7 And it cometh to pass, in the fourth year of Darius the king hath a word of Jehovah been unto Zechariah, in the fourth of the ninth month, in Chisleu.

² And Beth-El sendeth Sherezer and Regem-Melech, and its men, to appease the face of Jehovah,

³ speaking unto the priests who [are] at the house of Jehovah of Hosts, and unto the prophets, saying, `Do I weep in the fifth month -- being separated -- as I have done these so many years?'

⁴ And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts unto me, saying:

⁵ `Speak unto all the people of the land, and unto the priests, saying:

⁶ When ye fasted with mourning in the fifth and in the seventh [months] -- even these seventy years -- did ye keep the fast [to] Me -- Me? And when ye eat, and when ye drink, is it not ye who are eating, and ye who are drinking?

⁷ `Are not [these] the words that Jehovah proclaimed by the hand of the former prophets, in Jerusalem's being inhabited, and [in] safety, and its cities round about it, and the south and the plain -- abiding?'

⁸ And there is a word of Jehovah unto Zechariah, saying:

⁹ `Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts, saying: True judgment judge ye, And kindness and mercy do one with another.

¹⁰ And widow, and fatherless, Sojourner, and poor, ye do not oppress, And the calamity of one another ye do not devise in your heart.

¹¹ And they refuse to attend, And they give a refractory shoulder, And their ears have made heavy against hearing.

¹² And their heart they have made adamant, Against hearing the law, and the words, That Jehovah of Hosts sent by His Spirit, By the hand of the former prophets, And their is great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts.

¹³ And it cometh to pass, as He called, And they have not hearkened, So do they call, and I do not hearken, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

¹⁴ And I toss them on all the nations, That they have not known, The land hath been desolate behind them, Of any passing by and turning back, And they set a desirable land for a desolation!

8 And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts, saying:

² `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: I have been zealous for Zion with great zeal, With great heat I have been zealous for her.

³ Thus said Jehovah: I have turned back unto Zion, And I have dwelt in the midst of Jerusalem, And Jerusalem hath been called `The city of truth,' And the mountain of Jehovah of Hosts, `The holy mountain.'

⁴ Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Again dwell do old men and old women, In broad places of Jerusalem, And each his staff in his hand, Because of abundance of days.

⁵ And broad places of the city are full of boys and girls, Playing in its broad places.

⁶ Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Surely it is wonderful in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, Also in Mine eyes it is wonderful, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts.

⁷ Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Lo, I am saving My people from the land of the rising, And from the land of the going in, of the sun,

⁸ And I have brought them in, They have dwelt in the midst of Jerusalem, And they have been to Me for a people, And I am to them for God, In truth and in righteousness.

⁹ Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Let your hands be strong, Ye who are hearing in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets, That in the day the house of Jehovah of Hosts Hath been founded, the temple [is] to be built.

¹⁰ For, before those days there hath been no hiring of man, Yea, a hiring of beasts there is none; And to him who is going out, And to him who is coming in, There is no peace because of the adversary, And I send all men -- each against his neighbour.

¹¹ And now, not as [in] the former days [am] I to the remnant of this people, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts.

¹² Because of the sowing of peace, The vine doth give her fruit, And the earth doth give her increase, And the heavens do give their dew, And I have caused the remnant of this people To inherit all these.

¹³ And it hath come to pass, As ye have been a reviling among nations, O house of Judah, and house of Israel, So I save you, and ye have been a blessing, Do not fear, let your hands be strong.

¹⁴ For, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, As I did purpose to do evil to you, When your fathers made Me wroth, Said Jehovah of Hosts, and I did not repent,

¹⁵ So I have turned back, I have purposed, in these days, To do good with Jerusalem, And with the house of Judah -- fear not!

¹⁶ These [are] the things that ye do: Speak ye truth each with his neighbour, Truth and peaceful judgment judge in your gates,

¹⁷ And each the evil of his neighbour ye do not devise in your heart, And a false oath ye do not love, For all these [are] things that I have hated, An affirmation of Jehovah.'

¹⁸ And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts unto me, saying:

¹⁹ `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth [months], are to the house of Judah for joy and for rejoicing, and for pleasant appointed seasons, and the truth and the peace they have loved.

²⁰ Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Yet come do peoples, and inhabitants of many cities,

²¹ Yea, gone have inhabitants of one To another, saying: We go diligently, To appease the face of Jehovah, To seek Jehovah of Hosts -- I go, even I.

²² Yea, come in have many peoples, and mighty nations, To seek Jehovah of Hosts in Jerusalem, And to appease the face of Jehovah.

²³ Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: In those days take hold do ten men of all languages of the nations, Yea, they have taken hold on the skirt of a man, a Jew, saying: We go with you, for we heard God [is] with you!

9 The burden of a word of Jehovah against the land of Hadrach, and Demmeseh -- his place of rest: (When to Jehovah [is] the eye of man, And of all the tribes of Israel.)

² And also Hamath doth border thereon, Tyre and Zidon, for -- very wise!

³ And Tyre doth build a bulwark to herself, And doth heap silver as dust, And gold as mire of out-places.

⁴ Lo, the Lord doth dispossess her, And He hath smitten in the sea her force, And she with fire is consumed.

⁵ See doth Ashkelon and fear, Also Gaza, and she is exceedingly pained, Also Ekron -- for her expectation dried up, And perished hath a king from Gaza, And Ashkelon doth not remain,

⁶ And dwelt hath a foreigner in Ashdod, And I have cut off the excellency of the Philistines.

⁷ And turned aside his blood from his mouth, His abominations from between his teeth, And he hath remained, even he, to our God, And he hath been as a leader in Judah, And Ekron as a Jebusite.

⁸ And I have pitched for My house a camp, Because of the passer through, and of the returner, And pass not through against them again doth an exactor, For, now, I have seen with My eyes.

⁹ Rejoice exceedingly, O daughter of Zion, Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, Lo, thy King doth come to thee, Righteous -- and saved is He, Afflicted -- and riding on an ass, And on a colt -- a son of she-asses.

¹⁰ And I have cut off the chariot from Ephraim, And the horse from Jerusalem, Yea, cut off hath been the bow of battle, And he hath spoken peace to nations, And his rule [is] from sea unto sea, And from the river unto the ends of earth.

¹¹ Also thou -- by the blood of thy covenant, I have sent thy prisoners out of the pit, There is no water in it.

¹² Turn back to a fenced place, Ye prisoners of the hope, Even to-day a second announcer I restore to thee.

¹³ For I have trodden for Me Judah, A bow I have filled [with] Ephraim, And I have stirred up thy sons, O Zion, Against thy sons, O Javan, And I have set thee as the sword of a hero.

¹⁴ And Jehovah doth appear for them, And gone forth as lightning hath His arrow, And the Lord Jehovah with a trumpet bloweth, And He hath gone with whirlwinds of the south.

¹⁵ Jehovah of Hosts doth cover them over, And they consumed, and subdued sling-stones, Yea, they have drunk, They have made a noise as wine, And they have been full as a bowl, As corners of an altar.

¹⁶ And saved them hath Jehovah their God In that day, as a flock of His people, For stones of a crown are displaying themselves over His ground.

¹⁷ For what His goodness! and what His beauty! Corn the young men, And new wine the virgins -- make fruitful!

10 They asked of Jehovah rain in a time of latter rain, Jehovah is making lightnings, And rain [in] showers He doth give to them. To each -- the herb in the field.

² Because the teraphim did speak iniquity, And the diviners have seen a falsehood, And dreams of the vanity they speak, [With] vanity they give comfort, Therefore they have journeyed as a flock, They are afflicted, for there is no shepherd.

³ Against the shepherds did Mine anger burn, And against the he-goats I lay a charge, For inspected hath Jehovah of Hosts His flock, the house of Judah, And set them as His beauteous horse in battle.

⁴ From him [is] a corner-stone, From him a nail, from him a battle-bow, From him goeth forth every exactor together.

⁵ And they have been as heroes, Treading in mire of out-places in battle, And they have fought, for Jehovah [is] with them, And have put to shame riders of horses.

⁶ And I have made mighty the house of Judah, And the house of Joseph I do save, And I have caused them to dwell, for I have loved them, And they have been as [if] I had not cast them off, For I [am] Jehovah their God, And I answer them.

⁷ And Ephraim hath been as a hero, And rejoiced hath their heart as wine, And their sons see, and they have rejoiced, Rejoice doth their heart in Jehovah.

⁸ I hist for them, and I gather them, For I have redeemed them, And they have multiplied as they did multiply.

⁹ And I sow them among peoples, And in far-off places they remember Me, And they have lived with their sons, And they have turned back.

¹⁰ And I have brought them back from the land of Egypt, And from Asshur I do gather them, And unto the land of Gilead and Lebanon I do bring them in, And there is not found for them [space].

¹¹ And He hath passed over through the sea, And hath pressed and smitten billows in the sea, And dried up have been all depths of a flood, And brought down hath been the excellency of Asshur, And the rod of Egypt doth turn aside.

¹² And I have made them mighty in Jehovah, And in His name they walk up and down, An affirmation of Jehovah!