Zechariah 7
Expanded Bible
The People Should Show Mercy
7 In the fourth year Darius was king, on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is called Kislev [December 7, 518 bc], the ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to Zechariah. 2 The city of Bethel sent Sharezer, Regem-Melech, and their men to ·ask the Lord a question [or seek the Lord’s favor]. 3 They went to the prophets and priests who were at the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]. The men said, “For years in the fifth month of each year we have ·shown our sadness [mourned; wept] and fasted. Should we continue to do this?”
4 The ·Lord All-Powerful spoke his word [L word of the Lord All-Powerful/of Heaven’s Armies/T of hosts came] to me, saying, 5 “Tell the priests and the people in the land: ‘For seventy years you fasted and ·cried [mourned] in the fifth and seventh months, but ·that was not [L was it…?] really for me. 6 And when you ate and drank, ·it was really [L was it not…?] for yourselves. 7 Wasn’t this the same thing the Lord said through the ·earlier [former] prophets, when Jerusalem and the surrounding towns were at peace and wealthy, and people lived in the ·southern area [L Negev] and the ·western hills [or lowland; L Shephelah]?’”
8 And the ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to Zechariah again, saying, 9 “This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says: ‘·Do what is right and true [Administer true justice]. Be kind and ·merciful [compassionate] to each other. 10 Don’t ·hurt [oppress] widows and ·orphans [the fatherless], foreigners or the poor [Ex. 22:21–24; 23:9; Lev. 19:33–34; Deut 24:17–18]; don’t ·even think of doing evil to [or secretly plot evil against] somebody else.’
11 “But they refused to pay attention; they ·were stubborn [turned their backs; L gave a stubborn shoulder] and ·did not want to listen anymore [covered their ears]. 12 They made their hearts ·as hard as rock [like flint] and would not listen to the ·teachings [law; L Torah] of the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]. And they would not hear the words he sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] became very angry.
13 “‘When I called to them, they would not listen. So when they called to me, I would not listen,’ says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]. 14 ‘I scattered them like a ·hurricane [whirlwind] ·to other countries [among all the nations] they did not know. This good land was left so ·ruined behind them [desolate] that no one ·could live there [or traveled through it]. They had made the ·desired [pleasant] land ·a ruin [desolate; a wasteland].’”
Zechariah 7
Amplified Bible
Hearts like Flint
7 In the fourth year of [the reign of] King Darius [of Persia], the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev (Dec 7, 518 b.c.). 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to seek the favor of the Lord, 3 speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts and to the prophets, saying, “[Now that I am returned from exile] shall I weep in the fifth month [mourning the destruction of the temple], and fast as I have done these many years [in Babylon]?” 4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me (Zechariah), saying, 5 “Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years [that you were in exile], was it actually for Me that you fasted? 6 When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves [to satisfy your own needs]? 7 Should you not hear the words which the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous along with her cities around her, and the South (the Negev) and the foothills were inhabited?’”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion, to each other; 10 and do not oppress or exploit the widow or the fatherless, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise or even imagine evil in your hearts against one another.’ 11 But they refused to listen and pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder [stiffening themselves in resistance] and stopped up their ears. 12 They made their hearts [hard] like flint, so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts; 14 “but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after they had gone, so that no one passed through or returned, for they [by their sins] had made the pleasant land desolate and deserted.”
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