Zechariah 7

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of Yahweh was addressed to Zechariah on the fourth day ofthe ninth month, the month of Chislev.	1 And it happened, in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev.
2 Bethel sent Sharezer with a deputation to entreat Yahweh's favour	2 And Sharezer and Regemmelech, and the men who were with them, sent to the house of God, to entreat the face of the Lord,
3 and to ask the priests in the Temple of Yahweh Sabaoth and the prophets, 'Ought I to go on mourningand fasting in the fifth month as I have been doing for so many years past?'	3 to speak to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and to the prophets, saying: “Must there be weeping with me in the fifth month, and must I sanctify myself, as I have now done for many years?”
4 Then the word of Yahweh Sabaoth was addressed to me as fol ows,	4 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:
5 'Say to al the people of the country and to the priests, "While you have been fasting and mourning inthe fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, have you real y been fasting for my sake?	5 Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: Although you may have fasted and mourned in the fifth and the seventh month for these seventy years, did you indeed keep a fast unto me?
6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not eating and drinking for your own sake?	6 And when you did eat and drink, did you not eat for yourselves, and drink only for yourselves?
7 Do you not know the words which Yahweh proclaimed through the prophets in the past, whenJerusalem was inhabited and secure, as were her surrounding towns, and when the Negeb and the lowlandswere inhabited?" ' (	7 Are not these the words that the Lord has spoken by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem was still inhabited, so that it would prosper, itself and the cities around it, and those inhabitants towards the South and in the plains?
8 The word of Yahweh was addressed to Zechariah as fol ows,	8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying:
9 'Yahweh Sabaoth says this.) He said, "Apply the law fairly, and show faithful love and compassion towards one another.	9 Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: Judge with true judgment, and act with mercy and compassion, each and every one with his brother.
10 Do not oppress the widow and the orphan, the foreigner and the poor, and do not secretly plan evilagainst one another."	10 And do not find fault with the widow, and the orphan, and the newcomer, and the poor. And let not a man consider evil in his heart towards his brother.
11 But they would not listen; they turned a rebel ious shoulder; they stopped their ears rather than hear;	11 But they were not willing to pay attention, and they turned aside their shoulder to depart, and they pressed upon their ears, so that they would not hear.
12 they made their hearts adamant rather than listen to the teaching and the words that Yahweh Sabaothhad sent -- by his spirit -- through the prophets in the past; and consequently the fury of Yahweh Sabaothovertook them.	12 And they set their heart like the hardest stone, so that they would not hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts has sent with his Spirit by the hand of the former prophets. And so a great indignation came from Lord of hosts.
13 And so, since when he cal ed they would not listen, "I would not listen when they called", says YahwehSabaoth,	13 And it happened, just as he had spoken, and they did not pay attention. So then, they shall cry out, and I will not heed, says the Lord of hosts.
14 "but scattered them among al the nations unknown to them. Hence, after they had gone, the countrywas deserted, and no one came or went. They had turned a land of delights into a desert." '	14 And I dispersed them throughout all the kingdoms that they did not know. And the land was left desolate behind them, so that no one was passing through or returning. And they made the desirable land into a deserted place.