Zechariah 7

1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.

In the fourth year of the reign of King Darius, on the fourth day of Chislev, the ninth month, the message of the Lord came to Zechariah.

2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, along with their men, to plead before the LORD

The city of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men, to entreat the favour of the Lord,

3 by asking the priests of the house of the LORD of Hosts, as well as the prophets, “Should I weep and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?”

and to ask the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets ‘Should I continue to mourn in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done for many years?’

4 Then the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying,

Then this message of the Lord of hosts came to me:

5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted?

Tell all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, for these seventy years, did you really fast for me?

6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not doing so simply for yourselves?

When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

7 Are these not the words that the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were populous and prosperous, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?’”

Wasn’t it this which the Lord proclaimed by the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, and her towns surrounding her and the Negreb and the Shephelah were inhabited?’

8 Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying,

The Lord gave this message to Zechariah:

9 “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another.

The Lord of hosts says, execute true judgments. Show kindness and mercy to each other.

10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’

Do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the resident foreigner or the poor. Let none of you devise evil against another in your hearts.

11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.

But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears so they wouldn’t hear.

12 They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of Hosts.

They made their hearts as hard as stone so they wouldn’t accept the teaching and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the earlier prophets. Great was the anger of the Lord of hosts:

13 And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.

I called and they would not hear, so they call and I do not hear, says the Lord of hosts.

14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known, and the land was left desolate behind them so that no one could come or go. Thus they turned the pleasant land into a desolation.”

I scattered them by a whirlwind out among nations unknown to them. The land was left desolate behind them, with no one crossing or returning, for they made the pleasant land a desolation.