Zechariah 8 (KJV) continues the reply begun in chapter 7. It is a series of promises that the LORD will return to Zion, restore Jerusalem, and turn the fasts into feasts. The LORD of hosts is Jesus Christ, and Jerusalem, Zion, and Judah are the land and people corresponding to modern Israel.

1 Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,

A further word of the LORD of hosts comes to Zechariah.

2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.

The LORD of hosts declares that He was jealous for Zion with great jealousy and with great fury. The same jealousy for Jerusalem and Zion was already stated in Zechariah 1:14.

3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

The LORD says He has returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem (Israel). Jerusalem will be called a city of truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. Divine dwelling in the midst of the city parallels the promise of Zechariah 2:10 and the language of Revelation 21:3.

4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff because of great age. Long life in the open streets replaces the desolation of Zechariah 7:14.

5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing. The picture is ordinary, secure population, not a deserted ruin.

6 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.

If these things seem too marvelous to the remnant in those days, they are not marvelous in the eyes of the LORD of hosts. The remnant is the post-exile community; the promise exceeds what they consider possible.

7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;

The LORD of hosts will save His people from the east country and from the west country. The regathering is from both directions, not from a single exile site.

8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.

He will bring them, and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They will be His people, and He will be their God, in truth and in righteousness. The covenant formula “my people / their God” reappears in Revelation 21:3.

9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.

Those who hear these words in the days when the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid are told to let their hands be strong, so that the temple may be built. The encouragement is tied to the ongoing rebuilding under Zerubbabel.

10 For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.

Before these days there was no wage for man or beast, and no peace for anyone going out or coming in, because of the affliction. The LORD had set every man against his neighbor.

11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts.

Now He will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, says the LORD of hosts.

12 For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

The seed will prosper, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground its increase, and the heavens their dew. He will cause the remnant to possess all these things. Agricultural abundance replaces the earlier desolation.

13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.

As the house of Judah and the house of Israel had been a curse among the nations, so He will save them and they will be a blessing. They are told not to fear and to let their hands be strong. Both houses are included.

14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not:

As He purposed to punish them when their fathers provoked Him, and did not relent, so the new purpose will also stand.

15 So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.

In these days He has purposed to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. They are not to fear.

16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:

What they are to do is stated: each man is to speak truth to his neighbor, and they are to execute the judgment of truth and peace in their gates. The ethical demand of Zechariah 7:9 is repeated as the condition of the restored city.

17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.

None is to plot evil in his heart against his neighbor, and none is to love a false oath, because the LORD hates these things.

18 And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying,

Another word arrives, answering the original question about the fasts.

19 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.

The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore they are to love truth and peace. The fifth-month fast (the burning of the temple by Babylon) and the other exile commemorations are reversed.

20 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:

People and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come.

21 And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also.

Inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, “Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also.” The movement is voluntary and urgent.

22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.

Many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to pray before the LORD. Nations coming to Jerusalem appears again in Zechariah 14:16 and is thematically parallel to the nations walking in the light of the city in Revelation 21:24.

23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

In those days ten men out of all the languages of the nations will take hold of the skirt of a Jew and say, “We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” The Gentile initiative is attached to the presence of God with the Jew.

Chapter 8 therefore promises the LORD’s return to dwell in Jerusalem, repopulated streets, regathering from east and west, agricultural prosperity, the conversion of the exile fasts into feasts, and nations coming to seek the LORD in Jerusalem. The divine dwelling and the nations coming to the city are the clearest links to Revelation 21.