Zechariah 7
7
The Hypocrisy of False Fasting
1 In King Darius’ fourth year, on the fourth day of Kislev, the ninth month,#sn The fourth day of Kislev, the ninth month would be December 7, 518 b.c., 22 months after the previous eight visions. the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. 2 Now the people of Bethel#map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3. had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech and their companions to seek the Lord’s favor 3 by asking both the priests of the temple#tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). of the Lord who rules over all and the prophets, “Should we weep in the fifth month,#sn This lamentation marked the occasion of the destruction of Solomon’s temple on August 14, 586 b.c., almost exactly 70 years earlier (cf. 2 Kgs 25:8). fasting as we have done over the years?” 4 The word of the Lord who rules over all then came to me, 5 “Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows: ‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh#tn The seventh month apparently refers to the anniversary of the assassination of Gedaliah, governor of Judah (Jer 40:13-14; 41:1), in approximately 581 b.c. months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me – for me, indeed? 6 And now when you eat and drink, are you not doing so for yourselves?’” 7 Should you not have obeyed the words that the Lord cried out through the former prophets when Jerusalem#map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. was peacefully inhabited and her surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah#sn The Shephelah is the geographical region between the Mediterranean coastal plain and the Judean hill country. The Hebrew term can be translated “lowlands” (cf. ASV), “foothills” (NAB, NASB, NLT), or “steppes.” were also populated?
8 Again the word of the Lord came to Zechariah: 9 “The Lord who rules over all said, ‘Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other. 10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.’
11 “But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear. 12 Indeed, they made their heart as hard as diamond,#tn The Hebrew term שָׁמִיר (shamir) means literally “hardness” and since it is said in Ezek 3:9 to be harder than flint, many scholars suggest that it refers to diamond. It is unlikely that diamond was known to ancient Israel, however, so probably a hard stone like emery or corundum is in view. The translation nevertheless uses “diamond” because in modern times it has become proverbial for its hardness. A number of English versions use “flint” here (e.g., NASB, NIV). so that they could not obey the Torah and the other words the Lord who rules over all had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, the Lord who rules over all had poured out great wrath.
13 “‘It then came about that just as I#tn Heb “he.” Since the third person pronoun refers to the Lord, it has been translated as a first person pronoun (“I”) to accommodate English style, which typically does not exhibit switches between persons of pronouns in the same immediate context as Hebrew does. cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,’ the Lord Lord who rules over all had said. 14 ‘Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.’ Thus the land had become desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful#tn Or “desirable”; traditionally “pleasant” (so many English versions; cf. TEV “This good land”). land a waste.”
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Zechariah 7
7
A Call to Justice and Mercy
1In 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 Chislev.#7:1 Chislev is the ninth month of the Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurring within the months of November and December. 2Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, along with their men,#7:2 Or Bethel-sharezer had sent Regem-melech, along with his men, to plead before the Lord 3by asking the priests of the house of the Lord of Hosts, as well as the prophets, “Should I weep and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?”
4Then the word of the Lord of Hosts came to me, saying, 5“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted? 6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not doing so simply for yourselves? 7Are these not the words that the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were populous and prosperous, and the Negev and the foothills #7:7 Hebrew Shephelah or lowlands; that is, the western foothills of Judea were inhabited?’”
8Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9“This is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion #7:9 Forms of the Hebrew chesed are translated here and in most cases throughout the Scriptures as loving devotion; the range of meaning includes love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and mercy, as well as loyalty to a covenant. and compassion to one another. 10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’
11But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.#7:11 Hebrew they made their ears too heavy to hear 12They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of Hosts.
13And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the Lord of Hosts. 14But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known, and the land was left desolate behind them so that no one could come or go. Thus they turned the pleasant land into a desolation.”
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The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.