many cities. ²¹ The inhabitants of one city will go to another, saying, “Let’s go at once to ^(AN)plead for the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of armies; ^[k]I also will go.” ²² So ^(AO)many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of armies in Jerusalem, and to ^(AP)plead for the favor of the Lord.’ ²³ The Lord of armies says this: ‘In those days ten people from all the ^[l]nations will ^[m](AQ)grasp the ^[n]garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”

The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was sick: Lazarus of ^(A)Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister ^(B)Martha. ² And it was the Mary who ^(C)anointed ^(D)the Lord with ^[a]ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. ³ So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “^(E)Lord, behold, ^(F)he whom You love is sick.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not ^[b]meant for death, but is for ^(G)the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” ⁵ (Now Jesus loved ^(H)Martha and her sister, and Lazarus.) ⁶ So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. ⁷ Then after this He *said to the disciples, “^(I)Let’s go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples *said to Him, “^(J)Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking ^(K)to stone You, and yet You are going there again?” ⁹ Jesus replied, “^(L)Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks during the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in ^[c]him.” ¹¹ This He said, and after this He *said to them, “Our ^(M)friend Lazarus ^(N)has fallen asleep; but I am going so that I may awaken him from sleep.” ¹² The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will ^[d]come out of it.” ¹³ Now ^(O)Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about ^[e]actual sleep. ¹⁴ So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus died, ¹⁵ and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let’s go to him.” ^16 (P)Therefore Thomas, who was called ^[f](Q)Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s also go, so that we may die with Him!”

¹⁷ So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb ^(R)four days. ¹⁸ Now ^(S)Bethany was near Jerusalem, about ^[g]fifteen stadia away; ¹⁹ and many of ^(T)the Jews had come to ^(U)Martha and Mary, ^(V)to console them about their brother. ²⁰ So then ^(W)Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but ^(X)Mary ^[h]stayed in the house. ²¹ Martha then said to Jesus, “^(Y)Lord, ^(Z)if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² Even now I know that ^(AA)whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” ²³ Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise from the dead.” ²⁴ Martha *said to Him, “^(AB)I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “^(AC)I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in Me ^(AD)will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have come to believe that You are ^(AE)the ^[i]Christ, the Son of God, and ^[j](AF)He who comes into the world.”

²⁸ When she had said this, she ^(AG)left and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “^(AH)The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard this, she *got up quickly and came to Him.

³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but ^(AI)was still at the place where Martha met Him. ^31 (AJ)Then the Jews who were with her in the house and were ^(AK)consoling her, when they saw that Mary had gotten up quickly and left, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² So when Mary came to the place where Jesus was, she saw Him and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “^(AL)Lord, ^(AM)if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping, and ^(AN)the Jews who came with her also weeping, He ^(AO)was deeply moved in spirit and ^[k](AP)was troubled, ³⁴ and He said, “Where have you laid him?” They *said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus ^(AQ)wept. ³⁶ So ^(AR)the Jews were saying, “See how He ^(AS)loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could this man, who ^(AT)opened the eyes of the man who was blind, not have also ^[l]kept this man from dying?”

³⁸ So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a ^(AU)cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹ Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time ^[m]there will be a stench, for he has been dead ^(AV)four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus *said to her, “^(AW)Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they removed the ^(AX)stone. And Jesus ^(AY)raised His eyes, and said, “^(AZ)Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² But I knew that You always hear Me; nevertheless, ^(BA)because of the ^[n]people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that ^(BB)You sent Me.” ⁴³ And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ Out came the man who had died, ^(BC)bound hand and foot with wrappings, and ^(BD)his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

^45 (BE)Therefore many of the Jews ^(BF)who came to Mary, and ^(BG)saw what He had done, believed in Him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went to the ^(BH)Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.

Conspiracy to Kill Jesus

⁴⁷ Therefore ^(BI)the chief priests and the Pharisees ^(BJ)convened a ^(BK)council meeting, and they were saying, “What are we ^[o]doing in regard to the fact that this man is performing many ^[p](BL)signs? ⁴⁸ If we let Him go on like this, all the people will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take over both our ^[q](BM)place and our nation.” ⁴⁹ But one of them, ^(BN)Caiaphas, ^(BO)who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, ⁵⁰ nor are you taking into account that ^(BP)it is in your best interest that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish instead.” ⁵¹ Now he did not say this ^[r]on his own, but ^(BQ)as he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation; ⁵² and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also ^(BR)gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. ⁵³ So from that day on they ^(BS)planned together to kill Him.

⁵⁴ Therefore Jesus ^(BT)no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, into a city called ^(BU)Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.

⁵⁵ Now ^(BV)the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country prior to the Passover, ^(BW)in order to ^[s]purify themselves. ⁵⁶ So they ^(BX)were looking for Jesus, and saying to one another as they stood in the temple area, “What do you think; that He will not come to the feast at all?” ⁵⁷ Now ^(BY)the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might arrest Him.