Home -> Major Sections of the Bible -> Zechariah 1:1 - Zechariah 8:23
The Visions of Zechariah during the Building of the Temple
Zechariah 1:1 - Zechariah 8:23
The Word of the Lord to Zechariah: The Vision of the Horses; Angel's Prayer; Four Horns and Four Craftsmen
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In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, The LORD's word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
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"The LORD was very displeased with your fathers.
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Therefore tell them: the LORD of Hosts says: 'Return to me,' says the LORD of Hosts, 'and I will return to you,' says the LORD of Hosts.
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Don't you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: the LORD of Hosts says, 'Return now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings;' but they did not hear, nor listen to me, says The LORD.
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Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
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But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, didn't they overtake your fathers?"Then they repented and said, 'Just as the LORD of Hosts determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.'"
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On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, The LORD's word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
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"I had a vision in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses.
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Then I asked, 'My lord, what are these?'"The angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what these are."
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The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, "They are the ones the LORD has sent to go back and forth through the earth."
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They reported to The LORD's angel who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, "We have walked back and forth through the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and in peace."
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Then The LORD's angel replied, "O the LORD of Hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?"
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The LORD answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words.
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So the angel who talked with me said to me, "Proclaim, saying, 'The LORD of Armies says: "I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
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I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity."
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Therefore the LORD says: "I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it," says the LORD of Hosts, "and a line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem."'
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"Proclaim further, saying, 'The LORD of Armies says: "My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem."'"
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I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four horns.
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I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these?"He answered me, "These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."
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The LORD showed me four craftsmen.
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Then I asked, "What are these coming to do?"He said, "These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head; but these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it."
The Angel with a Measuring Line; God Redeems Zion; the Promise of God's Presence
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I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand.
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Then I asked, "Where are you going?"He said to me, "To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length."
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Behold, the angel who talked with me went out, and another angel went out to meet him,
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and said to him, "Run, speak to this young man, saying, 'Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.
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For I,' says The LORD, 'will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the middle of her.
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Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,' says The LORD; 'for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the sky,' says The LORD.
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'Come, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.'
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For the LORD of Hosts says: 'For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.
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For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they will be a plunder to those who served them; and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me.
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Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion; for, behold, I come, and I will dwell within you,' says The LORD.
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Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell among you, and you shall know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you.
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The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.
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Be silent, all flesh, before The LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy habitation!"
Joshua, the High Priest, Receiving Clean Garments; I will bring forth my servant, the Branch
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He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before The LORD's angel, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.
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The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Yes, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn't this a burning stick plucked out of the fire?"
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Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel.
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He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, "Take the filthy garments off of him." To him he said, "Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich clothing."
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I said, "Let them set a clean turban on his head."So they set a clean turban on his head, and clothed him; and The LORD's angel was standing by.
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The LORD's angel protested to Joshua, saying,
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"The LORD of Armies says: 'If you will walk in my ways, and if you will follow my instructions, then you also shall judge my house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you a place of access among these who stand by.
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Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you; for they are men who are a sign: for, behold, I will bring out my servant, the Branch.
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For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes: behold, I will engrave its engraving,' says the LORD of Hosts, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
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In that day,' says the LORD of Hosts, 'you will invite every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.'"
The Gold Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees Foreshow Success of Zerubbabel's Foundation
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The angel who talked with me came again, and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep.
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He said to me, "What do you see?"I said, "I have seen, and behold, a lamp stand all of gold, with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are on the top of it;
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and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side of it."
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I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, "What are these, my lord?"
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Then the angel who talked with me answered me, "Don't you know what these are?"I said, "No, my lord."
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Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, "This is The LORD's word to Zerubbabel, saying, 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD of Hosts.
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Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of 'Grace, grace, to it!'"
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Moreover The LORD's word came to me, saying,
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"The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it; and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you.
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Indeed, who despises the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These are The LORD's eyes, which run back and forth through the whole earth."
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Then I asked him, "What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lamp stand and on the left side of it?"
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I asked him the second time, "What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that pour the golden oil out of themselves?"
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He answered me, "Don't you know what these are?"I said, "No, my lord."
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Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth."
The Flying Scroll; The Woman in a Basket
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Then again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a flying scroll.
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He said to me, "What do you see?"I answered, "I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits."
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Then he said to me, "This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side.
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I will cause it to go out," says the LORD of Hosts, "and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it will remain in the middle of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones."
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Then the angel who talked with me came forward, and said to me, "Lift up now your eyes, and see what is this that is appearing."
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I said, "What is it?"He said, "This is the ephah basket that is appearing." He said moreover, "This is their appearance in all the land
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(and behold, a talent of lead was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting in the middle of the ephah basket."
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He said, "This is Wickedness"; and he threw her down into the middle of the ephah basket; and he threw the weight of lead on its mouth.
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Then lifted I up my eyes, and saw, and behold, there were two women, and the wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah basket between earth and the sky.
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Then I said to the angel who talked with me, "Where are these carrying the ephah basket?"
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He said to me, "To build her a house in the land of Shinar. When it is prepared, she will be set there in her own place."
The Vision of the Four Chariots; The Symbolic Crowns of Joshua
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Again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.
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In the first chariot were red horses; in the second chariot black horses;
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in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot dappled horses, all of them powerful.
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Then I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?"
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The angel answered me, "These are the four winds of the sky, which go out from standing before the Lord of all the earth.
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The one with the black horses goes out toward the north country; and the white went out after them; and the dappled went out toward the south country."
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The strong went out, and sought to go that they might walk back and forth through the earth: and he said, "Go around and through the earth!" So they walked back and forth through the earth.
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Then he called to me, and spoke to me, saying, "Behold, those who go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country."
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The LORD's word came to me, saying,
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"Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and come the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have come from Babylon.
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Yes, take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest;
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and speak to him, saying, 'The LORD of Armies says, "Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build The LORD's temple;
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even he shall build The LORD's temple; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; and he shall be a priest on his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
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The crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in The LORD's temple.
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Those who are far off shall come and build in The LORD's temple; and you shall know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you. This will happen, if you will diligently obey the LORD your God's voice."'"
Execute true judgment, and show kindness, instead of mere fasting
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In the fourth year of king Darius, The LORD's word came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.
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The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech, and their men, to entreat The LORD's favor,
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and to speak to the priests of the house of the LORD of Hosts, and to the prophets, saying, "Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?"
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Then the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying,
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"Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?
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When you eat, and when you drink, don't you eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
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Aren't these the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?'"
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The LORD's word came to Zechariah, saying,
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"Thus has the LORD of Hosts spoken, saying, 'Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.
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Don't oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.'
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But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
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Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law, and the words which the LORD of Hosts had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the LORD of Hosts.
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It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen," said the LORD of Hosts;
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"but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate."
The Coming Restoration of Jerusalem; Encouragement to Build the Temple
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The word of the LORD of Hosts came to me.
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The LORD of Armies says: "I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath."
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The LORD says: "I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the middle of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called 'The City of Truth;' and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts, 'The Holy Mountain.'"
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The LORD of Armies says: "Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age.
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The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets."
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The LORD of Armies says: "If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my eyes?" says the LORD of Hosts.
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The LORD of Armies says: "Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
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and I will bring them, and they will dwell within Jerusalem; and they will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness."
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The LORD of Armies says: "Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of Hosts was laid, even the temple, that it might be built.
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For before those days there was no wages for man, nor any wages for an animal; neither was there any peace to him who went out or came in, because of the adversary. For I set all men everyone against his neighbor.
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But now I will not be to the remnant of this people as in the former days," says the LORD of Hosts.
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"For the seed of peace and the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.
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It shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Don't be afraid. Let your hands be strong."
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For the LORD of Hosts says: "As I thought to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath," says the LORD of Hosts, "and I didn't repent;
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so again I have thought in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Don't be afraid.
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These are the things that you shall do: speak every man the truth with his neighbor. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates,
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and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor, and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate," says The LORD.
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The word of the LORD of Hosts came to me.
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The LORD of Armies says: "The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months shall be for the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace."
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The LORD of Armies says: "Many peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come;
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and the inhabitants of one shall go to another, saying, 'Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of The LORD, and to seek the LORD of Hosts. I will go also.'
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Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the LORD of Hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of The LORD."
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The LORD of Armies says: "In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'"
