Atlas Biblica

    Zechariah · 23 verses

    Zechariah 8

    Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    Ten men from every tongue will clutch one Jew’s robe and say, “Let us go with you”: the chapter ends with international pilgrimage organised by the sleeve.

    Jerusalem fills up againvv. 1–8

    The LORD is jealous for Zion with great fervor and promises to return to dwell in Jerusalem. The city receives a remarkable new name, the City of Truth, while its streets acquire old men and old women with staffs, and boys and girls at play. The remnant finds this impossible; the LORD does not. People are gathered from east and west and brought back to dwell in Jerusalem, with the city’s old relationship restored in plain, sturdy terms.

    From unpaid days to fruitful onesvv. 9–17

    The speech turns towards the rebuilding of the temple, and recalls an earlier misery with almost bureaucratic precision: neither people nor animals received wages, and travellers had no safety. Neighbour was set against neighbour. Now the remnant is promised seed, vines, produce, and dew, while Judah and Israel—once a curse among the nations—are promised salvation and blessing. The required conduct is equally concrete: truth in speech, sound judgment at the gates, no plotting against a neighbour, and no fondness for false oaths. A surprisingly short list, though evidently not a short one.

    The fasts put on feast clothesvv. 18–23

    The four fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months are abruptly dressed as cheerful feasts for Judah. Then the horizon widens: cities call to cities, peoples and strong nations come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD, and ten men from every tongue seize the robe of one Jew. Their request is wonderfully direct: they have heard that God is with him, and they intend to go along.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Zech 8:1Again the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying:

    2. Zech 8:2This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I am jealous for Zion with great zeal; I am jealous for her with great fervor.”

    3. Zech 8:3This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.”

    4. Zech 8:4This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Old men and old women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of great age.

    5. Zech 8:5And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing there.”

    6. Zech 8:6This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “If this is impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be impossible in My eyes?” declares the LORD of Hosts.

    7. Zech 8:7This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west.

    8. Zech 8:8I will bring them back to dwell in Jerusalem, where they will be My people, and I will be their faithful and righteous God.”

    9. Zech 8:9This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Let your hands be strong, you who now hear these words spoken by the prophets who were present when the foundations were laid to rebuild the temple, the house of the LORD of Hosts.

    10. Zech 8:10For before those days neither man nor beast received wages, nor was there safety from the enemy for anyone who came or went, for I had turned every man against his neighbor.

    11. Zech 8:11But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as I did in the past,” declares the LORD of Hosts.

    12. Zech 8:12“For the seed will be prosperous, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will yield its produce, and the skies will give their dew. To the remnant of this people I will give all these things as an inheritance.

    13. Zech 8:13As you have been a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid; let your hands be strong.”

    14. Zech 8:14For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Just as I resolved to bring disaster upon you when your fathers provoked Me to anger, and I did not relent,” says the LORD of Hosts,

    15. Zech 8:15“so now I have resolved to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah. Do not be afraid.

    16. Zech 8:16These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another, render true and sound judgments in your gates,

    17. Zech 8:17do not plot evil in your hearts against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely, for I hate all these things,” declares the LORD.

    18. Zech 8:18Then the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying,

    19. Zech 8:19“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: The fasts of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months will become times of joy and gladness, cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore you are to love both truth and peace.”

    20. Zech 8:20This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Peoples will yet come—the residents of many cities—

    21. Zech 8:21and the residents of one city will go to another, saying: ‘Let us go at once to plead before the LORD and to seek the LORD of Hosts. I myself am going.’

    22. Zech 8:22And many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the LORD of Hosts in Jerusalem and to plead before the LORD.”

    23. Zech 8:23This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue will tightly grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 354 passages were voted onto 21 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 16Ephesians 4:25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.
    • 23Isaiah 55:5Surely you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you. For the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, has bestowed glory on you.”
    • 231 Corinthians 14:25and the secrets of his heart will be made known. So he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is truly among you!”
    • 8Ezekiel 36:28Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.
    • 16Zechariah 7:9“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another.
    • 8Ezekiel 11:20so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.
    • 8Jeremiah 31:33“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.
    • 12Leviticus 26:4–5I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.
    • 13Zechariah 8:9This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Let your hands be strong, you who now hear these words spoken by the prophets who were present when the foundations were laid to rebuild the temple, the house of the LORD of Hosts.
    • 13Zephaniah 3:20At that time I will bring you in; yes, at that time I will gather you. For I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your captives before your very eyes,” says the LORD.
    • 131 Corinthians 16:13Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong.
    • 13Genesis 12:2–3I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
    • 13Psalms 72:17May his name endure forever; may his name continue as long as the sun shines. In him may all nations be blessed; may they call him blessed.
    • 23Acts 13:47–48For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
    • 6Jeremiah 32:27“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
    • 8Jeremiah 4:2and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him, and in Him they will glory.”

    Onward

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