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And I will bring them to settle within Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God,[a] in truth and righteousness.’

“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies also says, ‘Gather strength, you who are listening to these words today from the mouths of the prophets who were there at the founding of the house of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,[b] so that the temple might be built. 10 Before that time there was no compensation for man or animal, nor was there any relief from adversity for those who came and went, because I had pitted everybody—each one—against everyone else.

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Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 8:8 sn The affirmation They will be my people, and I will be their God speaks of covenant renewal, a restoration of the unbroken fellowship the Lord desired to have with his people but which their disloyalty had shattered. In the eschaton God and Israel will be in covenant union once again (cf. Jer 31:33).
  2. Zechariah 8:9 sn These prophets who were there at the founding of the house of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies included at least Haggai and Zechariah, and perhaps others. The founding referred to here is not the initial laying of the temple’s foundations in 536 b.c. (Ezra 3:8) but the resumption of work two years before the time of the present narrative (i.e., in 520 b.c.), as vv. 10-12 make clear.

I will bring them back(A) to live(B) in Jerusalem; they will be my people,(C) and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.(D)

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Now hear these words, ‘Let your hands be strong(E) so that the temple may be built.’ This is also what the prophets(F) said who were present when the foundation(G) was laid for the house of the Lord Almighty. 10 Before that time there were no wages(H) for people or hire for animals. No one could go about their business safely(I) because of their enemies, since I had turned everyone against their neighbor.

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I will (A)bring them back,
And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
(B)They shall be My people
And I will be their God,
(C)In truth and righteousness.’

“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

(D)‘Let your hands be strong,
You who have been hearing in these days
These words by the mouth of (E)the prophets,
Who spoke in (F)the day the foundation was laid
For the house of the Lord of hosts,
That the temple might be built.
10 For before these days
There were no (G)wages for man nor any hire for beast;
There was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in;
For I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor.

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