King James Version
Zechariah • Chapter 7
1
And it came to pass in the second year of Darius the king, that the word of the LORD came to Zechariah in the eighth month, in Chislev.
2
And he sent to Bethel a leader of the grove and Rechem the king and his men to entreat the favor of the LORD.
3
To say to the priests who are in the house of the Lord of Hosts and to the prophets, to say: "I will weep in the fifth month; you are to beware, as I have done this for how many years."
4
And the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying.
5
Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying: "Because you have fasted and mourned on the fifth and on the seventh, and this is the seventy years, I have been fasting."
6
And when you eat and when you drink, are you not the ones who eat and you are the ones who drink?
7
Are not the words that the LORD called by the hand of the prophets, the first ones, when Jerusalem was inhabited and peaceful, and her cities around her, and the Negev and the lowland dwell?
8
And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying.
9
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Practice justice and truth; show kindness and mercy, each man to his brother.”
10
And do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor, and do not think evil in your heart against your brother.
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But they refused to listen and they gave a shoulder of rebellion and their ears were heavy from hearing.
12
And their hearts were hardened to hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts sent by his spirit by the hand of the former prophets, and there was great wrath from the Lord of hosts.
13
And it came to pass, as He called and they did not listen, so they will call and I will not listen, said the Lord of Hosts.
14
And I will bring upon all the nations that do not know Me, and the land will become desolate after them, because of the passerby and the returner, and they will make the land a desired place into a waste.