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 Yahweh came unto Zechariah, on the fourth of the ninth month, in Chisleu;

2 And Beth-El sends Sherezer and Regem-Melech, and its men, to appease the face of YHWH,

yea when Bethel sent Sherezer and Regemmelech, and his men, —to pacify the face of Yahweh:

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?”

to speak unto the priests that pertained to the house of Yahweh of hosts, and unto the prophets, saying, —Shall I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

4 And there is a word of YHWH of Hosts to me, saying,

Then came the word of Yahweh of hosts unto me, saying:

5 “Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying,

Speak thou unto all the people of the land, and unto the priests, saying, —When ye fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh, even these seventy years, did ye, really fast, unto, 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, when ye used to eat and when ye used to drink, was it not, of your own accord, ye did eat, and, of your own accord, ye did drink?

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?”

Should ye not [have been doing] the things which Yahweh, had proclaimed, by the hand of the former prophets, while yet Jerusalem was inhabited and in peace, with her cities round about her, —and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?

8 And there is a word of YHWH to Zechariah, saying,

And the word of Yahweh came unto Zechariah, saying:

9 “Thus spoke YHWH of Hosts, saying, Judge [with] true judgment, And do kindness and mercy with one another.

Thus, spake Yahweh of hosts, saying, —With true justice, give ye judgment, and, lovingkindness and compassions, observe ye, one with another;

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, the widow and the fatherless, the sojourner and the humbled, do not ye oppress, —and, wickedness between one man and another, do not ye devise in your hearts.

11 And they refuse to attend, And they give a stubborn shoulder, And their ears are made heavy against hearing.

Howbeit they refused to give heed, but put forth a rebellious shoulder, —and, their ears, made they hard of hearing, that they might 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, their heart, turned they into adamant, that they might not hear the law, nor the words which Yahweh of hosts sent by his spirit, through the former prophets, —and so there came great wrath from Yahweh of hosts.

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.

Therefore came it to pass that—just as he cried out and they hearkened not, so, used they to cry out, and I used not to hearken, saith Yahweh of hosts;

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!”

But I whirled them over all the nations whom they had not known, and, the land, was made desolate after them, that none passed through and returned, —Yea they made of a delightful land—a desolation.