Zechariah 7

New American Standard Bible

7 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^(A)Chislev. ²Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and ^[a]their men to ^[b]^(B)seek the favor of the Lord, ³speaking to the ^(C)priests who belong to the house of the Lord of armies, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the ^(D)fifth month ^[c]and fast, as I have done these many years?” ⁴Then the word of the Lord of armies came to me, saying, ⁵“Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months ^[d]these ^(E)seventy years, was it actually for ^(F)Me that you fasted? ⁶And when you eat and drink, ^[e]do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? ⁷Are these not the words which the Lord ^(G)proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^(H)carefree along with its cities around it, and the ^[f]^(I)Negev and the ^[g]foothills were inhabited?’”

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹“This is what the Lord of armies has said: ‘^(J)Dispense true justice and practice ^(K)kindness and compassion each to his brother; ¹⁰and ^(L)do not oppress the widow or the ^[h]orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do ^(M)not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ ¹¹But they ^(N)refused to pay attention, and ^[i]^(O)turned a stubborn shoulder and ^[j]^(P)plugged their ears from hearing. ¹²They also made their ^(Q)hearts as hard as ^(R)a diamond ^[k]so that they could not hear the Law and the ^(S)words which the Lord of armies had sent by His Spirit through the ^(T)former prophets; therefore great ^(U)wrath came from the Lord of armies. ¹³And just as ^(V)He called and they would not listen, so ^(W)they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of armies; ¹⁴“but I ^[l]^(X)scattered them with a ^(Y)storm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was ^(Z)desolated behind them ^[m]so that ^(AA)no one went back and forth, since they ^(AB)made the pleasant land desolate.”

Footnotes

Zechariah 7:2 Lit his
Zechariah 7:2 Lit soften the face of
Zechariah 7:3 Lit to fast
Zechariah 7:5 Lit and this
Zechariah 7:6 Lit is it not you who eat and you who drink
Zechariah 7:7 I.e., South country
Zechariah 7:7 Heb Shephelah
Zechariah 7:10 Or fatherless
Zechariah 7:11 Lit gave
Zechariah 7:11 Lit made their ears heavy
Zechariah 7:12 Lit from hearing
Zechariah 7:14 Lit stormed them away upon all
Zechariah 7:14 Lit from passing and from returning

Zechariah 8

New American Standard Bible

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.’ ³The 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.’ ⁴The 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. ⁵And the public squares of the city will be filled with ^(E)boys and girls playing in its squares.’ ⁶The 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. ⁷The 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; ⁸and 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. ¹⁰For 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. ¹¹But 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. ¹³And 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, ¹⁵so I have again determined in these days to ^(Z)do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. ^(AA)Do not fear! ¹⁶These 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. ¹⁷Also 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.”

¹⁸Then 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. ²¹The 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.” ²²So ^(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.’ ²³The 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.”’”

Footnotes

Zechariah 8:4 Lit the multitude of days
Zechariah 8:7 Lit sunrise
Zechariah 8:7 Lit setting sun
Zechariah 8:8 Or faithfulness
Zechariah 8:10 Or security
Zechariah 8:10 Lit the adversary
Zechariah 8:11 Lit be to the
Zechariah 8:16 I.e., the place where court was held
Zechariah 8:17 Lit a false oath
Zechariah 8:19 Or goodly
Zechariah 8:21 Or let me go too
Zechariah 8:23 Lit languages of the nations
Zechariah 8:23 Lit grasp, and they will grasp
Zechariah 8:23 Lit hem of a garment

Zechariah 9

New American Standard Bible

Prophecies against Neighboring Nations

9 The pronouncement of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach, with ^(A)Damascus as its resting place (for the eyes of mankind, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward the Lord),

²And ^(B)Hamath also, which borders on it;
^(C)Tyre and ^(D)Sidon, ^[a]though ^[b]they are ^(E)very wise.
³For Tyre built herself a ^(F)fortress,
And ^(G)piled up silver like dust,
And ^(H)gold like the mud of the streets.
⁴Behold, the Lord will ^(I)dispossess her
And throw her wealth into the sea;
And she will be ^(J)consumed with fire.
⁵Ashkelon will see it and be afraid.
Gaza too will writhe in great pain;
Also Ekron, because her hope has been ruined.
Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza,
And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.
⁶And a people of mixed origins will live in ^(K)Ashdod,
And I will eliminate the pride of the Philistines.
⁷And I will remove their blood from their mouth
And their detestable things from between their teeth.
Then they also will be a remnant for our God,
And be like a ^[c]clan in Judah,
And Ekron will be like a Jebusite.
⁸But I will camp around My house ^[d]because of an army,
Because of ^(L)him who passes by and returns;
And ^(M)no oppressor will pass over them anymore,
For now I have seen with My eyes.
⁹^(N)Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your ^(O)king is coming to you;
He is ^[e]^(P)righteous and ^(Q)endowed with salvation,
^(R)Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a ^(S)colt, the ^[f]foal of a donkey.
¹⁰And I will ^(T)eliminate the chariot from Ephraim
And the ^(U)horse from Jerusalem;
And the ^(V)bow of war will be eliminated.
And He will speak ^(W)peace to the nations;
And His ^(X)dominion will be from sea to sea,
And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

Restoration of Judah and Ephraim

¹¹As for you also, because of the ^(Y)blood of My covenant with you,
I have set your ^(Z)prisoners free from the ^[g]waterless pit.
¹²Return to the ^[h]^(AA)stronghold, you prisoners ^[i]who have the ^(AB)hope;
This very day I am declaring that I will restore ^(AC)double to you.
¹³For I will ^(AD)bend Judah ^[j]as My bow,
I will fill the bow with Ephraim.
And I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, ^(AE)Greece;
And I will make you like a ^(AF)warrior’s sword.
¹⁴Then the Lord will appear ^(AG)over them,
And His ^(AH)arrow will go forth like lightning;
And the Lord ^[k]God will blow the ^(AI)trumpet,
And march in the ^(AJ)storm winds of the south.
¹⁵^(AK)The Lord of armies will protect them.
And they will ^(AL)devour and trample on the ^(AM)slingstones;
And they will drink and be ^(AN)boisterous as with wine;
And they will be filled like a sacrificial basin,
Drenched like the ^(AO)corners of the altar.
¹⁶And the Lord their God will ^(AP)save them on that day
As the flock of His people;
For they are like the precious stones of a ^(AQ)crown,
Sparkling on His land.
¹⁷For how great will ^[l]their ^(AR)loveliness and ^(AS)beauty be!
Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine, the virgins.