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.
And it is maad in the fourthe yeer of Darius, kyng, the word of the Lord was maad to Sacarie, in the fourthe dai of the nynthe monethe, that is Caslew.
2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, along with their men, to plead before the LORD
And Sarasar, and Rogumelech, and men that weren with hem, senten to the hous of the Lord, for to preye the face 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?”
that thei schulden seie to prestis of the hous of the Lord of oostis, and to profetis, and speke, Whether it is to wepe to me in the fyuethe monethe, ether Y schal halowe me, as Y dide now many yeeris?
4 Then the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord was maad 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?
and seide, Speke thou to al the puple of the lond, and to prestis, and seie thou, Whanne ye fastiden, and weiliden in the fyueth and seuenthe monethe, bi these seuenti yeeris, whether ye fastiden a fast to me?
6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not doing so simply for yourselves?
And whanne ye eeten, and drunken, whether ye eten not to you, and drunken not to you silf?
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?’”
Whether wordis of profetis ben not, whiche the Lord spak in the hond of the formere profetis, whanne yit Jerusalem was enhabited, and was ful of richessis, and it, and citees therof in cumpas therof, and at the south and in feeldi place was enhabited?
8 Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying,
And the word of the Lord was maad to Sacarie, and seide, The Lord of oostis saith these thingis, and spekith,
9 “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another.
Deme ye trewe dom, and do ye merci, and doyngis of merci, ech man with his brother.
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.’
And nyle ye falsli calenge a widewe, and fadirles, ether modirles, and comelyng, and pore man; and a man thenke not in his herte yuel to his brother.
11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
And thei wolden not `take heede, and thei turneden awei the schuldre, and yeden awei, and `maden heuy her eeris, lest thei herden.
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.
And thei puttiden her herte as adamaunt, lest thei herden the lawe, and wordis whiche the Lord of oostis sente in his Spirit, bi the hond of the formere profetis; and greet indignacioun was maad of the Lord of oostis.
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.
And it is doon, as he spak; and as thei herden not, so thei schulen crie, and Y schal not here, seith the Lord of oostis.
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.”
And Y scateride hem bi alle rewmes, whiche thei knewen not, and the lond is desolat fro hem; for that there was not a man goynge and turnynge ayen, and thei han put desirable lond in to desert.
