So tell the people: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Return to Me”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts.

Do not be like your ancestors; the earlier prophets proclaimed to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they did not listen or pay attention to Me”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

So the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim: The Lord of Hosts says: I am extremely jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says: In mercy, I have returned to Jerusalem; My house will be rebuilt within it”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.

“Proclaim further: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: My cities will again overflow with prosperity; the Lord will once more comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”

For the Lord of Hosts says this: “He has sent Me for His glory against the nations who are plundering you, for anyone who touches you touches the pupil of His eye.

“This is what the Lord of Hosts says: If you walk in My ways and keep My instructions, you will both rule My house and take care of My courts; I will also grant you access among these who are standing here.

So he answered me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts.

You are to tell him: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Here is a man whose name is Branch; He will branch out from His place and build the Lord’s temple.

“The Lord of Hosts says this: Make fair decisions. Show faithful love and compassion to one another.

Just as He had called, and they would not listen, so when they called, I would not listen,” says the Lord of Hosts.

“The Lord of Hosts says this: I am extremely jealous for Zion; I am jealous for her with great wrath.”

The Lord says this: “I will return to Zion and live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, the mountain of the Lord of Hosts, and the Holy Mountain.”

The Lord of Hosts says this: “Old men and women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of advanced age.

The Lord of Hosts says this: “Though it may seem incredible to the remnant of this people in those days, should it also seem incredible to Me?”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

The Lord of Hosts says this: “I will save My people from the land of the east and the land of the west.

The Lord of Hosts says this: “Let your hands be strong, you who now hear these words that the prophets spoke when the foundations were laid for the rebuilding of the temple, the house of the Lord of Hosts.

For the Lord of Hosts says this: “As I resolved to treat you badly when your fathers provoked Me to anger, and I did not relent,” says the Lord of Hosts,

“The Lord of Hosts says this: The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will become times of joy, gladness, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah. Therefore, love truth and peace.”

The Lord of Hosts says this: “Peoples will yet come, the residents of many cities;

The Lord of Hosts says this: “In those days, 10 men from nations of every language will grab the robe of a Jewish man tightly, urging: Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

Yahweh my God says this: “Shepherd the flock intended for slaughter.

Those who buy them slaughter them but are not punished. Those who sell them say: Praise the Lord because I have become rich! Even their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

If a man still prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will say to him: You cannot remain alive because you have spoken falsely in the name of Yahweh. When he prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through.

He will say: I am not a prophet; I work the land, for a man purchased me as a servant since my youth.

I will put this third through the fire;
I will refine them as silver is refined
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
and I will answer them.
I will say: They are My people,
and they will say: Yahweh is our God.”