Zechariah 7
Common English Bible
Answering the Bethel delegation
7 In the fourth year of Darius the king, the Lord’s word came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, Kislev.[a] 2 The people of[b] Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech,[c] along with his men, to seek the Lord’s favor, 3 saying to the priests who were in the house of the Lord of heavenly forces and to the prophets: “Should I weep in the fifth month and abstain as I have done for a number of years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of heavenly forces came to me: 5 Say to all the land’s people and to the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth month and the seventh month for these past seventy years, did you fast for me? 6 When you ate and drank, weren’t you the ones eating and drinking? 7 Weren’t these the words that the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem was dwelling quietly along with the surrounding cities, and when the arid southern plain and the western foothills were inhabited?
8 The Lord’s word came to Zechariah:
9 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
Make just and faithful decisions; show kindness and compassion to each other! 10 Don’t oppress the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor; don’t plan evil against each other! 11 But they refused to pay attention. They turned a cold shoulder and stopped listening.
12 They steeled their hearts against hearing the Instruction and the words that the Lord of heavenly forces sent by his spirit through the earlier prophets. As a result, the Lord of heavenly forces became enraged.
13 So just as he called and they didn’t listen, when they called, I didn’t listen, says the Lord of heavenly forces. 14 I scattered them throughout the nations whom they didn’t know. The land was devastated behind them, with no one leaving or returning. They turned a delightful land into a wasteland.
Footnotes
- Zechariah 7:1 November–December
- Zechariah 7:2 Heb lacks the people of.
- Zechariah 7:2 Heb uncertain
Zechariah 7
New King James Version
Obedience Better than Fasting
7 Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev, 2 when [a]the people sent [b]Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to [c]the house of God, [d]to pray before the Lord, 3 and to (A)ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in (B)the fifth month and [e]fast as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 5 “Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you (C)fasted and mourned in the fifth (D)and seventh months (E)during those seventy years, did you really fast (F)for Me—for Me? 6 (G)When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? 7 Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the (H)former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and (I)the [f]South and the Lowland were inhabited?’ ”
Disobedience Resulted in Captivity
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
(J)‘Execute true justice,
Show [g]mercy and compassion
Everyone to his brother.
10 (K)Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
(L)Let none of you plan evil in his heart
Against his brother.’
11 “But they refused to heed, (M)shrugged[h] their shoulders, and (N)stopped[i] their ears so that they could not hear. 12 Yes, they made their (O)hearts like flint, (P)refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. (Q)Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so (R)they called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts. 14 “But (S)I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 7:2 Lit. they, cf. v. 5
- Zechariah 7:2 Or Sar-Ezer
- Zechariah 7:2 Heb. Bethel
- Zechariah 7:2 Or to entreat the favor of
- Zechariah 7:3 Lit. consecrate myself
- Zechariah 7:7 Heb. Negev
- Zechariah 7:9 Or lovingkindness
- Zechariah 7:11 Lit. gave a stubborn or rebellious shoulder
- Zechariah 7:11 Lit. made their ears heavy
Zechariah 7
English Standard Version
A Call for Justice and Mercy
7 (A)In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is (B)Chislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men (C)to entreat the favor of the Lord, 3 (D)saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and (E)the prophets, “Should I weep and (F)abstain in (G)the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in (H)the fifth month and in (I)the seventh, for these (J)seventy years, (K)was it (L)for me that you fasted? 6 (M)And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 (N)Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed (O)by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, (P)with her cities around her, and the (Q)South and the (R)lowland were inhabited?’”
8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, (S)Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 (T)do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, (U)or the poor, and (V)let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But (W)they refused to pay attention (X)and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.[a] 12 (Y)They made their hearts diamond-hard (Z)lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent (AA)by his Spirit through (AB)the former prophets. (AC)Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 (AD)“As I[b] called, and they would not hear, (AE)so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14 (AF)“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all (AG)the nations that they had not known. (AH)Thus the land they left was desolate, (AI)so that no one went to and fro, (AJ)and the pleasant land was made desolate.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 7:11 Hebrew and made their ears too heavy to hear
- Zechariah 7:13 Hebrew he
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
