11-12 “But things have changed. I’m taking the side of my core of surviving people:

    Sowing and harvesting will resume,
    Vines will grow grapes,
    Gardens will flourish,
    Dew and rain will make everything green.

12-13 “My core survivors will get everything they need—and more. You’ve gotten a reputation as a bad-news people, you people of Judah and Israel, but I’m coming to save you. From now on, you’re the good-news people. Don’t be afraid. Keep a firm grip on what I’m doing.”

Keep Your Lives Simple and Honest

14-17 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“In the same way that I decided to punish you when your ancestors made me angry, and didn’t pull my punches, at this time I’ve decided to bless Jerusalem and the country of Judah. Don’t be afraid. And now here’s what I want you to do: Tell the truth, the whole truth, when you speak. Do the right thing by one another, both personally and in your courts. Don’t cook up plans to take unfair advantage of others. Don’t do or say what isn’t so. I hate all that stuff. Keep your lives simple and honest.” Decree of God.

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12 “The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit,(A) the ground will produce its crops,(B) and the heavens will drop their dew.(C) I will give all these things as an inheritance(D) to the remnant of this people.(E) 13 Just as you, Judah and Israel, have been a curse[a](F) among the nations, so I will save(G) you, and you will be a blessing.[b](H) Do not be afraid,(I) but let your hands be strong.(J)

14 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Just as I had determined to bring disaster(K) on you and showed no pity when your ancestors angered me,” says the Lord Almighty,

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Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 8:13 That is, your name has been used in cursing (see Jer. 29:22); or, you have been regarded as under a curse.
  2. Zechariah 8:13 Or and your name will be used in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or and you will be seen as blessed