Zechariah 7

1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, in the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Casleu.

And it came to pass in the fourth year of Darius the king, [that] the word of the Lord came to Zacharias on the fourth [day] of the ninth month, which is Chaseleu.

2 When Sarasar, and Rogommelech, and the men that were with him, sent to the house of God, to entreat the face of the Lord:

And Sarasar and Arbeseer the king and his men sent to Bethel, and [that] to propitiate the Lord,

3 To speak to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying: Must I weep in the fifth month, or must I sanctify myself as I have now done for many years?

speaking to the priests that were in the house of the Lord Almighty, and to the prophets, saying, The holy offering has come in hither in the fifth month, as it has done already many years.

4 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:

And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying,

5 Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: When you fasted, and mourned in the fifth and the seventh month for these seventy years: did you keep a fast unto me?

Speak to the whole people of the land, and to the priests, saying, Though you fasted or lamented in the fifth or seventh [months] (yes, behold, these seventy years) have you at all fasted to me?

6 And when you did eat and drink, did you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

And if you eat or drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves?

7 Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem as yet was inhabited, and was wealthy, both itself and the cities round about it, and there were inhabitants towards the south, and in the plain?

Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities round about her, and the hill country and the low country was inhabited?

8 And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying:

And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying,

9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: Judge ye true judgment, and shew ye mercy and compassion every man to his brother.

Thus says the Lord Almighty; Judge righteous judgement, and deal mercifully and compassionately every one with his brother:

10 And oppress not the widow, and the fatherless, and the stranger, and the poor: and let not a man devise evil in his heart against his brother.

and oppress not the widow, or the fatherless, or the stranger, or the poor; and let not one of you remember in his heart the injury of his brother.

11 But they would not hearken, and they turned away the shoulder to depart: and they stopped their ears, not to hear.

But they refused to attend, and madly turned their back, and made their ears heavy, so that they should not hear.

12 And they made their heart as the adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent in his spirit by the hand of the former prophets: so a great indignation came from the Lord of hosts.

And they made their heart disobedient, so as not to listen to my law, and the words which the Lord Almighty sent forth by his Spirit by the former prophets: so there was great wrath from the Lord Almighty.

13 And it came to pass that as he spoke, and they heard not: so shall they cry, and I will not hear, saith the Lord of hosts.

And it shall come to pass, [that] as he spoke, and they listened not, so they shall cry, and I will not listen, says the Lord Almighty.

14 And I dispersed them throughout all kingdoms, which they know not: and the land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed through or returned: and they changed the delightful land into a wilderness.

And I will cast them out amongst all the nations, whom they know not; and the land behind them shall be made utterly destitute of any going through or returning: yes they have made the choice land a desolation.