OTNT

Zech 7


7:1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev.

7:2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech, together with their men, to entreat the LORD

7:3 by asking the priests of the house of the LORD Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

7:4 Then the word of the LORD Almighty came to me:

7:5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?

7:6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?

7:7 Are these not the words the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’”

7:8 And the word of the LORD came again to Zechariah:

7:9 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.

7:10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’

7:11 “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears.

7:12 They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry.

7:13 “‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the LORD Almighty.

7:14 ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land was left so desolate behind them that no one could come or go. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’”

7:1 And in the fourth year of Darius the king the word of Jehovah came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month Chislev.

7:2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to entreat the favor of Jehovah

7:3 By speaking to the priests who belong to the house of Jehovah of hosts and to the prophets, saying, Shall I weep in the fifth month and separate myself, as I have done these many years?

7:4 Then the word of Jehovah of hosts came to me, saying,

7:5 Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months, even for these seventy years, was it at all for Me that you fasted?

7:6 And when you eat and when you drink, are you not the ones eating and are you not the ones drinking?

7:7 Are not these the words which Jehovah proclaimed by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous and had cities round about her, when the Negev and the lowlands were inhabited?

7:8 And the word of Jehovah came to Zechariah, saying,

7:9 Thus speaks Jehovah of hosts, saying, Judge with judgment of truth, and show lovingkindness and compassion each to his brother;

7:10 And do not oppress the widow and the orphan, the stranger and the poor; and let none of you think evil in your hearts about his brother.

7:11 But they refused to listen, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and closed their ears from hearing;

7:12 And they set their hearts like adamant so as not to hear the instruction and the words which Jehovah of hosts sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from Jehovah of hosts.

7:13 And as He called and they would not hear, so they called and I would not hear, says Jehovah of hosts;

7:14 But with a storm I scattered them away upon all the nations, whom they did not know. Thus the land is desolate behind them, so that no one passes through it and no one returns to it; for they have made the desirable land desolate.