Zechariah 7

1 And then,*Literally "and it happened" in the fourth year of King Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev. 2 And the people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech, and their*Hebrew "his" men, to entreat the favor*Literally "the face" of Yahweh, 3 saying to the priests of the house of Yahweh of hosts*Literally "priests who are for the house of Yahweh of hosts" and to the prophets, "Should I mourn in the fifth month and keep myself separate*Or "abstain"; some interpret this as a reference to fasting as I have done for these many years?" 4 And the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying, 5 "Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for me? 6 And when you eat and drink, are you not eating and drinking for yourselves? 7 Are not these the words that Yahweh proclaimed through*Literally "by the hand of" the former prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns*Literally "her towns around her" were inhabited and at ease, and the Negev*The Negev is an arid region south of the Judean hills and the Shephelah*The Shephelah is a geographical area on the western edge of the Judean hills were inhabited?’ "

8 And the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying, 9 "Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Judge with trustworthy justice, and show*Literally "do" steadfast love and compassion to one another.*Literally "a man his brother"10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, and the needy. You must not devise evil in your heart against one another.’*Literally "a man his brother"11 But they refused to listen, and turned*Hebrew "gave" a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from listening.*Literally "their ears were heavy from hearing"12 They made their hearts adamant*Literally "They set their hearts like hard stone" in order not to hear the law*Hebrew torah and the words that Yahweh of hosts had sent by his spirit through*Literally "by the hand of" the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of hosts. 13 ‘Thus, just as I*Hebrew "he called" (but still referring to Yahweh) called and they would not hear, so they will call and I will not hear,’ says Yahweh of hosts. 14 ‘And I scattered them with a wind among all the nations that they had not known; the land was made desolate behind them— no one crossing through it or returning—and they made the desirable land*Hebrew "land of desire," but this could be understood as a land characterized by desire rather than a desirable land a desolation.’ "