1 ^oIn the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^pChislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men ^qto entreat the favor of the Lord, 3 ^rsaying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and ^sthe prophets, “Should I weep and ^tabstain in ^uthe fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in ^uthe fifth month and in ^vthe seventh, for these ^wseventy years, ^xwas it ^xfor me that you fasted? 6 ^yAnd when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 ^zWere not these the words that the Lord proclaimed ^aby the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, ^bwith her cities around her, and the ^bSouth and the ^blowland were inhabited?’”

8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^cRender true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 ^ddo not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, ^eor the poor, and ^flet none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But ^gthey refused to pay attention ^hand turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.¹ 12 ⁱThey made their hearts diamond-hard ^jlest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent ^jby his Spirit through ^kthe former prophets. ^lTherefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 ^m“As I² called, and they would not hear, ^mso they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14 ⁿ“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all ^othe nations that they had not known. ^pThus the land they left was desolate, ^qso that no one went to and fro, ^rand the pleasant land was made desolate.”

1 And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^sI am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3 Thus says the Lord: ^tI have returned to Zion and ^uwill dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, ^vand Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, ^wand the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^xOld men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. 6 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^yIf it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, ^zshould it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, ^aI will save my people ^bfrom the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. ^cAnd they shall be my people, and I will be their God, ^din faithfulness and in righteousness.”

9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^e“Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of ^fthe prophets who were present on ^gthe day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days ^hthere was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. 12 ⁱFor there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, ^jand the heavens shall give their dew. ^kAnd I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And as ^lyou have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, ^mso will I save you, and ⁿyou shall be a blessing. ^oFear not, but ^elet your hands be strong.”

14 For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^p“As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, 15 so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; ^ofear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do: ^qSpeak the truth to one another; ^rrender in your gates judgments ^sthat are true and make for peace; 17 ^tdo not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ^ulove no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”

18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the ^vfourth month and the fast of the ^wfifth and the fast of the ^xseventh and the fast of the ^ytenth shall be to the house of Judah ^zseasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love ^atruth and peace.

20 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ^b‘Let us go at once ^cto entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ 22 ^bMany peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and ^cto entreat the favor of the Lord. 23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ^dten men ^efrom the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for ^fwe have heard that God is with you.’”

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, ⁿholding in his hand the key to ^othe bottomless pit¹ and a great chain. 2 And he seized ^pthe dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and ^qbound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into ^othe pit, and shut it and ^rsealed it over him, so that ^she might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

4 Then I saw ^tthrones, and ^useated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw ^vthe souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those ^wwho had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. ^xThey came to life and ^yreigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 ^zBlessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such ^athe second death has no power, but they will be ^bpriests of God and of Christ, and they ^cwill reign with him for a thousand years.

7 And when the thousand years are ended, ^dSatan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out ^eto deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, ^fGog and Magog, ^gto gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And ^hthey marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded ⁱthe camp of the saints and ^jthe beloved city, but ^kfire came down from heaven² and consumed them, 10 and the devil ^lwho had deceived them was ^mthrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where ⁿthe beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence ^oearth and sky fled away, and ^pno place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and ^qbooks were opened. Then another book was opened, which is ^rthe book of life. And ^sthe dead were judged by what was written in the books, ^taccording to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, ^uDeath and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, ^taccording to what they had done. 14 Then ^uDeath and Hades ^vwere thrown into the lake of fire. This is ^wthe second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, ^xhe was thrown into the lake of fire.