The Lord will be with the people who are still_alive
1The Lord who rules over all talked to Zechariah. 2He said: ‘I love the city of Jerusalem and I am very angry with the enemies who have destroyed Jerusalem. 3And now I tell you that I will come back to Jerusalem and I will live there again. People will say Jerusalem is the faithful city and the mountain of the Lord who rules over all is the holy_mountain.’
4The Lord who rules over all says: ‘Old men and old women will sit in the streets of Jerusalem again and everyone will have his staff in his hand like people always have when they become old. 5And children will play in the streets of Jerusalem.’
6The Lord who rules over all says: ‘Some of the people who are still_alive at that time will think it can not happen. But it is not impossible for Me. I can make it happen.’
7The Lord who rules over all says: ‘I will save my people from the lands where they are living now, the lands in the east and the lands in the west. 8I will bring them back and they will live in Jerusalem. They will be my people and I will be their only God. I will do everything that I have promised and I will make them righteous.’
9The Lord who rules over all says: ‘Do not be discouraged. You have heard what the prophets said when people started to build my temple. 10Before that time there was no money to pay people or to hire animals to do the work, and no one was safe in the city, because I called enemies to come here. 11But I will not do it again. The people who are still_alive will not suffer anymore. 12There will be peace and you will sow wheat in your fields and get grapes from your vines. Your land will be fertile and I will send rain. I will give everything to the people who are still_alive. 13People of Israel and Judah, everyone knows that the Lord has cursed you. Now I, the Lord, will save you and everyone will know that the Lord has blessed you. Do not be afraid or discouraged. You must be strong.’
14Yes, the Lord who rules over all says: ‘When your forefathers made Me angry, I decided to make you suffer. I did not want to feel sorry for you. 15But now I have decided to be good to the people of Jerusalem and the people of Judah. Do not be afraid.
16You must also do these things: You must not tell lies but speak the truth to each other when you are at the gate of the city and you tell what happened, and in court you must be fair and do things that will bring peace.
17Do not make plans that will be bad for other people. Do not promise things that you do not want to do because I hate that.’ This is what the Lord says.
People will know that God is with you
18The Lord who rules over all talked to me. 19He said: ‘The people of Judah have fasted in the 4th month, in the 5th month, in the 7th month and in the 10th month. But now these days will be happy days and people will rejoice and come together to celebrate. They will speak the truth and they will love each other.’
20The Lord who rules over all says: ‘People from many cities will come to Jerusalem. 21People will go from one town to another town and say: “Let us bring an offering to the Lord who rules over all. Let us ask Him what He wants us to do. I will go with you.”
22People from a lot of nations that are big and strong will come to Jerusalem to ask Me what I want them to do and they will bring an offering to Me, the Lord who rules over all.’
23The Lord who rules over all says: ‘People of many nations will hold on to the clothes of the people of Judah. 10 people will hold on to a man's clothes and say: “We want to go with you because we have seen that God is with you.” ’
