The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

8 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.’”

7 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. ² And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, ^(A)“What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? ^(B)Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” ³ Then Queen Esther answered, ^(C)“If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. ^4 (D)For we have been sold, I and my people, ^(E)to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” ⁵ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared^[a] to do this?” ⁶ And Esther said, ^(F)“A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

Haman Is Hanged

⁷ And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into ^(G)the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. ⁸ And the king returned from ^(H)the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on ^(I)the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face. ⁹ Then ^(J)Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, ^(K)the gallows^[b] that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, ^(L)whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits^[c] high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” ^10 (M)So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. ^(N)Then the wrath of the king abated.