Parallel Bible results for "zechariah 7"

Zechariah 7

The Darby Translation DBY

1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah on the fourth [day] of the ninth month, [even] in Chislev,

2 when Bethel had sent Sherezer and Regem-melech, and his men, to supplicate Jehovah,

3 [and] to speak unto the priests that were in the house of Jehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done now so many years?

4 And the word of Jehovah of hosts came unto me, saying,

5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh [month], even those seventy years, did ye really fast unto me, [even] unto me?

6 And when ye ate, and when ye drank, was it not you that were eating and drinking?

7 Are not these the words that Jehovah cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and at peace, and her cities round about her, when the south and the lowland were inhabited?

8 And the word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah, saying,

9 Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew loving-kindness and mercies one to another,

10 and oppress not the widow and the fatherless, the stranger and the afflicted; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

11 But they refused to hearken, and turned a rebellious shoulder, and made their ears heavy, that they should not hear.

12 And they made their heart [as] an adamant, that they should not hear the law, and the words that Jehovah of hosts sent by his Spirit by the hand of the former prophets: therefore was there great wrath from Jehovah of hosts.

13 And it came to pass, like as he called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear, saith Jehovah of hosts;

14 and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not, and the land was desolate after them, so that no one passed through nor returned; and they laid the pleasant land desolate.

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."