| Zech. 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. |
| Zech. 7:2 |
Now [the people of] Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to entreat the favor of Jehovah |
| Zech. 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? |
| Zech. 7:4 |
Then the word of Jehovah of hosts came to me, saying, |
| Zech. 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? |
| Zech. 7:6 |
And when you eat and when you drink, are you not the ones eating and are you not the ones drinking? |
| Zech. 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? |
| Zech. 7:8 |
And the word of Jehovah came to Zechariah, saying, |
| Zech. 7:9 |
Thus speaks Jehovah of hosts, saying, Judge with judgment of truth, and show lovingkindness and compassion each to his brother; |
| Zech. 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. |
| Zech. 7:11 |
But they refused to listen, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and closed their ears from hearing; |
| Zech. 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. |
| Zech. 7:13 |
And as He called and they would not hear, so they called and I would not hear, says Jehovah of hosts; |
| Zech. 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. |