Zechariah 7

A Call for Justice and Mercy

7^oIn the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^pChislev. ²Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men ^qto entreat the favor of the Lord, ^3rsaying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and ^sthe prophets, “Should I weep and ^tabstain in ^uthe fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

⁴Then 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 ^uthe fifth month and in ^vthe seventh, for these ^wseventy years, ^xwas it ^xfor me that you fasted? ^6yAnd when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? ^7zWere not these the words that the Lord proclaimed ^aby the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, ^bwith her cities around her, and the ^bSouth and the ^blowland were inhabited?’ ”

⁸And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^cRender true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, ^10ddo not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, ^eor the poor, and ^flet none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” ¹¹But ^gthey refused to pay attention ^hand turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.^{1 12i}They made their hearts diamond-hard ^jlest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent ^jby his Spirit through ^kthe former prophets. ^lTherefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. ^13m“As I² called, and they would not hear, ^mso they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, ¹⁴ⁿ“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all ^othe nations that they had not known. ^pThus the land they left was desolate, ^qso that no one went to and fro, ^rand the pleasant land was made desolate.”