²⁴ And Judah and all its towns shall live there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks.^(A)

⁴ Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age.^{(A) 5} And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.^{(B) 6} Thus says the Lord of hosts: Even though it seems impossible to the remnant of this people in these days, should it also seem impossible to me, says the Lord of hosts?^{(C) 7} Thus says the Lord of hosts: I will save my people from the east country and from the west country,^{(D) 8} and I will bring them to live in Jerusalem. They shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”^(E)

¹⁰ and I will multiply your population, the whole house of Israel, all of it; the towns shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt,^(A)

⁴ and said to him, “Run, say to that young man: Jerusalem shall be inhabited like unwalled villages because of the multitude of people and animals in it.^(A)

¹¹ the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord:

For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.^(A)

¹² Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is waste, without humans or animals, and in all its towns there shall again be pasture for shepherds resting their flocks.^{(B) 13} In the towns of the hill country, of the Shephelah, and of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord.^(C)