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
Zechariah 7
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Reason the Land Became Desolate
7 In the fourth year of King Darius,[a] the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev.[b]
2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem Melek with their men to plead for the favor of the Lord 3 by asking the priests who were at the house of the Lord of Armies and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of Armies came to me:
5 Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests.
When you fasted and lamented during the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6 And when you eat and drink, is it not for yourselves that you eat and drink? 7 Weren’t these the words that the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and when the Negev and the Shephelah[c] were inhabited?
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah:
9 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Execute true justice. Each man is to show kindness and compassion to his brother. 10 Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless child, the foreigner living among you, or the poor. Make sure that none of you plan evil in your heart against your brother.
11 But they refused to pay attention. They turned a stubborn shoulder and covered their ears so that they would not hear. 12 They made their hearts like the hardest rock[d] so that they would not hear the law and the words that the Lord of Armies sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. As a result, the fierce anger from the Lord of Armies was great.
13 When I called, they would not listen. So when they called, I would not listen, says the Lord of Armies. 14 I scattered them with a windstorm, among all the nations which they did not know. So the land was left desolate behind them. No one traveled back and forth through it. They made the pleasant land desolate.
Footnotes
- Zechariah 7:1 That is, 518 bc
- Zechariah 7:1 That is, November/December
- Zechariah 7:7 The Negev and Shephelah are the dry southland and the western foothills of Judah.
- Zechariah 7:12 Perhaps diamond or flint
Zechariah 7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 7
A Question About Fasting. 1 In the fourth year of Darius the king, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Kislev.[a] 2 Bethelsarezer sent Regem-melech and his men to implore the favor of the Lord 3 and to ask the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, “Must I weep and abstain in the fifth month[b] as I have been doing these many years?” 4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5 Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh month[c] these seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?(A) 6 When you were eating and drinking, was it not for yourselves that you ate and for yourselves that you drank?
7 Are these not the words which the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets,[d] when Jerusalem and its surrounding cities were inhabited and secure, when the Negeb and the Shephelah were inhabited? 8 The word of the Lord came to Zechariah: 9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Judge with true justice, and show kindness and compassion toward each other.(B) 10 Do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the resident alien or the poor;[e] do not plot evil against one another in your hearts.(C) 11 But they refused to listen; they stubbornly turned their backs and stopped their ears so as not to hear.(D) 12 And they made their hearts as hard as diamond(E) so as not to hear the instruction and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the earlier prophets. So great anger came from the Lord of hosts: 13 Just as when I called out and they did not listen, so they will call out and I will not listen, says the Lord of hosts. 14 And I will scatter them among all the nations that they do not know.(F) So the land was left desolate behind them with no one moving about, and they made a pleasant land into a wasteland.
Footnotes
- 7:1 The fourth year of Darius…the ninth month, Kislev: December 7, 518 B.C., the last chronological heading in Zechariah.
- 7:3 Weep…fifth month: a mourning ritual commemorating the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple on the seventh day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (ca. 587/586 B.C.; see 2 Kgs 25:8).
- 7:5 Seventh month: the time of a fast in memory of the murder of Gedaliah, the governor installed by the Babylonians after they conquered Jerusalem (see 2 Kgs 25:25; Jer 41:1–3). Seventy years: see note on 1:12.
- 7:7, 12 Earlier prophets: see note on 1:4.
- 7:10 Widow…orphan…resident alien…poor: four categories of socially and economically marginalized persons. Concern for their well-being is commanded in both pentateuchal and prophetic literature.
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