Zechariah 7:8-8

New International Version

⁸ And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: ⁹ “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice;^(A) show mercy and compassion to one another.^{(B) 10} Do not oppress the widow^(C) or the fatherless, the foreigner^(D) or the poor.^(E) Do not plot evil against each other.’^(F)

¹¹ “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly^(G) they turned their backs^(H) and covered their ears.^{(I) 12} They made their hearts as hard as flint^(J) and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.^(K) So the Lord Almighty was very angry.^(L)

¹³ “‘When I called, they did not listen;^(M) so when they called, I would not listen,’^(N) says the Lord Almighty.^{(O) 14} ‘I scattered^(P) them with a whirlwind^(Q) among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it.^(R) This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.^(S)’”

The Lord Promises to Bless Jerusalem

8 The word of the Lord Almighty came to me.

² This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I am very jealous^(T) for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.”

³ This is what the Lord says: “I will return^(U) to Zion^(V) and dwell in Jerusalem.^(W) Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City,^(X) and the mountain^(Y) of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.^(Z)”

⁴ This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem,^(AA) each of them with cane in hand because of their age. ⁵ The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.^(AB)”

⁶ This is what the Lord Almighty says: “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time,^(AC) but will it seem marvelous to me?^(AD)” declares the Lord Almighty.

⁷ This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west.^{(AE) 8} I will bring them back^(AF) to live^(AG) in Jerusalem; they will be my people,^(AH) and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.^(AI)”