< 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 is maad in the fourthe yeer of Darius, kyng, the word of the Lord was maad to Sacarie, in the fourthe dai of the nynthe monethe, that is Caslew.
2 When they had sent to the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,
And Sarasar, and Rogumelech, and men that weren with hem, senten to the hous of the Lord, for to preye the face of the Lord;
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?
that thei schulden seie to prestis of the hous of the Lord of oostis, and to profetis, and speke, Whether it is to wepe to me in the fyuethe monethe, ether Y schal halowe me, as Y dide now many yeeris?
4 Then came the word of the LORD of hosts to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord was maad to me,
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?
and seide, Speke thou to al the puple of the lond, and to prestis, and seie thou, Whanne ye fastiden, and weiliden in the fyueth and seuenthe monethe, bi these seuenti yeeris, whether ye fastiden a fast to me?
6 And when ye ate, and when ye drank, did ye not eat [for yourselves], and drink [for yourselves]?
And whanne ye eeten, and drunken, whether ye eten not to you, and drunken not to you silf?
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?
Whether wordis of profetis ben not, whiche the Lord spak in the hond of the formere profetis, whanne yit Jerusalem was enhabited, and was ful of richessis, and it, and citees therof in cumpas therof, and at the south and in feeldi place was enhabited?
8 And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying,
And the word of the Lord was maad to Sacarie, and seide, The Lord of oostis saith these thingis, and spekith,
9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
Deme ye trewe dom, and do ye merci, and doyngis of merci, ech man with his brother.
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 nyle ye falsli calenge a widewe, and fadirles, ether modirles, and comelyng, and pore man; and a man thenke not in his herte yuel to his brother.
11 But they refused to hearken, and withdrew the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
And thei wolden not `take heede, and thei turneden awei the schuldre, and yeden awei, and `maden heuy her eeris, lest thei herden.
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 thei puttiden her herte as adamaunt, lest thei herden the lawe, and wordis whiche the Lord of oostis sente in his Spirit, bi the hond of the formere profetis; and greet indignacioun was maad of the Lord of oostis.
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 is doon, as he spak; and as thei herden not, so thei schulen crie, and Y schal not here, seith the Lord of oostis.
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 Y scateride hem bi alle rewmes, whiche thei knewen not, and the lond is desolat fro hem; for that there was not a man goynge and turnynge ayen, and thei han put desirable lond in to desert.