7 And then,[a] in the fourth year of King Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev. 2 And the people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech, and their[b] men, to entreat the favor[c] of Yahweh, 3 saying to the priests of the house of Yahweh of hosts[d] and to the prophets, “Should I mourn in the fifth month and keep myself separate[e] as I have done for these many years?” 4 And the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying, 5 “Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for me? 6 And when you eat and drink, are you not eating and drinking for yourselves? 7 Are not these the words that Yahweh proclaimed through[f] the former prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns[g] were inhabited and at ease, and the Negev[h] and the Shephelah[i] were inhabited?’”
8 And the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Judge with trustworthy justice, and show[j] steadfast love and compassion to one another.[k] 10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, and the needy. You must not devise evil in your heart against one another.’[l] 11 But they refused to listen, and turned[m] a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from listening.[n] 12 They made their hearts adamant[o] in order not to hear the law[p] and the words that Yahweh of hosts had sent by his spirit through[q] the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of hosts. 13 ‘Thus, just as I[r] called and they would not hear, so they will call and I will not hear,’ says Yahweh of hosts. 14 ‘And I scattered them with a wind among all the nations that they had not known; the land was made desolate behind them— no one crossing through it or returning—and they made the desirable land[s] a desolation.’”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 7:1 Literally “and it happened”
- Zechariah 7:2 Hebrew “his”
- Zechariah 7:2 Literally “the face”
- Zechariah 7:3 Literally “priests who are for the house of Yahweh of hosts”
- Zechariah 7:3 Or “abstain”; some interpret this as a reference to fasting
- Zechariah 7:7 Literally “by the hand of”
- Zechariah 7:7 Literally “her towns around her”
- Zechariah 7:7 The Negev is an arid region south of the Judean hills
- Zechariah 7:7 The Shephelah is a geographical area on the western edge of the Judean hills
- Zechariah 7:9 Literally “do”
- Zechariah 7:9 Literally “a man his brother”
- Zechariah 7:10 Literally “a man his brother”
- Zechariah 7:11 Hebrew “gave”
- Zechariah 7:11 Literally “their ears were heavy from hearing”
- Zechariah 7:12 Literally “They set their hearts like hard stone”
- Zechariah 7:12 Hebrew torah
- Zechariah 7:12 Literally “by the hand of”
- Zechariah 7:13 Hebrew “he called” (but still referring to Yahweh)
- Zechariah 7:14 Hebrew “land of desire,” but this could be understood as a land characterized by desire rather than a desirable land