Zechariah 8
English Standard Version
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.”
18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the (AF)fourth month and the fast of the (AG)fifth and the fast of the (AH)seventh and the fast of the (AI)tenth shall be to the house of Judah (AJ)seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love (AK)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, (AL)‘Let us go at once (AM)to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ 22 (AN)Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and (AO)to entreat the favor of the Lord. 23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days (AP)ten men (AQ)from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for (AR)we have heard that God is with you.’”
Zechariah 8
New American Standard Bible
The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion
8 Then the word of the Lord of armies came, saying, 2 “The Lord of armies says this: ‘I am (A)exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’ 3 The Lord says this: ‘I will return to Zion and (B)dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of (C)Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of armies will be called the Holy Mountain.’ 4 The Lord of armies says this: ‘(D)Old men and old women will again sit in the public squares of Jerusalem, each person with his staff in his hand because of [a]age. 5 And the public squares of the city will be filled with (E)boys and girls playing in its squares.’ 6 The Lord of armies says this: ‘If it is (F)too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be (G)too difficult in My sight?’ declares the Lord of armies. 7 The Lord of armies says this: ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the [b](H)east and from the land of the [c]west; 8 and I will (I)bring them back and they will (J)live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be (K)My people, and I will be their God in [d]truth and righteousness.’
9 “The Lord of armies says this: ‘Let your hands be (L)strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the (M)prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of armies was laid, so that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days there was (N)no wage for man nor any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no [e](O)peace because of [f]his enemies, and I (P)sent all the people against one another. 11 But now I will (Q)not [g]treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the Lord of armies. 12 ‘For there will be (R)the seed of peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the heavens will provide their (S)dew; and I will give to the remnant of this people (T)all these things as an inheritance. 13 And it will come about that just as you were a (U)curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a (V)blessing. Do not fear; let your (W)hands be strong.’
14 “For this is what the Lord of armies says: ‘Just as I (X)determined to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to anger,’ says the Lord of armies, ‘and I have not (Y)relented, 15 so I have again determined in these days to (Z)do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. (AA)Do not fear! 16 These are the things which you shall do: speak the (AB)truth to one another; (AC)judge with truth and judgment for peace at your [h]gates. 17 Also let none of you (AD)devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love [i](AE)perjury; for all these things are what I (AF)hate,’ declares the Lord.”
18 Then the word of the Lord of armies came to me, saying, 19 “The Lord of armies says this: ‘The fast of the (AG)fourth, the fast of the (AH)fifth, the fast of the (AI)seventh, and the fast of the (AJ)tenth months will become (AK)joy, jubilation, and [j]cheerful festivals for the house of Judah; so (AL)love truth and peace.’
20 “The Lord of armies says this: ‘It will yet turn out that (AM)peoples will come, that is, the inhabitants of many cities. 21 The inhabitants of one city will go to another, saying, “Let’s go at once to (AN)plead for the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of armies; [k]I also will go.” 22 So (AO)many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of armies in Jerusalem, and to (AP)plead for the favor of the Lord.’ 23 The Lord of armies says this: ‘In those days ten people from all the [l]nations will [m](AQ)grasp the [n]garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 8:4 Lit the multitude of days
- Zechariah 8:7 Lit sunrise
- Zechariah 8:7 Lit setting sun
- Zechariah 8:8 Or faithfulness
- Zechariah 8:10 Or security
- Zechariah 8:10 Lit the adversary
- Zechariah 8:11 Lit be to the
- Zechariah 8:16 I.e., the place where court was held
- Zechariah 8:17 Lit a false oath
- Zechariah 8:19 Or goodly
- Zechariah 8:21 Or let me go too
- Zechariah 8:23 Lit languages of the nations
- Zechariah 8:23 Lit grasp, and they will grasp
- Zechariah 8:23 Lit hem of a garment
Zechariah 8
International Children’s Bible
The Lord Will Bless Jerusalem
8 The Lord of heaven’s armies spoke his word to me again. 2 This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “I have a very strong love for Jerusalem. My strong love for her is like a fire burning in me.”
3 This is what the Lord says: “I will return to Jerusalem. I will live in Jerusalem. Then it will be called the City of Truth. And 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: “Old men and old women will again sit along Jerusalem’s streets. Each will carry a cane because of his age. 5 And the streets will be filled with boys and girls playing.”
6 This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “Those who are left alive then may think it is too difficult to happen. But it is not too difficult for me,” says the Lord of heaven’s armies. 7 This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “I will save my people from countries in the east and west. 8 I will bring them back. And they will live in Jerusalem. They will be my people. And I will be their good and loyal God.”
9 This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “Be strong, you who are hearing these words today. The prophets spoke these words when the foundation was laid for the building of the Temple. 10 Before that time there was no money to hire men or animals. People could not safely come and go because of the enemies. I had turned everyone against his neighbor. 11 But I will not do to these people who are left alive what I did in the past,” says the Lord of heaven’s armies.
12 “Their seeds will come up. Their grapevines will have fruit. The ground will give good crops. And the sky will send rain. I will give all this to those who are left alive. 13 Judah and Israel, your names have been used as curses. But I will save you. And you will be a blessing. So don’t be afraid. Be strong.”
14 This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “Your ancestors made me angry. So I planned to punish you. I had no mercy,” says the Lord of heaven’s armies. 15 “But now I am planning to do good to Jerusalem and Judah. So don’t be afraid. 16 But do these things: Tell each other the truth. In the courts judge with truth and complete fairness. 17 Do not make plans to hurt your neighbors. And don’t make false promises. I hate all these things,” says the Lord.
18 The Lord of heaven’s armies spoke his word to me again. 19 This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “You have special days when you give up eating. These days are in the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months. Those days will become good, joyful, happy feasts in Judah. But you must love truth and peace.”
20 This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “Many people from many cities will still come to Jerusalem. 21 People from one city will say to those from another city, ‘We are going to pray to the Lord. We want to ask the Lord of heaven’s armies for help. Come and go with us.’ 22 Many people and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem. They will worship the Lord of heaven’s armies. They will pray to the Lord.”
23 This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “At that time, ten men from different countries with different languages will come. They will take hold of one Jew by his coat. They will say to him, ‘Let us go with you. We have heard that God is with you.’”
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
