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Zechariah 8

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1 And the word of Jehovah of Armies was to me, saying,

2 Thus says Jehovah of Armies: I was·​·zealous for Zion with great zeal, and with great fury I was·​·zealous for her.

3 Thus says Jehovah: I have returned to Zion, and will reside in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth, and the mountain of Jehovah of Armies the holy mountain.

4 Thus says Jehovah of Armies: Old men and old women shall still dwell in the avenues of Jerusalem, and a man with his staff in his hand from many days;

5 and the avenues of the city shall be·​·full of boys and girls playing in her avenues.

6 Thus says Jehovah of Armies: That which will be wonderful in the eyes of those who·​·are·​·left of this people in these days, will it even be wonderful in My eyes, says Jehovah of Armies?

7 Thus says Jehovah of Armies; Behold, I will save My people from the land of the sunrise, and from the land of the going·​·in of the sun.

8 and I will bring them, and they shall reside in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, in truth and in justice.

9 Thus says Jehovah of Armies: Let your hands be·​·firm, you who hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets, who were in the day that the house of Jehovah of Armies was founded, that the temple might be built.

10 For before these days there was not a wage for mankind, and there was no wage for the beast; and for him who went·​·out and for him who came·​·in there was no peace from the adversary; for I sent·​·out all mankind, a man against his companion.

11 But now I will not be to what·​·is·​·left of this people as in the first days, says Jehovah of Armies.

12 For the seed shall be of peace; the vine shall give her fruit, and the land shall give her produce, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause what·​·is·​·left of this people to inherit all these things.

13 And it shall be, that as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah, and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing; fear not; let your hands be·​·firm.

14 For thus says Jehovah of Armies: As I purposed to do·​·evil to you when your fathers enraged Me, says Jehovah of Armies, and I repented not,

15 so returning I have purposed in these days to do·​·good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear ye not.

16 These are the words that you shall do; Speak ye the truth, a man with his companion; judge the truth and the judgment of peace in your gates;

17 and think not evil, a man against his companion, in your hearts, and love not a false promise; for all these are things that I hate, says Jehovah.

18 And the word of Jehovah of Armies was unto me, saying,

19 Thus says Jehovah of Armies: 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 for the house of Judah for joy and for gladness, and for good, solemn festivals; therefore love the truth and the peace.

20 Thus says Jehovah of Armies: There shall yet come peoples and those who dwell in many cities;

21 and they who dwell in one city shall go to another one, saying, Going, let us go to implore the faces of Jehovah, and to seek Jehovah of Armies; I also will go.

22 And many peoples and numerous nations shall come to seek Jehovah of Armies in Jerusalem, and to implore the faces of Jehovah.

23 Thus says Jehovah of Armies: In those days it shall be that ten men from all the tongues of the nations shall hold·​·firm, and they shall hold·​·firm on the wing of the garment* of a man, a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Apocalypse Revealed # 483

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483. And he said to me, "You must prophesy again about peoples, nations, tongues, and many kings." (10:11) This symbolically means that such being the case, the character of people caught up in faith alone must be further told.

That this is the symbolic meaning is apparent from what follows, in which the subject is people caught up in faith alone, to the end of chapter 16. After that the subject is the Roman Catholic religion, then the casting out of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet into hell, and afterward the New Church, which will worship the Lord alone.

To prophesy means, symbolically, to teach (nos. 8, 133), and so to prophesy again means to teach further. "Peoples" symbolize people who are impelled by doctrinal truths or doctrinal falsities, and "nations" symbolize people who are impelled by good practices or evil practices. More about these later. "Tongues" symbolize people who are impelled by truths and goods or falsities and evils externally (no. 282), and "kings" people who are impelled by them internally. To be shown that kings symbolize people who are impelled by truths springing from goodness, and in an opposite sense, people who are impelled by falsities springing from evil, and abstractly truths themselves springing from goodness or falsities themselves springing from evil, see nos. 20, 664, 704, 720, 830, 921. And as the subject in what follows is in particular people impelled by interior falsities, the text says, "and many kings," which symbolizes falsities accompanying evil in abundance.

The text says peoples, nations, tongues and kings in order to mean all people in the church who are of this character.

John's being told that he had to prophesy again means, symbolically, to teach further the character of people caught up in faith alone, in order that their falsities may be exposed and thus eradicated, since no falsity is eradicated before it has been exposed.

[2] That "peoples" symbolize people impelled by doctrinal truths or falsities, and "nations" people impelled by good or evil practices, can be seen from many passages in the Word where peoples and nations are mentioned. However, to demonstrate this we will cite here only some passages where peoples and nations are mentioned together, from which this conclusion may be drawn, as each and every particular in the Word contains a marriage of the Lord and the church, and consequently a marriage of goodness and truth; and "peoples" refer to truth, and "nations" to goodness. The presence of such a marriage in each and every particular of the Word may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 80-90.

[3] Here are the passages in the Word:

Woe to a sinful nation, to a people laden with iniquity... (Isaiah 1:4)

I will send him against a hypocritical nation, against the people of My wrath I will command him... (Isaiah 10:6)

(Jehovah) who is striking the peoples... with an incurable plague, who is ruling the nations in anger... (Isaiah 14:6)

At that time a present will be brought to Jehovah..., a people scattered and shaven..., and a nation marked off and downtrodden... (Isaiah 18:7)

...a strong people will honor You, a city of mighty nations will fear You. (Isaiah 25:3)

(Jehovah) will swallow up... the covering... over all peoples, and the veil... over all nations. (Isaiah 25:7)

Come near, you nations..., and pay heed, you peoples! (Isaiah 34:1)

I... have called You... as a covenant to the peoples, and as a light to the nations. (Isaiah 42:6)

Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples assemble. (Isaiah 43:9)

Behold, I will lift My hand... to the nations, and... My standard to the peoples. (Isaiah 49:22)

...I have given him as a witness to the peoples, a leader and lawgiver to the nations. (Isaiah 55:4)

Behold, a people is coming from the north country, and a great nation... from the edges of the earth. (Jeremiah 6:22)

Many peoples and numerous nations shall come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem... (Zechariah 8:22)

Jehovah renders the counsel of the nations of no effect, He overturns the deliberations of the peoples. (Psalms 33:10)

(Jehovah) will subdue the peoples under us, and the nations under our feet... (Jehovah) reigned over the nations... The willing of the peoples have gathered together... (Psalms 47:3, 8-9)

The peoples shall confess You... The nations shall be glad... For You shall judge the peoples righteously, and guide the nations on the earth. (Psalms 67:3-4)

Remember me, O Jehovah, with good pleasure toward Your people..., that I may rejoice in the joy of Your nations... (Psalms 106:4-5)

...all peoples, nations, and languages shall worship (the Son of Man). (Daniel 7:14)

And so on elsewhere, as in Psalms 18:43, Isaiah 9:2-3; 11:10, Ezekiel 36:15, Joel 2:17, Zephaniah 2:9, Revelation 5:9, Luke 2:30-32.

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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.