Zechariah 7:1-10

Hearts like Flint

1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ¹Chislev.

2 Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to ²seek the favor of the LORD,

3 speaking to the ³priests who belong to the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, "Shall I weep in the ⁴fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?"

4 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,

5 "Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these ⁵seventy years, was it actually for ⁶Me that you fasted?

6 'When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?

7 'Are not these the words which the LORD ⁷proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ⁸prosperous along with its cities around it, and the ⁹Negev and the foothills were inhabited?' "

8 Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying,

9 "Thus has the LORD of hosts said, '¹⁰Dispense true justice and practice ¹¹kindness and compassion each to his brother;

10 and ¹²do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do ¹³not devise evil in your hearts against one another.'

Zechariah 7:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 7

This chapter treats concerning the nature and use of certain fasts kept by the Jews, on account of the destruction of the temple, and other things; and concerning the message of the former prophets to them, and the effects of it. The occasion of the former was an embassy sent by the Jews to the priests and prophets, to know whether they should continue the fast of the fifth month; upon which the prophet was sent by the Lord unto them. The time of the prophecy is noted, Zec 7:1. An account of the embassy is given, of the persons that were sent, and to whom, and upon what account, Zec 7:2,3. The answer of the Lord to it by the prophet, showing the usefulness of fasts to him, and putting them upon hearkening to his voice by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was in great prosperity, Zec 7:4-7 and then they are exhorted by him, in the ministry of the present prophet, to acts of righteousness, several species of which are mentioned; and which were the same they had been exhorted to by the former prophets, but had neglected, and hardened their hearts against all exhortations and instructions, Zec 7:8-12 and were the reason of their captivity and desolation, Zec 7:13,14.

Cross References

• 1. Nehemiah 1:1
• 2. 1 Kings 13:6; Jeremiah 26:19; Zechariah 8:21
• 3. Ezra 3:10-12
• 4. Zechariah 8:19
• 5. Zechariah 1:12
• 6. Isaiah 1:11, 12; Isaiah 58:5
• 7. Isaiah 1:16-20; Jeremiah 7:5, 23; Zechariah 1:4
• 8. Jeremiah 22:21
• 9. Jeremiah 13:19; Jeremiah 32:44
• 10. Ezekiel 18:8; Ezekiel 45:9; Zechariah 8:16
• 11. 2 Samuel 9:7; Job 6:14; Micah 6:8
• 12. Exodus 22:22; Psalms 72:4; Jeremiah 7:6
• 13. Psalms 21:11; Micah 2:1; Zechariah 8:17

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "his"
• [b] Lit "soften the face of"
• [c] Lit "abstaining;" or "dedicating myself"
• [d] Lit "and these"
• [e] Lit "is it not you who eat and you who drink"
• [f] Or "at ease"
• [g] I.e. South country
• [h] Heb "Shephelah"
• [i] Or "fatherless"
• [j] Or "resident alien"