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The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

¹ And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, ² "Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(a)I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. ³ Thus says the Lord: ^(b)I have returned to Zion and ^(c)will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, ^(d)and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, ^(e)and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. ⁴ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(f)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: ^(g)If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, ^(h)should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? ⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, ⁽ⁱ⁾I will save my people ^(j)from the east country and from the west country, ⁸ and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. ^(k)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, ^(l)in faithfulness and in righteousness."

⁹ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(m)"Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of ⁽ⁿ⁾the prophets who were present on ^(o)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 days ^(p)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 (q)For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, ^(r)and the heavens shall give their dew. ^(s)And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. ¹³ And as ^(t)you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, ^(u)so will I save you, and ^(v)you shall be a blessing. ^(w)Fear not, but ^(x)let your hands be strong."

¹⁴ For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(y)"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; ^(z)fear not. ¹⁶ These are the things that you shall do: ^(aa)Speak the truth to one another; ^(ab)render in your gates judgments ^(ac)that are true and make for peace; ^17 (ad)do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ^(ae)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 the ^(af)fourth month and the fast of the ^(ag)fifth and the fast of the ^(ah)seventh and the fast of the ^(ai)tenth shall be to the house of Judah ^(aj)seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love ^(ak)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, ^(al)‘Let us go at once ^(am)to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.' ^22 (an)Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and ^(ao)to entreat the favor of the Lord. ²³ Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ^(ap)ten men ^(aq)from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for ^(ar)we have heard that God is with you.'"