Zecharyah 7
7
1And it came to pass in the shnat arba of Daryavesh HaMelech, that the Devar Hashem came unto Zecharyah in the fourth of the chodesh hateshi'i (ninth month), even in Kislev;
2And Beit-El had sent Sar-Etzer and Regem-Melech, and their men, to make entreaty for favor before Hashem,
3And to speak unto the kohanim which were in the Beis Hashem Tzva'os, and to the nevi'im, saying, Should I mourn in the fifth month, hinnazer (separating myself by fasting), as I have done these so many shanim?
4Then came the Devar Hashem Tzva'os unto me, saying,
5Speak unto kol Am Ha'Aretz, and to the kohanim, saying, When ye did a tzom and mourned in the fifth and seventh, even these past shivim shanah, did ye at all fast the tzom 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 devarim which Hashem hath preached by the nevi'im harishonim, when Yerushalayim was inhabited and at ease, and the towns thereof round about her, when men inhabited the Negev and the Shefelah?
8And the Devar Hashem came unto Zecharyah, saying,
9Thus saith Hashem Tzva'os, saying, Administer mishpat emes. And let every man show chesed and rachamim to his brother;
10And oppress not the almanah, nor the yetomim, the ger, nor the aniyim; and let none of you imagine ra'ah against his brother in your lev.
11But they refused to heed, and stubbornly stiffened their shoulders, stopped up their oznayim, that they not hear.
12Yea, they made their hearts as shamir (diamond),#7:12 i.e., hard as shamir and would not yield in mishma'at (obedience) to the Torah and the devarim which Hashem Tzva'os hath sent by His Ruach#7:12 Hakodesh through the hand of the nevi'im harishonim; therefore came a ketzef gadol (great wrath) from Hashem Tzva'os.
13Therefore it is come to pass, that as He#7:13 Hashem called, and they would not hear; so they called, and I would not hear, saith Hashem Tzva'os;
14But I dispersed them with a whirlwind among kol HaGoyim which they had not known. Thus HaAretz was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned; for they laid the Eretz Chemdat#7:14 Jer 3:19 (Desired Land) desolate.
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Zecharyah 7: TOJB2011
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Zechariah 7
7
Have Justice and Mercy
1During the fourth year that Darius was king, a message from the Lord came to me. It was the fourth day of the ninth month. That’s the month of Kislev. 2The people of Bethel wanted to ask the Lord for his blessing. So they sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek and their men. 3They went to the prophets and priests at the Lord’s temple. They asked them, “Should we mourn and go without eating in the fifth month? That’s what we’ve done for many years.”
4Then the message came to me from the Lord who rules over all. He said, 5“Ask the priests and all the people in the land a question for me. Say to them, ‘You mourned and fasted in the fifth and seventh months. You did it for the past 70 years. But did you really do it for me? 6And when you were eating and drinking, weren’t you just enjoying good food for yourselves? 7Didn’t I tell you the same thing through the earlier prophets? That was when Jerusalem and the towns around it were at rest and enjoyed success. People lived in the Negev Desert and the western hills at that time.’ ”
8Another message from the Lord came to me. 9Here is what the Lord who rules over all said to his people. “Treat everyone with justice. Show mercy and tender concern to one another. 10Do not take advantage of widows. Do not mistreat children whose fathers have died. Do not be mean to outsiders or poor people. Do not make evil plans against one another.”
11But they refused to pay attention to the Lord. They were stubborn. They turned their backs and covered their ears. 12They made their hearts as hard as the hardest stone. They wouldn’t listen to the law. They wouldn’t pay attention to the Lord’s messages. So the Lord who rules over all was very angry. After all, his Spirit had spoken to his people through the earlier prophets.
13“When I called, they did not listen,” says the Lord. “So when they called, I would not listen. 14I used a windstorm to scatter them among all the nations. They were strangers there. The land they left behind became dry and empty. No one could even travel through it. This is how they turned the pleasant land into a dry and empty desert.”
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