Zechariah 8:14-17, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Zechariah 8:14-17
Resolved to Do Good, Commanding Truth and Peace
The LORD's resolve to do good comes with a list the remnant must keep
As I thought to punish you when your fathers provoked me, and I repented not, so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not. Repented not here means the LORD did not relent from announced punishment. Resolved good is now the counterpart. Fear is answered. Ethics are not cancelled.
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; 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. Mishpat shalom is gate-judgment that produces peace as right order, not silence bought by suppressing evidence.
Chapter 7's refused justice is rewritten as present vocation
City gates were where public decisions happened. Truthful speech, peace-producing rulings, unplotted hearts, and reliable oaths answer the adamant generation. Ephesians later cites 8:16 for Christian community. That reception honors the Jewish prophetic command; it does not supersede it.
Peace does not require hiding harm, forcing reconciliation, or returning vulnerable people to unsafe relationships. Truth-telling does not authorize cruelty, gossip, or accusation without process. God's resolved good is not a promise that every individual outcome will feel good on schedule.
How this should shape us
Tell the truth in ways that protect people. Build decisions that can stand in the gate. Do not call coerced quiet peace, and do not use disclosure as a weapon.
Teach it back
Explain Zechariah 8:14-17 in your own words. Include its place in Zechariah's return-to-holiness movement, one material uncertainty, and one use the context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Interpreters can emphasize legal procedure or broad social ethics, but gate judgment, neighbor truth, and rejection of plotted harm belong together.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Zechariah 8:14-17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, speaker changes, repeated formulas, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Zech.xml, 8:14-17
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and canonical-reception notes.
NET Bible Zechariah PDF, printed pp. 1794-1795, translation and notes on 8:14-17
Supports: Whole-book movement, Persian and later horizons, literary boundaries, composition, and material alternatives.
Mason, 'Zechariah,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 613, discussion of 8:14-17
Supports: Compositional development, fast-to-feast movement, leadership expectations, messianism, and the book's role within the Twelve.
Boda, Exploring Zechariah, Volume 1, printed pp. 31-58, chapters 2-3 on fasts, feasts, and Zechariah 8
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Zechariah 8:14-17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Zechariah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, speaker changes, repeated formulas, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Zech.xml, 8:14-17
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Zechariah with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and canonical-reception notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Zechariah PDF, printed pp. 1794-1795, translation and notes on 8:14-17
Open source ↗modern critical commentary
Zechariah
Rex Mason
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001
Supports: Whole-book movement, Persian and later horizons, literary boundaries, composition, and material alternatives.
Exact location: Mason, 'Zechariah,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 613, discussion of 8:14-17
Open source ↗open access scholarly monograph
Exploring Zechariah, Volume 1: The Development of Zechariah and Its Role within the Twelve
Mark J. Boda
SBL Press, Ancient Near East Monographs 16, 2017
Supports: Compositional development, fast-to-feast movement, leadership expectations, messianism, and the book's role within the Twelve.
Exact location: Boda, Exploring Zechariah, Volume 1, printed pp. 31-58, chapters 2-3 on fasts, feasts, and Zechariah 8
Open source ↗