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¹ And there is a word of YHWH of Hosts, saying,² "Thus said YHWH of Hosts: I have been zealous for Zion with great zeal, || With great heat I have been zealous for her.³ Thus said YHWH: I have turned back to Zion, || And I have dwelt in the midst of Jerusalem, || And Jerusalem has been called The City of Truth, || And The Mountain of YHWH of Hosts, || The Holy Mountain.⁴ Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Again old men and old women dwell || In broad places of Jerusalem, || And each his staff in his hand, || Because of abundance of days.⁵ And broad places of the city are full of boys and girls, || Playing in its broad places.⁶ Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Surely it is wonderful in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, || Also in My eyes it is wonderful, || A declaration of YHWH of Hosts.⁷ Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Behold, I am saving My people from the land of the rising, || And from the land of the going in, of the sun,⁸ And I have brought them in, || They have dwelt in the midst of Jerusalem, || And they have been to Me for a people, || And I am to them for God, || In truth and in righteousness.

⁹ Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Let your hands be strong, || You who are hearing in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets, || That in the day the house of YHWH of Hosts has been founded, || The temple [is] to be built.¹⁰ For before those days there has been no hiring of man, || Indeed, a hiring of beasts there is none; And to him who is going out, || And to him who is coming in, || There is no peace because of the adversary, || And I send all men—each against his neighbor.¹¹ And now, not as [in] the former days [am] I to the remnant of this people, || A declaration of YHWH of Hosts.¹² Because of the sowing of peace, || The vine gives her fruit, || And the earth gives her increase, || And the heavens give their dew, || And I have caused the remnant of this people || To inherit all these.¹³ And it has come to pass, || As you have been a reviling among nations, || O house of Judah, and house of Israel, || So I save you, and you have been a blessing, || Do not fear, let your hands be strong.¹⁴ For thus said YHWH of Hosts: As I purposed to do evil to you, || When your fathers made Me angry—said YHWH of Hosts—And I did not relent,¹⁵ So I have turned back, I have purposed, in these days, || To do good with Jerusalem, || And with the house of Judah—do not fear!¹⁶ These [are] the things that you do: Each speak truth with his neighbor, || Judge [with] truth and peaceful judgment in your gates,¹⁷ And do not devise the evil of his neighbor in your heart, || And do not love a false oath, || For all these [are] things that I have hated, || A declaration of YHWH."

¹⁸ And there is a word of YHWH of Hosts to me, saying,¹⁹ "Thus said YHWH of Hosts: The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth [months], are to the house of Judah for joy and for rejoicing, and for pleasant appointed times, and the truth and the peace they have loved.²⁰ Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Yet peoples come, and inhabitants of many cities,²¹ Indeed, inhabitants of one || Have gone to another, saying, || We go diligently, || To appease the face of YHWH, || To seek YHWH of Hosts—I go, even I.²² Indeed, many peoples have come in, and mighty nations, || To seek YHWH of Hosts in Jerusalem, || And to appease the face of YHWH.²³ Thus said YHWH of Hosts: In those days ten men of all languages of the nations take hold, || Indeed, they have taken hold on the skirt of a man, a Jew, saying, || We go with you, for we heard God [is] with you!"