Zechariah 7
1 And it comes to pass, in the fourth year of Darius the king, a word of YHWH has been to Zechariah, in the fourth of the ninth month, in Chisleu.
And it came to pass in the fourth year of Darius the king, [that] the word of the Lord came to Zacharias on the fourth [day] of the ninth month, which is Chaseleu.
2 And Beth-El sends Sherezer and Regem-Melech, and its men, to appease the face of YHWH,
And Sarasar and Arbeseer the king and his men sent to Bethel, and [that] to propitiate the Lord,
3 speaking to the priests who [are] at the house of YHWH of Hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Do I weep in the fifth month—being separated—as I have done these so many years?”
speaking to the priests that were in the house of the Lord Almighty, and to the prophets, saying, The holy offering has come in hither in the fifth month, as it has done already many years.
4 And there is a word of YHWH of Hosts to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying,
5 “Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying,
Speak to the whole people of the land, and to the priests, saying, Though you fasted or lamented in the fifth or seventh [months] (yes, behold, these seventy years) have you at all fasted to me?
6 When you fasted with mourning in the fifth and in the seventh [months]—even these seventy years—did you keep the fast [to] Me? And when you eat, and when you drink, is it not you who are eating, and you who are drinking?
And if you eat or drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves?
7 Are [these] not the words that YHWH proclaimed by the hand of the former prophets, in Jerusalem’s being inhabited, and [in] safety, and its cities around it, and the south and the plain—abiding?”
Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities round about her, and the hill country and the low country was inhabited?
8 And there is a word of YHWH to Zechariah, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying,
9 “Thus spoke YHWH of Hosts, saying, Judge [with] true judgment, And do kindness and mercy with one another.
Thus says the Lord Almighty; Judge righteous judgment, and deal mercifully and compassionately every one with his brother:
10 And do not oppress widow, and fatherless, Sojourner, and poor, And you do not devise the calamity of one another in your heart.
and oppress not the widow, or the fatherless, or the stranger, or the poor; and let not one of you remember in his heart the injury of his brother.
11 And they refuse to attend, And they give a stubborn shoulder, And their ears are made heavy against hearing.
But they refused to attend, and madly turned their back, and made their ears heavy, so that they should not hear.
12 And their heart they have made adamant, Against hearing the Law, and the words, That YHWH of Hosts sent by His Spirit, By the hand of the former prophets, And there is great wrath from YHWH of Hosts.
And they made their heart disobedient, so as not to listen to my law, and the words which the Lord Almighty sent forth by his Spirit by the former prophets: so there was great wrath from the Lord Almighty.
13 And it comes to pass, as He called, And they have not listened, So they call, and I do not listen,” said YHWH of Hosts.
And it shall come to pass, [that] as he spoke, and they listened not, so they shall cry, and I will not listen, says the Lord Almighty.
14 “And I toss them on all the nations, That they have not known, The land has been desolate behind them, Of any passing by and turning back, And they set a desirable land for a desolation!”
And I will cast them out among all the nations, whom they know not; and the land behind them shall be made utterly destitute of any going through or returning: yes they have made the choice land a desolation.
