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Zechariah 7
New International Version

### Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting

7 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah(A) on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev.(B) 2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat(C) the Lord(D) 3 by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn(E) and fast in the fifth(F) month, as I have done for so many years?”

4 Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted(G) and mourned in the fifth and seventh(H) months for the past seventy years,(I) was it really for me that you fasted? 6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?(J) 7 Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets(K) when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest(L) and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills(M) were settled?’”(N)

8 And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: 9 “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice;(O) show mercy and compassion to one another.(P) 10 Do not oppress the widow(Q) or the fatherless, the foreigner(R) or the poor.(S) Do not plot evil against each other.’(T)

11 “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly(U) they turned their backs(V) and covered their ears.(W) 12 They made their hearts as hard as flint(X) and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.(Y) So the Lord Almighty was very angry.(Z)

13 “‘When I called, they did not listen;(AA) so when they called, I would not listen,’(AB) says the Lord Almighty.(AC) 14 ‘I scattered(AD) them with a whirlwind(AE) among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it.(AF) This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.(AG)’”

#### Cross references

1. Zechariah 7:1 : S Ezr 5:1
2. Zechariah 7:1 : Ne 1:1
3. Zechariah 7:2 : Jer 26:19; Zec 8:21
4. Zechariah 7:2 : Hag 2:10-14
5. Zechariah 7:3 : Zec 12:12-14
6. Zechariah 7:3 : 2Ki 25:9; Jer 52:12-14
7. Zechariah 7:5 : Isa 58:5
8. Zechariah 7:5 : 2Ki 25:25
9. Zechariah 7:5 : S Da 9:2
10. Zechariah 7:6 : S Isa 43:23
11. Zechariah 7:7 : Isa 1:11-20; Zec 1:4
12. Zechariah 7:7 : Jer 22:21
13. Zechariah 7:7 : S Jer 17:26
14. Zechariah 7:7 : Jer 44:4-5
15. Zechariah 7:9 : S Jer 22:3; 42:5; Zec 8:16
16. Zechariah 7:9 : S Dt 22:1
17. Zechariah 7:10 : Jer 49:11
18. Zechariah 7:10 : S Ex 22:21
19. Zechariah 7:10 : S Lev 25:17; Isa 1:23
20. Zechariah 7:10 : S Ex 22:22; S Job 35:8; S Isa 1:17; S Eze 45:9; S Mic 6:8
21. Zechariah 7:11 : S Isa 9:9
22. Zechariah 7:11 : S Jer 32:33
23. Zechariah 7:11 : S Jer 5:3; 8:5; 11:10; S 17:23; S Eze 5:6
24. Zechariah 7:12 : S Jer 5:3; 17:1; S Eze 11:19
25. Zechariah 7:12 : S Ne 9:29
26. Zechariah 7:12 : S Jer 42:21; S Da 9:12
27. Zechariah 7:13 : S Jer 7:27
28. Zechariah 7:13 : Isa 1:15; S Jer 11:11; 14:12; S Mic 3:4
29. Zechariah 7:13 : S Pr 1:28; S La 3:44; S Eze 20:31
30. Zechariah 7:14 : S Lev 26:33; Dt 4:27; 28:64-67; S Ps 44:11
31. Zechariah 7:14 : Jer 23:19
32. Zechariah 7:14 : S Isa 33:8
33. Zechariah 7:14 : S Jer 7:34; S 44:6; S Eze 12:19

New International Version (NIV)

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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

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