Zechariah 2:5

2:5 But I (the Lord says) will be a wall of fire surrounding Jerusalem ¹  and the source of glory in her midst.’”

Zechariah 4:7

Oracle of Response

4:7 “What are you, you great mountain? ²  Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple ³  capstone with shoutings of ‘Grace! Grace!’ ⁴  because of this.”

Zechariah 7:7

7:7 Should you not have obeyed the words that the Lord cried out through the former prophets when Jerusalem ⁵  was peacefully inhabited and her surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah ⁶  were also populated?

Zechariah 7:14

7:14 ‘Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.’ Thus the land had become desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful ⁷  land a waste.”

Zechariah 8:6

8:6 And,’ says the Lord who rules over all, ‘though such a thing may seem to be difficult in the opinion of the small community of those days, will it also appear difficult to me?’ asks the Lord who rules over all.

Zechariah 12:1

The Repentance of Judah

12:1 The revelation of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: The Lord – he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within a person ⁸  – says,

¹ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn In context, the great mountain here must be viewed as a metaphor for the enormous task of rebuilding the temple and establishing the messianic kingdom (cf. TEV “Obstacles as great as mountains”).

³ tn The word “temple” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent (cf. NLT “final stone of the Temple”).

⁴ sn Grace is a fitting response to the idea that it was “not by strength and not by power” but by God’s gracious Spirit that the work could be done (cf. v. 6).

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴ sn The Shephelah is the geographical region between the Mediterranean coastal plain and the Judean hill country. The Hebrew term can be translated “lowlands” (cf. ASV), “foothills” (NAB, NASB, NLT), or “steppes.”

⁴ tn Or “desirable”; traditionally “pleasant” (so many English versions; cf. TEV “This good land”).

⁵ tn Heb “who forms the spirit of man within him” (so NIV).