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Zechariah 7
New English Translation

The Hypocrisy of False Fasting

7 In King Darius’ fourth year, on the fourth day of Kislev, the ninth month,[a] the Lord’s message came to Zechariah. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech and their companions to seek the Lord’s favor 3 by asking both the priests of the temple[b] of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies and the prophets, “Should we weep in the fifth month,[c] fasting as we have done over the years?” 4 The message of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies then came to me, 5 “Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows: ‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh[d] months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me—for me, indeed? 6 And now when you eat and drink, are you not doing so for yourselves? 7 Should you not have obeyed the words that the Lord cried out through the former prophets when Jerusalem was peacefully inhabited and her surrounding cities, the Negev, and the foothills[e] were also populated?’”

8 Again the Lord’s message came to Zechariah: 9 “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies said, ‘Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other. 10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the resident foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow citizen.’[f]

11 “But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear. 12 Indeed, they made their hearts as hard as diamond,[g] so that they could not obey the law of Moses[h] and the other words the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies poured out great wrath.

13 “‘Just as I[i] called out, but they would not obey, so they will call out, but I will not listen,’ the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says. 14 ‘Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.’ Thus the land became desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful[j] land a waste.”

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 7:1 sn The fourth day of Kislev, the ninth month would be December 7, 518 b.c., 22 months after the previous eight visions.
  2. Zechariah 7:3 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
  3. Zechariah 7:3 sn This lamentation marked the occasion of the destruction of Solomon’s temple on August 14, 586 b.c., almost exactly 70 years earlier (cf. 2 Kgs 25:8).
  4. Zechariah 7:5 tn The seventh month apparently refers to the anniversary of the assassination of Gedaliah, governor of Judah (Jer 40:13-14; 41:1), in approximately 581 b.c.
  5. Zechariah 7:7 sn The foothills (שְׁפֵלָה, shephelah) are the region between the Judean hill country and the Mediterranean coastal plain.
  6. Zechariah 7:10 tn Heb “brother.” The Hebrew term ‘akh (אָח) may refer to a brother, relative, fellow countryman, or companion.sn Cf. Exod 22:21; Lev 19:33-34; Deut 10:18-19; 24:14, 17; 27:19.
  7. Zechariah 7:12 tn The Hebrew term שָׁמִיר (shamir) means literally “hardness” and since it is said in Ezek 3:9 to be harder than flint, many scholars suggest that it refers to diamond. It is unlikely that diamond was known to ancient Israel, however, so probably a hard stone like emery or corundum is in view. The translation nevertheless uses “diamond” because in modern times it has become proverbial for its hardness. A number of English versions use “flint” here (e.g., NASB, NIV).
  8. Zechariah 7:12 tn Heb “Torah”; the five books of Moses that make up the Pentateuch.
  9. Zechariah 7:13 tn Heb “he.” Since the third person pronoun refers to the Lord, it has been translated as a first person pronoun (“I”) to accommodate English style, which typically does not exhibit switches between persons of pronouns in the same immediate context as Hebrew does.
  10. Zechariah 7:14 tn Or “desirable”; traditionally “pleasant” (so many English versions; cf. TEV “This good land”).
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Zechariah 7
International Standard Version

A Rebuke about Selfish Fasts

7 During the fourth year of the reign of[a] King Darius, a message from the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month Kislev.[b] 2 The people of[c] Bethel were sending[d] Sharezer, Regem-melech, and their men to pray in the Lord’s presence 3 and to speak to the priests assigned[e] to the Temple of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies along with the prophets, asking, “Am I to go about mourning, denying myself throughout the fifth month,[f] as I have these many years?”

4 Then this message from the Lord of the Heavenly Armies came to me: 5 “Talk to everyone in the land, as well as to the priests. Ask them, ‘When you were fasting and mourning during the fifth and seventh months[g] for the past seventy years, were you really fasting for me? 6 And when you eat and drink, you’re eating and drinking for your own benefit, aren’t you? 7 Isn’t this what the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets, when a prosperous Jerusalem was inhabited, as were its surrounding cities, the Negev,[h] and the Shephelah?’”[i]

The Consequence of Turning from God

8 This message from the Lord came to Zechariah again: 9 “This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘Administer true justice, and show gracious love and mercy toward each other.[j] 10 You are not to wrong the widow, orphans, the foreigner, or the poor, and you are not to plan evil against each other.[k] 11 But they refused to pay attention, turned their backs, and stopped listening. 12 They made their hearts hard like a diamond, to keep from obeying the Law and the messages that the Lord of the Heavenly Armies sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. 13 Therefore, just as when I[l] cried out and they would not listen, so also they will cry out, and I will not listen,’ says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. 14 ‘I will scatter them to all of the nations, which they have not known.’”

Now the earth was left desolate after them. As a result, no one came or went because they had turned a pleasant land into a desert.

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 7:1 The Heb. lacks the reign of
  2. Zechariah 7:1 I.e. c. 7 December 518 BC
  3. Zechariah 7:2 The Heb. lacks The people of
  4. Zechariah 7:2 Lit. was sending
  5. Zechariah 7:3 The Heb. lacks assigned
  6. Zechariah 7:3 I.e. the anniversary month of the Jerusalem temple’s destruction
  7. Zechariah 7:5 The Heb. lacks months
  8. Zechariah 7:7 I.e. southern region of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
  9. Zechariah 7:7 I.e. the verdant central lowlands of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
  10. Zechariah 7:9 Lit. toward his brother
  11. Zechariah 7:10 Lit. toward his brother
  12. Zechariah 7:13 Lit. he
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Zechariah 7
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) 2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat(C) the Lord(D) 3 by 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?”

4 Then 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? 6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?(J) 7 Are 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)

8 And 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) 10 Do not oppress the widow(Q) or the fatherless, the foreigner(R) or the poor.(S) Do not plot evil against each other.’(T)

11 “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly(U) they turned their backs(V) and covered their ears.(W) 12 They made their hearts as hard as flint(X) and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.(Y) So the Lord Almighty was very angry.(Z)

13 “‘When I called, they did not listen;(AA) so when they called, I would not listen,’(AB) says the Lord Almighty.(AC) 14 ‘I scattered(AD) them with a whirlwind(AE) among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it.(AF) This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.(AG)’”

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