Zechariah 7
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. 2 Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and [a]their men to [b](B)seek the favor of the Lord, 3 speaking 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?” 4 Then 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? 6 And when you eat and drink, [e]do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 Are 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?’”
8 Then 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; 10 and (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.’ 11 But they (N)refused to pay attention, and [i](O)turned a stubborn shoulder and [j](P)plugged their ears from hearing. 12 They also made their (Q)hearts as hard as (R)a diamond [k]so that they could not hear the Law and the (S)words which the Lord of armies had sent by His Spirit through the (T)former prophets; therefore great (U)wrath came from the Lord of armies. 13 And just as (V)He called and they would not listen, so (W)they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of armies; 14 “but I [l](X)scattered them with a (Y)storm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was (Z)desolated behind them [m]so that (AA)no one went back and forth, since they (AB)made the pleasant land desolate.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 7:2 Lit his
- Zechariah 7:2 Lit soften the face of
- Zechariah 7:3 Lit to fast
- Zechariah 7:5 Lit and this
- Zechariah 7:6 Lit is it not you who eat and you who drink
- Zechariah 7:7 I.e., South country
- Zechariah 7:7 Heb Shephelah
- Zechariah 7:10 Or fatherless
- Zechariah 7:11 Lit gave
- Zechariah 7:11 Lit made their ears heavy
- Zechariah 7:12 Lit from hearing
- Zechariah 7:14 Lit stormed them away upon all
- Zechariah 7:14 Lit from passing and from returning
Zechariah 7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Hypocritical Fasting Condemned
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 Chislev.(A) 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord(B) 3 and to ask the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, “Should I mourn and practice abstinence in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”(C) 4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth month and in the seventh for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?(D) 6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink only for yourselves? 7 Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, along with the towns around it, and when the Negeb and the Shephelah were inhabited?”
Punishment for Rejecting God’s Demands
8 The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another;(E) 10 do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.(F) 11 But they refused to listen and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears in order not to hear.(G) 12 They made their hearts adamant in order not to hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.(H) 13 Just as, when I[a] called, they would not hear, so, when they called, I would not hear, says the Lord of hosts,(I) 14 and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and a pleasant land was made desolate.”(J)
Footnotes
- 7.13 Heb he
Zechariah 7
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
7 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, in the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Casleu.
2 When Sarasar, and Rogommelech, and the men that were with him, sent to the house of God, to entreat the face of the Lord:
3 To speak to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying: Must I weep in the fifth month, or must I sanctify myself as I have now done for many years?
4 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:
5 Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: When you fasted, and mourned in the fifth and the seventh month for these seventy years: did you keep a fast unto me?
6 And when you did eat and drink, did you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
7 Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem as yet was inhabited, and was wealthy, both itself and the cities round about it, and there were inhabitants towards the south, and in the plain?
8 And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying:
9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: Judge ye true judgment, and shew ye mercy and compassion every man to his brother.
10 And oppress not the widow, and the fatherless, and the stranger, and the poor: and let not a man devise evil in his heart against his brother.
11 But they would not hearken, and they turned away the shoulder to depart: and they stopped their ears, not to hear.
12 And they made their heart as the adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent in his spirit by the hand of the former prophets: so a great indignation came from the Lord of hosts.
13 And it came to pass that as he spoke, and they heard not: so shall they cry, and I will not hear, saith the Lord of hosts.
14 And I dispersed them throughout all kingdoms, which they know not: and the land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed through or returned: and they changed the delightful land into a wilderness.
Zechariah 7
The Message
“You’re Interested in Religion, I’m Interested in People”
7 On the fourth day of the ninth month, in the fourth year of the reign of King Darius, God’s Message again came to Zechariah.
2-3 The town of Bethel had sent a delegation headed by Sarezer and Regem-Melech to pray for God’s blessing and to confer with the priests of the Temple of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, and also with the prophets. They posed this question: “Should we plan for a day of mourning and abstinence next August, the seventieth anniversary of Jerusalem’s fall, as we have been doing all these years?”
4-6 God-of-the-Angel-Armies gave me this Message for them, for all the people and for the priests: “When you held days of fasting every fifth and seventh month all these seventy years, were you doing it for me? And when you held feasts, was that for me? Hardly. You’re interested in religion, I’m interested in people.
7-10 “There’s nothing new to say on the subject. Don’t you still have the message of the earlier prophets from the time when Jerusalem was still a thriving, bustling city and the outlying countryside, the Negev and Shephelah, was populated? [This is the message that God gave Zechariah.] Well, the message hasn’t changed. God-of-the-Angel-Armies said then and says now:
“‘Treat one another justly.
Love your neighbors.
Be compassionate with each other.
Don’t take advantage of widows, orphans, visitors, and the poor.
Don’t plot and scheme against one another—that’s evil.’
11-13 “But did your ancestors listen? No, they set their jaws in defiance. They shut their ears. They steeled themselves against God’s revelation and the Spirit-filled sermons preached by the earlier prophets by order of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. And God became angry, really angry, because he told them everything plainly and they wouldn’t listen to a word he said.
13-14 “So [this is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies said] if they won’t listen to me, I won’t listen to them. I scattered them to the four winds. They ended up strangers wherever they were. Their ‘promised land’ became a vacant lot—weeds and tin cans and thistles. Not a sign of life. They turned a dreamland into a wasteland.”
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