Zechariah 7:8-14

New American Standard Bible

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹ “This is what the Lord of armies has said: ‘^(A)Dispense true justice and practice ^(B)kindness and compassion each to his brother; ¹⁰ and ^(C)do not oppress the widow or the ^[a]orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do ^(D)not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ ¹¹ But they ^(E)refused to pay attention, and ^[b](F)turned a stubborn shoulder and ^[c](G)plugged their ears from hearing. ¹² They also made their ^(H)hearts as hard as ^(I)a diamond ^[d]so that they could not hear the Law and the ^(J)words which the Lord of armies had sent by His Spirit through the ^(K)former prophets; therefore great ^(L)wrath came from the Lord of armies. ¹³ And just as ^(M)He called and they would not listen, so ^(N)they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of armies; ¹⁴ “but I ^[e](O)scattered them with a ^(P)storm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was ^(Q)desolated behind them ^[f]so that ^(R)no one went back and forth, since they ^(S)made the pleasant land desolate.”