The Prophet Zechariah

⭑ Unlocked Literal Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 7 -

When King Darius had been ruler for four years, on the fourth day of Kislev, which was the ninth month, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah.

The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem Melech and their men to beg before the face of Yahweh.

They spoke to the priests who were at the house of Yahweh of hosts and to the prophets; they said, “Should I mourn in the fifth month by means of a fast, as I have done these many years?”

So the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me and said,

“Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests and say, ’When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, were you truly fasting for me?

When you ate and drank, did you not eat and drink for yourselves?

Were these not the same words that Yahweh proclaimed by the mouth of the former prophets, when you still inhabited Jerusalem and the surrounding cities in prosperity and were settled in the Negev, and the foothills to the west?’”

The word of Yahweh came to Zechariah and said,

“Yahweh of hosts says this, ’Judge with true justice, covenant faithfulness, and mercy. Let each man do this for his brother.

About the widow and orphan, the foreigner, and the poor person-do not oppress them, and let none of you plot any harm against another in your heart.’

But they refused to pay attention and set their shoulders stubbornly. They stopped up their ears so they would not hear.

They made their hearts as hard as rock so they would not hear the law or the words of Yahweh of hosts. He had sent these messages to the people by his Spirit in earlier times, by the mouth of the prophets. But the people refused to listen, so Yahweh of hosts was very angry with them.

It happened that when he called, they did not listen. In the same way,” said Yahweh of hosts, “they will call out to me, but I will not listen.

For I will scatter them with a whirlwind to all the nations that they have not seen, and the land will be desolate after them. For no one will pass through the land or return to it since the people have made their delightful land into a wasteland.”

In the fourth year of King Darius, the LORD’s word came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.

The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech and their men to entreat the LORD’s favor,

and to speak to the priests of the house of the LORD of Armies and to the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?”

Then the word of the LORD of Armies came to me, saying,

“Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?

When you eat and when you drink, don’t you eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?

Aren’t these the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’”

The LORD’s word came to Zechariah, saying,

“Thus has the LORD of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.

Don’t oppress the widow, the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.’

But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.

Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law and the words which the LORD of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the LORD of Armies.

It has come to pass that, as he called and they refused to listen, so they will call and I will not listen,” said the LORD of Armies;

“but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.”