Parallel Bible results for "zechariah 7"

Zechariah 7

Common English Bible CEB

1 In the fourth year of Darius the king, the LORD's word came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, Kislev.

2 The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech, along with his men, to seek the LORD's favor,

3 saying to the priests who were in the house of the LORD of heavenly forces and to the prophets: "Should I weep in the fifth month and abstain as I have done for a number of years?"

4 Then the word of the LORD of heavenly forces came to me:

5 Say to all the land's people and to the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth month and the seventh month for these past seventy years, did you fast for me?

6 When you ate and drank, weren't you the ones eating and drinking?

7 Weren't these the words that the LORD proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem was dwelling quietly along with the surrounding cities, and when the arid southern plain and the western foothills were inhabited?

8 The LORD's word came to Zechariah:

9 The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims: Make just and faithful decisions; show kindness and compassion to each other!

10 Don't oppress the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor; don't plan evil against each other!

11 But they refused to pay attention. They turned a cold shoulder and stopped listening.

12 They steeled their hearts against hearing the Instruction and the words that the LORD of heavenly forces sent by his spirit through the earlier prophets. As a result, the LORD of heavenly forces became enraged.

13 So just as he called and they didn't listen, when they called, I didn't listen, says the LORD of heavenly forces.

14 I scattered them throughout the nations whom they didn't know. The land was devastated behind them, with no one leaving or returning. They turned a delightful land into a wasteland.

GOD'S WORD Translation GW

1 On the fourth day of the ninth month (the month of Chislev) in Darius' fourth year as king, the LORD spoke his word to Zechariah.

2 Now, [the people from] Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech with their men to ask the LORD for a blessing.

3 They asked the priests from the house of the LORD of Armies as well as the prophets, "Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done for so many years?"

4 Then the LORD of Armies spoke his word to me. He said,

5 "Tell all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these past 70 years, did you really do it for me?

6 When you ate and drank, didn't you do it to benefit yourselves?

7 Aren't these the same words that the LORD announced through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding cities were inhabited and undisturbed and the Negev and the foothills were still inhabited?'"

8 Then the LORD spoke his word to Zechariah. He said,

9 "This is what the LORD of Armies says: Administer real justice, and be compassionate and kind to each other.

10 Don't oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and poor people. And don't even think of doing evil to each other.

11 "But people refused to pay attention. They shrugged their shoulders at me and shut their ears so that they couldn't hear.

12 They made their hearts as hard as flint so that they couldn't hear the LORD's teachings, the words that the LORD of Armies had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD of Armies became very angry.

13 "When I called, they wouldn't listen. So now when they call, I won't listen, says the LORD of Armies.

14 I used a windstorm to scatter them among all the nations, nations they hadn't even heard of. They left behind a land so ruined that no one is able to travel through it. They have turned a pleasant land into a wasteland."