Zechariah 7
A Call for Justice and Mercy
aIn the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is bChislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men ato entreat the favor of the Lord, 3 asaying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and bthe prophets, “Should I weep and cabstain in dthe fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in athe fifth month and in bthe seventh, for these cseventy years, dwas it dfor me that you fasted? 6 aAnd when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 aWere not these the words that the Lord proclaimed bby the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, cwith her cities around her, and the cSouth and the clowland were inhabited?’”
8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, aRender true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 ado not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, bor the poor, and clet none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But athey refused to pay attention band turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. 12 aThey made their hearts diamond-hard blest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent bby his Spirit through cthe former prophets. dTherefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 a“As I called, and they would not hear, aso they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14 a“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all bthe nations that they had not known. cThus the land they left was desolate, dso that no one went to and fro, eand the pleasant land was made desolate.”
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.