1 And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:sch. 1:14 I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3 Thus says the Lord :tch. 1:16 I have returned to Zion anduSee ch. 2:10 will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem,v[Isa. 1:26] and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city,wSee Isa. 2:3 and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts:x[Ps. 128:6; Prov. 10:27] Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. 6 Thus says the Lord of hosts:y[Ps. 118:23] If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days,zSee Gen. 18:14 should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: behold,ach. 10:6 I will save my peoplebPs. 107:3; Isa. 43:5; [Isa. 49:12; Ezek. 37:21] from the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.cch. 13:9; See Jer. 31:33 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God,dJer. 4:2 in faithfulness and in righteousness. ”
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts:e2 Sam. 16:21; [Hag. 2:4] “Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth offch. 7:3; Ezra 5:1, 2 the prophets who were present ongHag. 2:18 the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before those daysh[Hag. 1:6] there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. 12 iHos. 2:21, 22; Hag. 2:19 For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce,j[Hag. 1:10] and the heavens shall give their dew.kSee Jer. 3:18 And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And asl[Isa. 43:28; 65:15] you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel,mch. 10:6 so will I save you, andnSee Gen. 12:2, 3 you shall be a blessing.oHag. 2:5 Fear not, bute[See ver. 9 above] let your hands be strong. ”
14 For thus says the Lord of hosts:p[Jer. 31:28; 32:42] “As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, 15 so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah;o[See ver. 13 above] fear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do:qCited Eph. 4:25; See Ps. 15:2 Speak the truth to one another;rSee ch. 7:9 render in your gates judgmentssver. 19 that are true and make for peace; 17 tch. 7:10 do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, anduSee ch. 5:4 love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord. ”
18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of thev[Jer. 39:2] fourth month and the fast of thewch. 7:3 fifth and the fast of thexch. 7:5 seventh and the fast of they2 Kgs. 25:1 tenth shall be to the house of JudahzIsa. 35:10 seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore loveaver. 16 truth and peace.
20 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying,b[ch. 2:11; 14:16; Isa. 2:3] ‘Let us go at oncecSee ch. 7:2 to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going. ’ 22 b[See ver. 21 above] Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem andc[See ver. 21 above] to entreat the favor of the Lord. 23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those daysdSee Gen. 31:7 ten mene[Isa. 66:18; Rev. 5:9] from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, forf[1 Cor. 14:25] we have heard that God is with you. ’ ”