The Father Returns to His City
8 1 The word of the Father of heaven's armies came to me, saying:
2 This 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.
3 This is what our Father says: I have returned to Zion and will live in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Father of heaven's armies, the Holy Mountain.
4 This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. 5 And the streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.
6 This 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? declares the Father of heaven's armies.
7 This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: See, I am saving my people from the land of the east and from the land where the sun goes down. 8 I will bring them home, and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem. They will be my children, and I will be their Father, in truth and righteousness.
9 This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: Let your hands be strong, you who are hearing these words in these days from the mouth of the prophets who spoke when the foundation of the house of the Father of heaven's armies was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days there were no wages for people or animals, and there was no peace from the enemy for anyone who went out or came in; for I set everyone against their neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Father of heaven's armies. 12 For there will be a sowing of peace: the vine will give its fruit, the land will give its produce, and the heavens will give their dew. And I will give the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance. 13 And just as 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 be afraid; let your hands be strong.
14 For this is what the Father of heaven's armies says: As I determined to bring disaster on you when your ancestors provoked me to wrath, says the Father of heaven's armies, and I did not relent, 15 so again I have determined in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not be afraid. 16 These are the things you must do: Speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and with judgment for peace in your courts. a a v16 City gates were the ancient equivalent of a courthouse — where legal disputes were publicly heard and decided. 17 Do not devise evil in your hearts against your neighbor, and do not love a false oath, for all these I hate, declares our Father.
18 And the word of the Father of heaven's armies came to me, saying:
19 This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will become joy and gladness 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.
20 This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: Peoples will yet come, the inhabitants of many cities. 21 The inhabitants of one city will go to another, saying, 'Let us go at once to seek the favor of our Father and to seek the Father of heaven's armies; I myself will go.' 22 Many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Father of heaven's armies in Jerusalem and to seek the favor of our Father. 23 This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: In those days ten men from all the languages of the nations will take hold of the robe of a Jewish man, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'