The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion
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And the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying,
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"Thus says the LORD of hosts: 1I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath.
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Thus says the LORD: 2I have returned to Zion and 3will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, 4and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, 5and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain.
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Thus says the LORD of hosts: 6Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age.
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And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.
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Thus says the LORD of hosts: 7If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, 8should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the LORD of hosts?
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Thus says the LORD of hosts: behold, 9I will save my people 10from the east country and from the west country,
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and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. 11And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, 12in faithfulness and in righteousness."
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Thus says the LORD of hosts: 13"Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of 14the prophets who were present on 15the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.
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For before those days 16there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor.
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But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the LORD of hosts.
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17For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, 18and the heavens shall give their dew. 19And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.
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And as 20you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, 21so will I save you, and 22you shall be a blessing. 23Fear not, but 24let your hands be strong."
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For thus says the LORD of hosts: 25"As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the LORD of hosts,
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so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; 26fear not.
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These are the things that you shall do: 27Speak the truth to one another; 28render in your gates judgments 29that are true and make for peace;
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30do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and 31love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD."
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And the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,
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"Thus says the LORD of hosts: The fast of the 32fourth month and the fast of the 33fifth and the fast of the 34seventh and the fast of the 35tenth shall be to the house of Judah 36seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love 37truth and peace.
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"Thus says the LORD of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities.
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The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, 38'Let us go at once 39to entreat the favor of the LORD and to seek the LORD of hosts; I myself am going.'
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)