How Long, O Lord?

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

A Call for Justice and Mercy

7 ^(A)In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^(B)Chislev. ² Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men ^(C)to entreat the favor of the Lord, ^3 (D)saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and ^(E)the prophets, “Should I weep and ^(F)abstain in ^(G)the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: ⁵ “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in ^(H)the fifth month and in ^(I)the seventh, for these ^(J)seventy years, ^(K)was it ^(L)for me that you fasted? ^6 (M)And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? ^7 (N)Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed ^(O)by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, ^(P)with her cities around her, and the ^(Q)South and the ^(R)lowland were inhabited?’”

⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^(S)Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, ^10 (T)do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, ^(U)or the poor, and ^(V)let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” ¹¹ But ^(W)they refused to pay attention ^(X)and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.^{[a] 12 (Y)}They made their hearts diamond-hard ^(Z)lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent ^(AA)by his Spirit through ^(AB)the former prophets. ^(AC)Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. ^13 (AD)“As I^[b] called, and they would not hear, ^(AE)so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, ^14 (AF)“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all ^(AG)the nations that they had not known. ^(AH)Thus the land they left was desolate, ^(AI)so that no one went to and fro, ^(AJ)and the pleasant land was made desolate.”

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: ^(AK)I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. ³ Thus says the Lord: ^(AL)I have returned to Zion and ^(AM)will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, ^(AN)and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, ^(AO)and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. ⁴ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AP)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: ^(AQ)If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, ^(AR)should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? ⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, ^(AS)I will save my people ^(AT)from the east country and from the west country, ⁸ and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. ^(AU)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, ^(AV)in faithfulness and in righteousness.”

⁹ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AW)“Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of ^(AX)the prophets who were present on ^(AY)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 ^(AZ)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 (BA)For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, ^(BB)and the heavens shall give their dew. ^(BC)And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. ¹³ And as ^(BD)you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, ^(BE)so will I save you, and ^(BF)you shall be a blessing. ^(BG)Fear not, but ^(BH)let your hands be strong.”

¹⁴ For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(BI)“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; ^(BJ)fear not. ¹⁶ These are the things that you shall do: ^(BK)Speak the truth to one another; ^(BL)render in your gates judgments ^(BM)that are true and make for peace; ^17 (BN)do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ^(BO)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 ^(BP)fourth month and the fast of the ^(BQ)fifth and the fast of the ^(BR)seventh and the fast of the ^(BS)tenth shall be to the house of Judah ^(BT)seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love ^(BU)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, ^(BV)‘Let us go at once ^(BW)to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ ^22 (BX)Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and ^(BY)to entreat the favor of the Lord. ²³ Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ^(BZ)ten men ^(CA)from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for ^(CB)we have heard that God is with you.’”

You Must Be Born Again

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named ^(A)Nicodemus, ^(B)a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to Jesus^{[a] (C)}by night and said to him, ^(D)“Rabbi, ^(E)we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do ^(F)unless God is with him.” ³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is ^(G)born ^(H)again^[b] he cannot ^(I)see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born ^(J)of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ^6 (K)That which is born of the flesh is ^(L)flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.^{[c] 7 (M)}Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You^[d] must be born ^(N)again.’ ^8 (O)The wind^[e] blows ^(P)where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus said to him, ^(Q)“How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel ^(R)and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(S)we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but ^(T)you^[f] do not receive our testimony. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ^13 (U)No one has ^(V)ascended into heaven except ^(W)he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.^{[g] 14} And ^(X)as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man ^(Y)be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes ^(Z)in him ^(AA)may have eternal life.^[h]

For God So Loved the World

¹⁶ “For ^(AB)God so loved ^(AC)the world,^{[i] (AD)}that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not ^(AE)perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For ^(AF)God did not send his Son into the world ^(AG)to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ^18 (AH)Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not ^(AI)believed in the name of the only Son of God. ^19 (AJ)And this is the judgment: ^(AK)the light has come into the world, and ^(AL)people loved the darkness rather than the light because ^(AM)their works were evil. ^20 (AN)For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, ^(AO)lest his works should be exposed. ²¹ But whoever ^(AP)does what is true ^(AQ)comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”