Zechariah 7
1 And in the fourth yeere of King Darius, the worde of the Lord came vnto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth moneth, euen in Chisleu,
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 For they had sent vnto the House of God Sharezer, and Regem-melech and their men to pray before the Lord,
The city of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men, to entreat the favor of the Lord,
3 And to speake vnto the Priests, which were in the House of the Lord of hostes, and to the Prophets, saying, Should I weepe in the fift moneth, and separate my selfe as I haue done these so many yeeres?
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 came the word of the Lord of hostes vnto me, saying,
Then this message of the Lord of hosts came to me:
5 Speake vnto all the people of the land, and to the Priests, and say, When ye fasted, and mourned in the fift and seuenth moneth, euen the seuentie yeeres, did ye fast vnto me? doe I approoue it?
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 ye did eate, and when ye did drinke, did ye not eate for your selues, and drinke for your selues?
When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
7 Should ye not heare the wordes, which the Lord hath cryed by the ministerie of the former Prophets when Ierusalem was inhabited, and in prosperitie, and the cities thereof round about her, when the South and the plaine was 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 And the worde of the Lord came vnto Zechariah, saying,
The Lord gave this message to Zechariah:
9 Thus speaketh the Lord of hostes, saying, Execute true iudgement, and shewe mercy and compassion, euery man to his brother,
The Lord of hosts says, execute true judgments. Show kindness and mercy to each other.
10 And oppresse not the widowe, nor the fatherles, the stranger nor the poore, and let none of you imagine euil against his brother in your heart.
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 hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their eares, that they should not heare.
But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears so they wouldn’t hear.
12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, least they should heare the Lawe and the wordes which the Lord of hostes sent in his spirit by the ministerie of ye former Prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hostes.
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 Therefore it is come to passe, that as he cried, and they would not heare, so they cried, and I would not heare, sayth the Lord of hostes.
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 among all the nations, whom they knew not: thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they layd the pleasant land waste.
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.
