Zechariah 7

1 And it happened, in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev.

And it cometh to pass, in the fourth year of Darius the king hath a word of Jehovah been unto Zechariah, in the fourth of the ninth month, in Chisleu.

2 And Sharezer and Regemmelech, and the men who were with them, sent to the house of God, to entreat the face of the Lord,

And Beth-El sendeth Sherezer and Regem-Melech, and its men, to appease the face of Jehovah,

3 to speak to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and to the prophets, saying: “Must there be weeping with me in the fifth month, and must I sanctify myself, as I have now done for many years?”

speaking unto the priests who [are] at the house of Jehovah of Hosts, and unto the prophets, saying, 'Do I weep in the fifth month — being separated — as I have done these so many years?'

4 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:

And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts unto me, saying:

5 Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: Although you may have fasted and mourned in the fifth and the seventh month for these seventy years, did you indeed keep a fast unto me?

'Speak unto all the people of the land, and unto the priests, saying:

6 And when you did eat and drink, did you not eat for yourselves, and drink only for yourselves?

When ye fasted with mourning in the fifth and in the seventh [months] — even these seventy years — did ye keep the fast [to] Me — Me? And when ye eat, and when ye drink, is it not ye who are eating, and ye who are drinking?

7 Are not these the words that the Lord has spoken by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem was still inhabited, so that it would prosper, itself and the cities around it, and those inhabitants towards the South and in the plains?

'Are not [these] the words that Jehovah proclaimed by the hand of the former prophets, in Jerusalem's being inhabited, and [in] safety, and its cities round about it, and the south and the plain — abiding?'

8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying:

And there is a word of Jehovah unto Zechariah, saying:

9 Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: Judge with true judgment, and act with mercy and compassion, each and every one with his brother.

'Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts, saying: True judgment judge ye, And kindness and mercy do one with another.

10 And do not find fault with the widow, and the orphan, and the newcomer, and the poor. And let not a man consider evil in his heart towards his brother.

And widow, and fatherless, Sojourner, and poor, ye do not oppress, And the calamity of one another ye do not devise in your heart.

11 But they were not willing to pay attention, and they turned aside their shoulder to depart, and they pressed upon their ears, so that they would not hear.

And they refuse to attend, And they give a refractory shoulder, And their ears have made heavy against hearing.

12 And they set their heart like the hardest stone, so that they would not hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts has sent with his Spirit by the hand of the former prophets. And so a great indignation came from Lord of hosts.

And their heart they have made adamant, Against hearing the law, and the words, That Jehovah of Hosts sent by His Spirit, By the hand of the former prophets, And their is great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts.

13 And it happened, just as he had spoken, and they did not pay attention. So then, they shall cry out, and I will not heed, says the Lord of hosts.

And it cometh to pass, as He called, And they have not hearkened, So do they call, and I do not hearken, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

14 And I dispersed them throughout all the kingdoms that they did not know. And the land was left desolate behind them, so that no one was passing through or returning. And they made the desirable land into a deserted place.

And I toss them on all the nations, That they have not known, The land hath been desolate behind them, Of any passing by and turning back, And they set a desirable land for a desolation!