Zechariah 7
New Century Version
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, the Lord spoke his word to Zechariah. 2 The city of Bethel sent Sharezer, Regem-Melech, and their men to ask the Lord a question. 3 They went to the prophets and priests who were at the Temple of the Lord All-Powerful. The men said, “For years in the fifth month of each year we have shown our sadness and fasted. Should we continue to do this?”
4 The Lord All-Powerful spoke his word to me, saying, 5 “Tell the priests and the people in the land: ‘For seventy years you fasted and cried in the fifth and seventh months, but that was not really for me. 6 And when you ate and drank, it was really for yourselves. 7 The Lord used the earlier prophets to say the same thing, when Jerusalem and the surrounding towns were at peace and wealthy, and people lived in the southern area and the western hills.’”
8 And the Lord spoke his word to Zechariah again, saying, 9 “This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘Do what is right and true. Be kind and merciful to each other. 10 Don’t hurt widows and orphans, foreigners or the poor; don’t even think of doing evil to somebody else.’
11 “But they refused to pay attention; they were stubborn and did not want to listen anymore. 12 They made their hearts as hard as rock and would not listen to the teachings of the Lord All-Powerful. And they would not hear the words he sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord All-Powerful 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. 14 ‘I scattered them like a hurricane to other countries they did not know. This good land was left so ruined behind them that no one could live there. They had made the desired land a ruin.’”
Zechariah 7
GOD’S WORD Translation
You Should Have Obeyed the Lord’s Prophets
7 On the fourth day of the ninth month (the month of Chislev) in Darius’ fourth year as king, the Lord spoke his word to Zechariah. 2 Now, ⌞the people from⌟ Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech with their men [a] to ask the Lord for a blessing. 3 They asked the priests from the house of the Lord of Armies as well as the prophets, “Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done for so many years?”
4 Then the Lord of Armies spoke his word to me. He said, 5 “Tell all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these past 70 years, did you really do it for me? 6 When you ate and drank, didn’t you do it to benefit yourselves? 7 Aren’t these the same words that the Lord announced through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding cities were inhabited and undisturbed and the Negev and the foothills were still inhabited?’ ”
8 Then the Lord spoke his word to Zechariah. He said, 9 “This is what the Lord of Armies says: Administer real justice, and be compassionate and kind to each other. 10 Don’t oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and poor people. And don’t even think of doing evil to each other.
11 “But people refused to pay attention. They shrugged their shoulders at me and shut their ears so that they couldn’t hear. 12 They made their hearts as hard as flint so that they couldn’t hear the Lord’s teachings, the words that the Lord of Armies had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord of Armies became very angry.
13 “When I called, they wouldn’t listen. So now when they call, I won’t listen, says the Lord of Armies. 14 I used a windstorm to scatter them among all the nations, nations they hadn’t even heard of. They left behind a land so ruined that no one is able to travel through it. They have turned a pleasant land into a wasteland.”
Footnotes
- 7:2 Or “Bethel Sharezer sent Regem Melech with his men.”
Zechariah 7
King James Version
7 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;
2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the Lord,
3 And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
4 Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying,
5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
7 Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?
8 And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying,
9 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.
13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts:
14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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