Zechariah 7

1 It happened in the fourth year of king Daryavesh that the word of the LORD came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.

When King Darius had been ruler for four years, on the fourth day of Kislev (which was the ninth month), the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah.

2 The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech, and their men, to entreat the LORD's favor,

The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek and their men to beg before the face of Yahweh.

3 and to speak to the priests of the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, "Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?"

They spoke to the priests who were at the house of Yahweh of hosts and to the prophets; they said, “Should I mourn in the fifth month by means of a fast, as I have done these many years?”

4 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,

So the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying,

5 "Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?

“Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests and say, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, were you truly fasting for me?

6 When you eat, and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

When you ate and drank, did you not eat and drink for yourselves?

7 Aren't these the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the Negev and the lowland were inhabited?'"

Were these not the same words that Yahweh proclaimed by the mouth of the former prophets, when you still inhabited Jerusalem and the surrounding cities in prosperity and were settled in the Negev, and the foothills to the west?'”

8 The word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying,

The word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying,

9 "Thus has the LORD of hosts spoken, saying, 'Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.

“Yahweh of hosts says this, 'Judge with true justice, covenant faithfulness, and mercy. Let each man do this for his brother.

10 Do not oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.'

About the widow and orphan, the foreigner, and the poor person—do not oppress them, and let none of you plot any harm against another in your heart.'

11 But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.

But they refused to pay attention and set their shoulders stubbornly. They stopped up their ears so they would not hear.

12 Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.

They made their hearts as hard as rock so they would not hear the law or the words of Yahweh of hosts. He had sent these messages to the people by his Spirit in earlier times, by the mouth of the prophets. But the people refused to listen, so Yahweh of hosts was very angry with them.

13 It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen," said the LORD of hosts;

It happened that when he called, they did not listen. In the same way,” said Yahweh of hosts, “they will call out to me, but I will not listen.

14 "but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate."

For I will scatter them with a whirlwind to all the nations that they have not seen, and the land will be desolate after them. For no one will pass through the land or return to it since the people have made their delightful land into a wasteland.”