Zechariah 7-8

New Living Translation

A Call to Justice and Mercy

7 On December 7^[a] of the fourth year of King Darius’s reign, another message came to Zechariah from the Lord. ² The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech,^[b] along with their attendants, to seek the Lord’s favor. ³ They were to ask this question of the prophets and the priests at the Temple of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: “Should we continue to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction,^[c] as we have done for so many years?”

⁴ The Lord of Heaven’s Armies sent me this message in reply: ⁵ “Say to all your people and your priests, ‘During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn,^[d] was it really for me that you were fasting? ⁶ And even now in your holy festivals, aren’t you eating and drinking just to please yourselves? ⁷ Isn’t this the same message the Lord proclaimed through the prophets in years past when Jerusalem and the towns of Judah were bustling with people, and the Negev and the foothills of Judah^[e] were well populated?’”

⁸ Then this message came to Zechariah from the Lord: ⁹ “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. ¹⁰ Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.

¹¹ “Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing. ¹² They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the Lord of Heaven’s Armies was so angry with them.

¹³ “Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ¹⁴ As with a whirlwind, I scattered them among the distant nations, where they lived as strangers. Their land became so desolate that no one even traveled through it. They turned their pleasant land into a desert.”

Promised Blessings for Jerusalem

8 Then another message came to me from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: ² “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: My love for Mount Zion is passionate and strong; I am consumed with passion for Jerusalem!

³ “And now the Lord says: I am returning to Mount Zion, and I will live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City; the mountain of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will be called the Holy Mountain.

⁴ “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Once again old men and women will walk Jerusalem’s streets with their canes and will sit together in the city squares. ⁵ And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls at play.

⁶ “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: All this may seem impossible to you now, a small remnant of God’s people. But is it impossible for me? says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

⁷ “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: You can be sure that I will rescue my people from the east and from the west. ⁸ I will bring them home again to live safely in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be faithful and just toward them as their God.

⁹ “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Be strong and finish the task! Ever since the laying of the foundation of the Temple of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, you have heard what the prophets have been saying about completing the building. ¹⁰ Before the work on the Temple began, there were no jobs and no money to hire people or animals. No traveler was safe from the enemy, for there were enemies on all sides. I had turned everyone against each other.

¹¹ “But now I will not treat the remnant of my people as I treated them before, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ¹² For I am planting seeds of peace and prosperity among you. The grapevines will be heavy with fruit. The earth will produce its crops, and the heavens will release the dew. Once more I will cause the remnant in Judah and Israel to inherit these blessings. ¹³ Among the other nations, Judah and Israel became symbols of a cursed nation. But no longer! Now I will rescue you and make you both a symbol and a source of blessing. So don’t be afraid. Be strong, and get on with rebuilding the Temple!

¹⁴ “For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: I was determined to punish you when your ancestors angered me, and I did not change my mind, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ¹⁵ But now I am determined to bless Jerusalem and the people of Judah. So don’t be afraid. ¹⁶ But this is what you must do: Tell the truth to each other. Render verdicts in your courts that are just and that lead to peace. ¹⁷ Don’t scheme against each other. Stop your love of telling lies that you swear are the truth. I hate all these things, says the Lord.”

¹⁸ Here is another message that came to me from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ¹⁹ “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The traditional fasts and times of mourning you have kept in early summer, midsummer, autumn, and winter^[f] are now ended. They will become festivals of joy and celebration for the people of Judah. So love truth and peace.

²⁰ “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: People from nations and cities around the world will travel to Jerusalem. ²¹ The people of one city will say to the people of another, ‘Come with us to Jerusalem to ask the Lord to bless us. Let’s worship the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. I’m determined to go.’ ²² Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies and to ask for his blessing.

²³ “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In those days ten men from different nations and languages of the world will clutch at the sleeve of one Jew. And they will say, ‘Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”