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Zechariah 7:8–14

And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, cRender true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 ddo not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, eor the poor, and flet none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But gthey refused to pay attention hand turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.1 12 iThey made their hearts diamond-hard jlest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent jby his Spirit through kthe former prophets. lTherefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 m“As I2 called, and they would not hear, mso they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14 n“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all othe nations that they had not known. pThus the land they left was desolate, qso that no one went to and fro, rand the pleasant land was made desolate.”

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Zechariah 7:8–14 — The New International Version (NIV)

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

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

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

Zechariah 7:8–14 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying,

Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying,

Execute 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 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 land desolate.

Zechariah 7:8–14 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Then this message came to Zechariah from the Lord: “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.”

Zechariah 7:8–14 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, “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.”

Zechariah 7:8–14 — New Century Version (NCV)

And the Lord spoke his word to Zechariah again, saying, “This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘Do what is right and true. Be kind and merciful to each other. 10 Don’t hurt widows and orphans, foreigners or the poor; don’t even think of doing evil to somebody else.’

11 “But they refused to pay attention; they were stubborn and did not want to listen anymore. 12 They made their hearts as hard as rock and would not listen to the teachings of the Lord All-Powerful. And they would not hear the words he sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord All-Powerful became very angry.

13 “ ‘When I called to them, they would not listen. So when they called to me, I would not listen,’ says the Lord All-Powerful. 14 ‘I scattered them like a hurricane to other countries they did not know. This good land was left so ruined behind them that no one could live there. They had made the desired land a ruin.’ ”

Zechariah 7:8–14 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And the word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah, saying, Thus hath Jehovah of hosts 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 sojourner, 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 might not hear. 12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which Jehovah of hosts had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets: therefore there came great wrath from Jehovah of hosts. 13 And it is come to pass that, as he cried, and they would not hear, so they shall cry, and I will not hear, said Jehovah of hosts; 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 laid the pleasant land desolate.

Zechariah 7:8–14 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And the word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah, saying, Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew loving-kindness and mercies one to another, 10 and oppress not the widow and the fatherless, the stranger and the afflicted; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. 11 But they refused to hearken, and turned a rebellious shoulder, and made their ears heavy, that they should not hear. 12 And they made their heart as an adamant, that they should not hear the law, and the words that Jehovah of hosts sent by his Spirit by the hand of the former prophets: therefore was there great wrath from Jehovah of hosts. 13 And it came to pass, like as he called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear, saith Jehovah of hosts; 14 and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not, and the land was desolate after them, so that no one passed through nor returned; and they laid the pleasant land desolate.

Zechariah 7:8–14 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Then the Lord spoke his word to Zechariah. He said, “This is what the Lord of Armies says: Administer real justice, and be compassionate and kind to each other. 10 Don’t oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and poor people. And don’t even think of doing evil to each other. 

11 “But people refused to pay attention. They shrugged their shoulders at me and shut their ears so that they couldn’t hear. 12 They made their hearts as hard as flint so that they couldn’t hear the Lord’s teachings, the words that the Lord of Armies had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord of Armies became very angry. 

13 “When I called, they wouldn’t listen. So now when they call, I won’t listen, says the Lord of Armies. 14 I used a windstorm to scatter them among all the nations, nations they hadn’t even heard of. They left behind a land so ruined that no one is able to travel through it. They have turned a pleasant land into a wasteland.” 

Zechariah 7:8–14 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The word of the Lord came to Zechariah: “The Lord of Hosts says this: Make fair decisions. Show faithful love and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor, and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another. 11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear. 12 They made their hearts like a rock so as not to obey the law or the words that the Lord of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of Hosts. 13 Just as He had called, and they would not listen, so when they called, I would not listen,” says the Lord of Hosts. 14 “I scattered them with a windstorm over all the nations that had not known them, and the land was left desolate behind them, with no one coming or going. They turned a pleasant land into a desolation.”

Zechariah 7:8–14 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; 10 do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. 11 But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears in order not to hear. 12 They made their hearts adamant in order not to hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 Just as, when I called, they would not hear, so, when they called, 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 a pleasant land was made desolate.

Zechariah 7:8–14 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

And the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Judge with trustworthy justice, and show steadfast love and compassion to one another. 10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, and the needy. You must not devise evil in your heart against one another.’ 11 But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from listening. 12 They made their hearts adamant in order not to hear the law and the words that Yahweh of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of hosts. 13 ‘Thus, just as I called and they would not hear, so they will call and I will not hear,’ says Yahweh of hosts. 14 ‘And I scattered them with a wind among all the nations that they had not known; the land was made desolate behind them— no one crossing through it or returning—and they made the desirable land a desolation.’ ”

Zechariah 7:8–14 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

Another message came to me from the Lord. He rules over all. He says to his people, “Treat everyone fairly. Show faithful love and tender concern to one another. 10 Do not take advantage of widows. Do not mistreat children whose fathers have died. Do not crush strangers or poor people. Do not make evil plans against one another.”

11 But they refused to pay attention to the Lord. They were stubborn. They turned their backs and covered up their ears. 12 They made their hearts as hard as the hardest stone. They wouldn’t listen to the law. They wouldn’t pay attention to the Lord’s messages.

So the Lord who rules over all was very angry. After all, his Spirit had spoken to his people through the earlier prophets.

13 “When I called, they did not listen,” says the Lord. “So when they called, I would not listen. 14 I used a windstorm to scatter them among all of the nations. They were strangers there. The land they left behind became dry and empty. No one could even travel through it. That is how they turned the pleasant land into a dry and empty desert.”

Zechariah 7:8–14 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying,

Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother;

10 and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’

11 “But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing.

12 “They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.

13 “And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts;

14 “but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, for they made the pleasant land desolate.”


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