8:1  Then the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying,

8:2  "Thus says the LORD of hosts, `I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.'

8:3  "Thus says the LORD, `I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts {will be called} the Holy Mountain.'

8:4  "Thus says the LORD of hosts, `Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age.

8:5  `And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.'

8:6  "Thus says the LORD of hosts, `If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?' declares the LORD of hosts.

8:7  "Thus says the LORD of hosts, `Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west;

8:8  and I will bring them {back} and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.'

8:9  "Thus says the LORD of hosts, `Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the prophets, {those} who {spoke} in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be built.

8:10  `For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no peace because of his enemies, and I set all men one against another.

8:11  `But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,' declares the LORD of hosts.

8:12  `For {there will be} peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these {things.}

8:13  `It will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.'

8:14  "For thus says the LORD of hosts, `Just as I purposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,' says the LORD of hosts, `and I have not relented,

8:15  so I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!

8:16  `These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates.

8:17  `Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,' declares the LORD."

8:18  Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,

8:19  "Thus says the LORD of hosts, `The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth {months} will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace.'

8:20  "Thus says the LORD of hosts, `{It will} yet {be} that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities.

8:21  `The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, "Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I will also go."

8:22  `So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.'

8:23  "Thus says the LORD of hosts, `In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'""