Zechariah (Douay: Zacharias) 7

¹ In the fourth year of King Darius, the LORD’s word came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.

² The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech and their men to entreat the LORD’s favor,

³ and to speak to the priests of the house of the LORD of Armies and to the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?”

⁴ Then the word of the LORD of Armies came to me, saying,

⁵ “Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?

⁶ When you eat and when you drink, don’t you eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?

⁷ Aren’t these the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’”

⁸ The LORD’s word came to Zechariah, saying,

⁹ “Thus has the LORD of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.

¹⁰ Don’t oppress the widow, the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.’

¹¹ But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.

¹² Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law and the words which the LORD of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the LORD of Armies.

¹³ It has come to pass that, as he called and they refused to listen, so they will call and I will not listen,” said the LORD of Armies;

¹⁴ “but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.”

¹ AAnd it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, in the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Casleu.

² When Sarasar, and Rogommelech, and the men that were with him, sent to the house of God, to entreat the face of the Lord:

³ To speak to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying: Must I weep in the fifth month, or must I sanctify myself as I have now done for many years?

⁴ And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:

⁵ Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: When you fasted, and mourned in the fifth and the seventh month for these seventy years: did you keep a fast unto me?

⁶ And when you did eat and drink, did you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

⁷ Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem as yet was inhabited, and was wealthy, both itself and the cities round about it, and there were inhabitants towards the south, and in the plain?

⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying:

⁹ Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: Judge ye true judgment, and shew ye mercy and compassion every man to his brother.

¹⁰ And oppress not the widow, and the fatherless, and the stranger, and the poor: and let not a man devise evil in his heart against his brother.

¹¹ But they would not hearken, and they turned away the shoulder to depart: and they stopped their ears, not to hear.

¹² And they made their heart as the adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent in his spirit by the hand of the former prophets: so a great indignation came from the Lord of hosts.

¹³ And it came to pass that as he spoke, and they heard not: so shall they cry, and I will not hear, saith the Lord of hosts.

¹⁴ And I dispersed them throughout all kingdoms, which they know not: and the land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed through or returned: and they changed the delightful land into a wilderness.