Zechariah 7
1 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.
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 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek and their men to beg before the face of Yahweh.
The city of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men, to entreat the favor of the Lord,
3 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?”
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 So the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying,
Then this message of the Lord of hosts came to me:
5 “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?
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 When you ate and drank, did you not eat and drink for yourselves?
When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
7 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?'”
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 The word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying,
The Lord gave this message to Zechariah:
9 “Yahweh of hosts says this, 'Judge with true justice, covenant faithfulness, and mercy. Let each man do this for his brother.
The Lord of hosts says, execute true judgments. Show kindness and mercy to each other.
10 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.'
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 pay attention and set their shoulders stubbornly. They stopped up their ears so they would not hear.
But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears so they wouldn’t hear.
12 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.
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 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.
I called and they would not hear, so they call and I do not hear, says the Lord of hosts.
14 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.”
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.
