World English Bible · The Persian return
Zechariah 8
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1The word of of Armies came to me. of Armies says: "I am with great , and I am her with great ." says: "I have returned to , and will in the middle of . shall be called 'The City of Truth;' and the mountain of of Armies, 'The Mountain.'" of Armies says: "Old men and old women will again in the streets of , every man with his in his hand because of their old age. The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets." of Armies says: "If it is marvelous in the eyes of of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my eyes?" of Armies. of Armies says: "Behold, I will my people from the east country and from the west country. I will bring them, and they will within . They will be my people, and I will be their , in truth and in ." of Armies says: "Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days these words from the of who were in the day that the foundation of the of Armies was laid, even , that it might be built. For before those days there was no wages for man nor any wages for an animal, neither was there any peace to him who went out or came in, because of the adversary. For I set all men everyone against his neighbor. But now I will not be to of this people as in the former days," of Armies. "For the of peace and will yield its fruit, and the ground will give its increase, and will give their . I will cause of this people to all these things. It shall come to pass that, as you were among the nations, house of Judah and , so I will you, and you shall be a . Don't be afraid. Let your hands be strong." For of Armies says: "As I thought to do evil to you when your fathers provoked me to ," of Armies, "and I didn't , so again I have thought in these days to do good to and to the house of Judah. Don't be afraid. These are the things that you shall do: speak every man the truth with his neighbor. Execute the of truth and peace in your , and let none of you devise evil in your against his neighbor, and love no false ; for all these are things that I hate," . 18The word of of Armies came to me. of Armies says: "The of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months shall be for the house of Judah joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace." of Armies says: "Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come. The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, 'Let's go speedily to entreat the of , and to seek of Armies. I will go also.' Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek of Armies in and to entreat the of ." of Armies says: "In those days, ten men out of all the of the nations will take hold of the of him who is a , saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that is with you.'"
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The world at this moment · The Persian return, 539 BC to 332 BC ›
Persia takes Babylon and reverses its policy, sending exiled peoples home to rebuild their temples. Judah returns as a small province, rebuilding under imperial permission rather than independence.
- Persia
- The largest empire the world had yet seen, from the Indus to the Aegean, run through provinces, a royal road, and a postal system. Its policy on conquered peoples was to send them home and fund their temples, in exchange for loyalty and prayers for the king. The Cyrus Cylinder states the policy in Cyrus's own words, and Ezra opens with the same policy applied to Judah.
- Judah
- A small, poor province called Yehud, a fraction of the old kingdom, with a rebuilt temple that made the people who remembered the first one weep. No king, and no prospect of one. Leadership passes to priests and scribes, which shapes everything afterward.
- Greece
- Persia and Greece collide at Marathon and Salamis, Persia loses, and Athens spends the following decades on the Parthenon, tragedy, and Socrates. Herodotus writes the first history in order to explain that war. Then Plato and Aristotle, whose vocabulary the church will still be using at Nicaea eight centuries later.
- Further afield
- Rome throws out its kings and becomes a republic. In India and China this is the age of the Buddha's early followers and of Confucian teaching taking hold. More of what the world still thinks with was invented in this era than in almost any other.