Zechariah 7

1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, [that] the word of the LORD came to Zechariah in the fourth [day] of the ninth month, [even] in Chisleu;

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.

2 When they had sent to the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,

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

3 [And] to speak to the priests who [were] in 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?

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?”

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

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

5 Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh [month], even those seventy years, did ye at all fast to me, [even] to me?

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

6 And when ye ate, and when ye drank, did ye not eat [for yourselves], and drink [for yourselves]?

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?

7 [Should ye] not [hear] the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities around her, when [men] inhabited the south and the plain?

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?”

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

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

9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

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

10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

And do not oppress widow, and fatherless, Sojourner, and poor, And you do not devise the calamity of one another in your heart.

11 But they refused to hearken, and withdrew the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

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

12 Yes, they made their hearts [as] an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

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.

13 Therefore it is come to pass, [that] as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:

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.

14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

“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!”