Zechariah 7:8-14

Other Translations of Zechariah 7:8-14

King James Version

Disobedience the Cause of Captivity

⁸ And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying, ⁹ Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute Execute...: Heb. Judge judgment of truth true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions 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. ¹¹ But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should 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 by: Heb. by the hand of the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts. 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: 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 pleasant...: Heb. land of desire land desolate.

English Standard Version

Disobedience the Cause of Captivity

⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹ "Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, ¹⁰ do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart." ¹¹ But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.Hebrew and made their ears too heavy to hear ¹² They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. ¹³ "As IHebrew he called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear," says the Lord of hosts, ¹⁴ "and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate."

The Message

Disobedience the Cause of Captivity

⁸ [This is the message that God gave Zechariah.] ⁹ Well, the message hasn't changed. God-of-the-Angel-Armies said then and says now: "'Treat one another justly. Love your neighbors. Be compassionate with each other. ¹⁰ Don't take advantage of widows, orphans, visitors, and the poor. Don't plot and scheme against one another - that's evil.' ¹¹ "But did your ancestors listen? No, they set their jaws in defiance. They shut their ears. ¹² They steeled themselves against God's revelation and the Spirit-filled sermons preached by the earlier prophets by order of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. And God became angry, really angry, ¹³ because he told them everything plainly and they wouldn't listen to a word he said. ¹⁴ I scattered them to the four winds. They ended up strangers wherever they were. Their 'promised land' became a vacant lot - weeds and tin cans and thistles. Not a sign of life. They turned a dreamland into a wasteland."

New King James Version

Disobedience the Cause of Captivity

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹ "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother. ¹⁰ Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.' ¹¹ "But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. ¹² Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. ¹³ Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen," says the Lord of hosts. ¹⁴ "But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate."

New Living Translation

Disobedience the Cause of Captivity

⁸ Then this message came to Zechariah from the Lord : ⁹ "This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. ¹⁰ Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other. ¹¹ "Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing. ¹² They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the Lord of Heaven's Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the Lord of Heaven's Armies was so angry with them. ¹³ "Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies. ¹⁴ As with a whirlwind, I scattered them among the distant nations, where they lived as strangers. Their land became so desolate that no one even traveled through it. They turned their pleasant land into a desert."