Zechariah 7:1-10

New International Version

Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting

7 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah^(A) on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev.^(B) ²The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat^(C) the Lord^(D) ³by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn^(E) and fast in the fifth^(F) month, as I have done for so many years?”

⁴Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: ⁵“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted^(G) and mourned in the fifth and seventh^(H) months for the past seventy years,^(I) was it really for me that you fasted? ⁶And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?^(J) ⁷Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets^(K) when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest^(L) and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills^(M) were settled?’”^(N)

⁸And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: ⁹“This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice;^(O) show mercy and compassion to one another.^(P) ¹⁰Do not oppress the widow^(Q) or the fatherless, the foreigner^(R) or the poor.^(S) Do not plot evil against each other.’^(T)

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Zechariah 7:1-10

New American Standard Bible

7 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^(A)Chislev. ²Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and ^[a]their men to ^[b]^(B)seek the favor of the Lord, ³speaking to the ^(C)priests who belong to the house of the Lord of armies, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the ^(D)fifth month ^[c]and fast, as I have done these many years?” ⁴Then the word of the Lord of armies came to me, saying, ⁵“Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months ^[d]these ^(E)seventy years, was it actually for ^(F)Me that you fasted? ⁶And when you eat and drink, ^[e]do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? ⁷Are these not the words which the Lord ^(G)proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^(H)carefree along with its cities around it, and the ^[f]^(I)Negev and the ^[g]foothills were inhabited?’”

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹“This is what the Lord of armies has said: ‘^(J)Dispense true justice and practice ^(K)kindness and compassion each to his brother; ¹⁰and ^(L)do not oppress the widow or the ^[h]orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do ^(M)not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’