New Heavens and a New Earth

²¹ then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^(A)I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and ^(B)bring them to their own land. ²² And ^(C)I will make them one nation in the land, on ^(D)the mountains of Israel. And ^(E)one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer ^(F)two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. ^23 (G)They shall not ^(H)defile themselves anymore ^(I)with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But ^(J)I will save them from all the backslidings^[a] in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and ^(K)they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

²⁴ “My servant ^(L)David ^(M)shall be king over them, and they shall all have ^(N)one shepherd. ^(O)They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. ^25 (P)They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there ^(Q)forever, and David my servant shall be their prince ^(R)forever. ^26 (S)I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be ^(T)an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land^[b] and ^(U)multiply them, and will ^(V)set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. ^27 (W)My dwelling place shall be with them, ^(X)and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ²⁸ Then ^(Y)the nations will know that ^(Z)I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when ^(AA)my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

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.”