Zechariah · King James Version (with Apocrypha)
Zechariah 7 King James Version (with Apocrypha)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, [that] the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth [day] of the ninth month, [even] in Chisleu;
1 In the fourth year of King Darius, Yahweh’s word came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.
2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,
2 The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech and their men to entreat Yahweh’s favor,
3 [And] to speak unto the priests which [were] in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
3 and to speak to the priests of the house of Yahweh 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 came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,
4 Then the word of Yahweh of Armies came to 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 seventh [month], even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, [even] to me?
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 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat [for yourselves], and drink [for yourselves]?
6 When you eat and when you drink, don’t you eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?
7 [Should ye] not [hear] the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when [men] inhabited the south and the plain?
7 Aren’t these the words which Yahweh 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 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,
8 Yahweh’s word came to Zechariah, saying,
9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
9 “Thus has Yahweh of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.
10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
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 hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
11 But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
12 Yea, they made their hearts [as] an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.
12 Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law and the words which Yahweh of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of Armies.
13 Therefore it is come to pass, [that] as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:
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 Yahweh of Armies;
14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.
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.”
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Regem-melech
A man sent with Sharezer by the people of Bethel to plead before the LORD.
Cited in the guide: Zechariah 7:2
Cross references (13)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Nehemiah 1:1; Zechariah 1:1; Ezra 6:14–15; Haggai 2:10
- 2 Zechariah 8:21; 1 Samuel 13:12; Jeremiah 26:19; 1 Kings 13:6; Isaiah 60:7
- 3 Zechariah 8:19; James 4:8–10; Hosea 4:6; 1 Corinthians 7:5; Matthew 9:15
- 4 Isaiah 10:16
- 5 Zechariah 1:12; Isaiah 58:4–6; Matthew 5:16–18; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Zechariah 7:6
- 6 1 Corinthians 11:20–21; 1 Corinthians 11:26–29; Hosea 8:13; Colossians 3:17; Deuteronomy 12:7
- 7 Isaiah 1:16–20; Jeremiah 17:26; Jeremiah 7:23; Isaiah 55:6–7; Jeremiah 7:5
- 9 Micah 6:8; Psalm 82:2–4; Proverbs 21:3; Jeremiah 7:5; Luke 11:42
- 10 Jeremiah 5:28; Deuteronomy 27:19; Psalm 21:11; Psalm 72:4; James 5:4
- 11 Nehemiah 9:29; Jeremiah 8:5; Hosea 4:16; Ezekiel 3:7; Acts 7:57
- 12 2 Chronicles 36:16; Nehemiah 9:29–30; Ezekiel 11:19; Acts 28:27; Ezekiel 36:26
- 13 Proverbs 1:24–28; Jeremiah 14:12; Isaiah 1:15; Jeremiah 11:11; Micah 3:4
- 14 Deuteronomy 28:33; Deuteronomy 28:64; Jeremiah 23:19; Deuteronomy 4:27; Jeremiah 5:15
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Wash you, make you clean, put away evil from your hearts, learn to do well, seek judgment, protect the oppressed, judge the fatherless (pupillo), plead for the widow; and come, let us reason together, saith the Lord." And again: "Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile; depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, …