Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God rules the world^[a]

The promises of God for Jerusalem

8 The Lord Almighty gave this message to Zechariah. ² ‘I have wanted to help Jerusalem because I love its people very much. My love causes me to be very angry with the enemies of Jerusalem,’ says the Lord Almighty.

³ ‘Jerusalem is the city that I have chosen. I will return there and I will live there. Then Jerusalem will be called the city that obeys God. And the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the mountain that God has chosen.’

⁴ The Lord Almighty says, ‘Old men and old women will sit in the streets of Jerusalem again. Each will have a stick in his hands because he is so old.

⁵ Many boys and girls will play in the streets of the city again.’

⁶ ‘This may seem impossible to the few people that remain,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘But nothing is impossible to me,’ says the Lord Almighty.

⁷ ‘I will bring my people back from the east country and from the west country,’ says the Lord Almighty. ⁸ ‘I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people and I will be their God. I will do for them what I promised to do.’

⁹ The Lord Almighty says, ‘Be strong, you people who now hear these words from the mouths of the prophets. The prophets spoke the same words when you prepared the ground for the temple of the Lord Almighty. Now be strong and continue to build. ¹⁰ Before that time, there was not enough money to pay for work that men or animals did. No man was safe from the enemy because I made all men angry with each other.’

¹¹ ‘But now it is different. I will not be angry with the few people that have returned,’ says the Lord Almighty.

¹² ‘The seeds and the plants will grow well. The trees will give fruit. There will be water from the skies. I will bless the few people that will return. ¹³ In past years, people from other countries have said bad things against you, Judah and Israel. But now I will help you. You will bless many people. Do not be afraid. Be strong.’

¹⁴ The Lord Almighty says this: ‘When your parents and their parents made me angry, I decided to punish them.’ ‘I have also punished you,’ says the Lord Almighty. ¹⁵ ‘Do not be afraid. I have now decided to do good things to Jerusalem and to the people in Judah again. ¹⁶ These are the things that you should do. Speak true words to each other. Leaders, be fair to all people. ¹⁷ Do not think to do bad things against other people. Do not use my name to promise things and then not do those things. All these things make me very angry.’

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, ‘I tell you this: The Son can do nothing by himself. He sees what the Father does, and he can do only those same things. What the Father does, the Son also does. ²⁰ The Father loves the Son. He shows the Son all the things that he himself does. And the Father will show the Son even greater things to do than these. Those greater things will surprise you even more than what you have already seen. ²¹ The Father raises dead people to make them alive again. In the same way, the Son gives life to whoever he chooses. ²² More than that, the Father does not judge anyone. He has given authority to the Son, so that the Son will judge all people. ²³ Then all people will respect the Son as a great person. They will respect him in the way that they respect the Father. The Father sent the Son. So if people refuse to respect the Son, it shows that they do not respect the Father either.

²⁴ I tell you this: Everyone who hears my message should believe in the Father who sent me. If they believe in me, they will have life for ever with God. God will not say that they are guilty. They are no longer under the power of death. Instead, they have life with God.

²⁵ I tell you this: A time will soon come when those who are dead in their spirits will hear the voice of the Son of God. Yes, it is that time already. Those people who hear that message will receive true life. ²⁶ The Father himself can give people life. In the same way, he has given authority to the Son to give people life. ²⁷ The Father has also given authority to the Son to judge people. That is because I am the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not be surprised by this. There will be a time when all the dead people will hear the Son's voice. ²⁹ They will come out from under the ground. Those people who have done good things will rise from death and they will live with God. Those people who have done evil things will also rise from death. But they will rise so that God can punish them as guilty people.’