Zechariah 7
7
True Righteousness
1And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu; 2when they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the LORD, 3and to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? 4Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying, 5Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? 6And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? 7Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?
8And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying, 9Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: 10and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
11But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. 12Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts. 13Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts: 14but I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.
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Zechariah 7: KJV
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Rights in the Authorized (King James) Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Published by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Learn More About King James VersionZechariah 7
7
A Question About Fasting. 1In the fourth year of Darius the king, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Kislev.#The fourth year of Darius…the ninth month, Kislev: December 7, 518 B.C., the last chronological heading in Zechariah. 2Bethelsarezer sent Regem-melech and his men to implore the favor of the Lord 3and to ask the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, “Must I weep and abstain in the fifth month#Weep…fifth month: a mourning ritual commemorating the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple on the seventh day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (ca. 587/586 B.C.; see 2 Kgs 25:8). as I have been doing these many years?” 4Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh month#Seventh month: the time of a fast in memory of the murder of Gedaliah, the governor installed by the Babylonians after they conquered Jerusalem (see 2 Kgs 25:25; Jer 41:1–3). Seventy years: see note on 1:12. these seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?#Am 5:21. 6When you were eating and drinking, was it not for yourselves that you ate and for yourselves that you drank?
7Are these not the words which the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets,#7:7, 12] Earlier prophets: see note on 1:4. when Jerusalem and its surrounding cities were inhabited and secure, when the Negeb and the Shephelah were inhabited? 8The word of the Lord came to Zechariah: 9Thus says the Lord of hosts: Judge with true justice, and show kindness and compassion toward each other.#Is 1:17; 58:6. 10Do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the resident alien or the poor;#Widow…orphan…resident alien…poor: four categories of socially and economically marginalized persons. Concern for their well-being is commanded in both pentateuchal and prophetic literature. do not plot evil against one another in your hearts.#Ex 22:20–24; Dt 24:17; Jer 5:28; Mi 2:1. 11But they refused to listen; they stubbornly turned their backs and stopped their ears so as not to hear.#Ex 32:9; Is 48:4. 12And they made their hearts as hard as diamond#Ez 11:19. so as not to hear the instruction and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the earlier prophets. So great anger came from the Lord of hosts: 13Just as when I called out and they did not listen, so they will call out and I will not listen, says the Lord of hosts. 14And I will scatter them among all the nations that they do not know.#Dt 4:27. So the land was left desolate behind them with no one moving about, and they made a pleasant land into a wasteland.
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