Zec 7 | NASB1995 | STEP | In the fourth year of King Darius , the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month , which is Chislev .

‏ Zechariah 7

Hearts like Flint

1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^aChislev. 2 Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and ^{▼▼ Lit his}their men to ^{▼▼ Lit soften the face of
,} ^dseek the favor of the Lord, 3 speaking to the ^epriests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the ^ffifth month ^{▼▼ Lit abstaining; or dedicating myself}and abstain, as I have done these many years?” 4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 5 “Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months ^{▼▼ Lit and these}these ⁱseventy years, was it actually for ^jMe that you fasted? 6 ‘When you eat and drink, ^{▼▼ Lit is it not you who eat and you who drink}do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves? 7 ‘Are not these the words which the Lord ^lproclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^{▼▼ Or at ease
,} ⁿprosperous along with its cities around it, and the ^{▼▼ I.e. South country
,} ^pNegev and the ^{▼▼ Heb Shephelah}foothills were inhabited?’”

8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying, 9 “Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘ ^rDispense true justice and practice ^skindness and compassion each to his brother; 10 and ^tdo not oppress the widow or the ^{▼▼ Or fatherless}orphan, the ^{▼▼ Or resident alien}stranger or the poor; and do ^wnot devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ 11 “But they ^xrefused to pay attention and ^{▼▼ Lit gave
,} ^zturned a stubborn shoulder and ^{▼▼ Lit made heavy
,} ^abstopped their ears from hearing. 12 “They made their ^achearts like ^{▼▼ Lit corundum
,} ^aeflint ^{▼▼ Lit from hearing}so that they could not hear the law and the ^agwords which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the ^ahformer prophets; therefore great ^aiwrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 “And just as ^ajHe called and they would not listen, so ^akthey called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts; 14 “but I ^{▼▼ Lit stormed them away upon all
,} ^amscattered them with a ^anstorm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is ^aodesolated behind them ^{▼▼ Lit from passing and from returning}so that ^aqno one went back and forth, for they ^armade the pleasant land desolate.”