Zechariah 7
1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;
2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,
3 And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
4 Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,
5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
7 Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?
8 And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,
9 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.
World Behind This Chapter
Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Zechariah 7.
Why did the delegation ask about fasting in the fifth month?
The fifth-month fast remembered the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. With rebuilding underway, the delegation asks whether that mourning practice should continue. The response redirects attention from the ritual’s continuation to its purpose and the community’s conduct.
Where was Bethel in the Persian period?
Bethel lay north of Jerusalem and had a long religious history. The Hebrew wording identifying the delegation is syntactically difficult, but most translations understand people associated with Bethel as sending representatives to Jerusalem.
What earlier prophets does Zechariah recall?
The chapter does not name them. Its language about justice, widows, orphans, immigrants, and the poor resembles several preexilic prophetic traditions. The appeal depends on remembered teaching rather than a quotation attributed to one identifiable prophet.
Research PathsCurated links for exploring this chapter 3
History & Daily Life1
- Did Judeans Fast for the Destroyed Temple during the Second Temple Period?TheTorah.com
Chapter-specific historical study of the delegation asking whether the community should continue mourning the destruction of the First Temple now that its replacement was being rebuilt. It explains the fifth- and seventh-month fasts and places the question within early Persian-period Yehud.
Language & Literature2
- Zechariah 7: Fasting, Justice, and the Earlier ProphetsNET Bible via Bible App
Browser-readable translation and notes clarify the date in Darius’s fourth year, the Bethel delegation, seventy years of fasting, self-directed ritual observance, true justice, covenant loyalty, compassion, and the hardening imagery used for the ancestors who ignored earlier prophets.
- Zechariah 7: Texts in ConversationIntertextual Bible
Collects connections involving seventy years, fasting, feasting, justice, kindness, compassion, protection of widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor, hardened hearts, refusal to hear, scattering, and the desolation of the land.
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