The Father Returns to His City
Our Father says he has returned to Zion, and the picture he gives is ordinary: old men with walking sticks, children playing in the streets. The fasts will turn into feasts, nations will come seeking him, and his people are to speak truth and judge honestly.
8 1The word of the Father of heaven's armies came to me, saying:
2This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy; with burning wrath I am jealous for her.
3This is what our Father says: I have returned to Zion and will live within Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Father of heaven's armies, the Holy Mountain.
4This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: Old men and women will again sit in Jerusalem's streets, each holding a staff for great age. 5And the streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.
6This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: If it seems too marvelous to the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be too marvelous to me? says the Father of heaven's armies.
7This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: See, I am saving my people from the land of the sunrise and the land of the sunset. 8I will bring them home to live within Jerusalem. They will be my children, and I their Father, in truth and righteousness.
9This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: Let your hands be strong, you who in these days hear these words from the mouth of the prophets who spoke when the foundation of the house of the Father of heaven's armies was laid, so the temple could be built. 10Before then no wages came for man or beast, and no one going out or coming in was safe from the enemy, for I set everyone against his neighbor. 11But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in former days, declares the Father of heaven's armies. 12There will be a sowing of peace: the vine gives its fruit, the land its produce, the heavens their dew. And I will give the remnant of this people all these as an inheritance. 13As you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.
14This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: As I planned disaster for you when your ancestors provoked me to anger, and did not change my mind, says the Father of heaven's armies, 15so again in these days I have determined to do good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Don't be afraid. 16Do these things: Speak truth to each other; judge with truth and justice for peace in your gates. a a v16 City gates were the ancient equivalent of a courthouse — where legal disputes were publicly heard and decided. 17Do not plot evil in your hearts against your neighbor, and do not love a false oath, for I hate all these, declares our Father.
18And the word of the Father of heaven's armies came to me, saying:
19This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become joy, delight, and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. So love truth and peace. b b v19 These four fasts mourned the siege and fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple; our Father promises to turn each season of grief into a feast of joy.
20This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: Peoples will yet come, residents of many cities. 21The people of one city will go to another, saying, 'Let us go at once to seek the favor of our Father, to seek the Father of heaven's armies; I myself will go.' 22Many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Father of heaven's armies in Jerusalem and to seek our Father's favor. 23This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: In those days ten men from all languages of the nations will grasp the robe of a Jewish man, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we've heard God is with you.'
