Zechariah 9:12 (DRB)

Passage

Return to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope, I will render thee double as I declare today.

Nearby Context

Zechariah 9:10 And I will destroy the chariot out of Ephraim, and the horse out of Jerusalem, and the bow for war shall be broken: and he shall speak peace to the Gentiles, and his power shall be from sea to sea, and from the rivers even to the end of the earth.

Zechariah 9:11 Thou also by the blood of thy testament hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water.

Zechariah 9:12 Return to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope, I will render thee double as I declare today.

Zechariah 9:13 Because I have bent Juda for me as a bow, I have filled Ephraim: and I will raise up thy sons, O Sion, above thy sons, O Greece, and I will make thee as the sword of the mighty.

Zechariah 9:14 And the Lord God shall be seen over them, and his dart shall go forth as lightning: and the Lord God will sound the trumpet, and go in the whirlwind of the south.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "return", "strong", "hold", "prisoners", "hope", "render", "thee", and "double". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "return" and "strong", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "Thou also by the blood of thy..." into verse 13's "Because I have bent Juda for me...", so "return" and "strong" belong inside that flow. In Zechariah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "return" and "strong" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.