Zechariah 7
1 And it cometh to pass, in the fourth year of Darius the king hath a word of Jehovah been unto Zechariah, in the fourth of the ninth month, in Chisleu.
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 And Beth-El sendeth Sherezer and Regem-Melech, and its men, to appease the face of Jehovah,
The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek and their men to beg before the face of Yahweh.
3 speaking unto the priests who [are] at the house of Jehovah of Hosts, and unto the prophets, saying, 'Do I weep in the fifth month — being separated — 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 And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts unto me, saying:
So the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying,
5 'Speak unto all the people of the land, and unto the priests, saying:
“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 ye fasted with mourning in the fifth and in the seventh [months] — even these seventy years — did ye keep the fast [to] Me — Me? And when ye eat, and when ye drink, is it not ye who are eating, and ye who are drinking?
When you ate and drank, did you not eat and drink for yourselves?
7 'Are not [these] the words that Jehovah proclaimed by the hand of the former prophets, in Jerusalem's being inhabited, and [in] safety, and its cities round about it, and the south and the plain — abiding?'
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 And there is a word of Jehovah unto Zechariah, saying:
The word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying,
9 'Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts, saying: True judgment judge ye, And kindness and mercy do one with another.
“Yahweh of hosts says this, 'Judge with true justice, covenant faithfulness, and mercy. Let each man do this for his brother.
10 And widow, and fatherless, Sojourner, and poor, ye do not oppress, And the calamity of one another ye do not devise 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 And they refuse to attend, And they give a refractory shoulder, And their ears have made heavy against hearing.
But they refused to pay attention and set their shoulders stubbornly. They stopped up their ears so they would not hear.
12 And their heart they have made adamant, Against hearing the law, and the words, That Jehovah of Hosts sent by His Spirit, By the hand of the former prophets, And their is great wrath from Jehovah 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 And it cometh to pass, as He called, And they have not hearkened, So do they call, and I do not hearken, Said Jehovah 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 And I toss them on all the nations, That they have not known, The land hath been desolate behind them, Of any passing by and turning back, And they set a desirable land for a desolation!
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.”
