Bible Strands
Zechariah 8:16
These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another, render true and sound judgments in your gates,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses the restored community of Jerusalem and Judah immediately after promising to reverse their former misfortune and commanding them not to fear.
The words — The Hebrew אֱמֶת ('e.Met) means "truth," paired with the imperative דַּבְּרוּ (da.be.Ru) for "speak," which establishes the foundational requirement for communal interaction.
The thread — The directive aligns with the judicial and relational commands in Zechariah 7:9, the integrity standard in Psalms 15:2, and the New Testament exhortation in Ephesians 4:25.
Why it lands — The text requires citizens to practice honest communication and deliver fair verdicts in local courts, while the surrounding context explicitly forbids internal plotting and false swearing.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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:
Cross-references
- Ephesians 4:25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.
- Zechariah 7:9 “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another.
- Psalms 15:2 He who walks with integrity and practices righteousness, who speaks the truth from his heart,
- Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Luke 3:8 Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
- Proverbs 12:17 He who speaks the truth declares what is right, but a false witness speaks deceit.
- Proverbs 12:19 Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
- Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
- Zechariah 8:19 “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: The fasts of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months will become times of joy and gladness, cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore you are to love both truth and peace.”
- Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.