Zechariah 7:8-13

New International Reader's Version

⁸ Another message from the Lord came to me. ⁹ Here is what the Lord who rules over all said to his people. “Treat everyone with justice. Show mercy and tender concern to one another. ¹⁰ Do not take advantage of widows. Do not mistreat children whose fathers have died. Do not be mean to outsiders or poor people. Do not make evil plans against one another.”

¹¹ But they refused to pay attention to the Lord. They were stubborn. They turned their backs and covered their ears. ¹² They made their hearts as hard as the hardest stone. They wouldn’t listen to the law. They wouldn’t pay attention to the Lord’s messages. So the Lord who rules over all was very angry. After all, his Spirit had spoken to his people through the earlier prophets.

¹³ “When I called, they did not listen,” says the Lord. “So when they called, I would not listen.