Insincere Fasting Reproved

7¹ And it cometh to pass, in the fourth year of Darius the king hath a word of Jehovah been unto Zechariah, in the fourth of the ninth month, in Chisleu. ² And Beth-El sendeth Sherezer and Regem-Melech, and its men, to appease the face of Jehovah, ³ speaking unto the priests who 'are' at the house of Jehovah of Hosts, and unto the prophets, saying, 'Do I weep in the fifth month—being separated—as I have done these so many years?' ⁴ And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts unto me, saying: ⁵ 'Speak unto all the people of the land, and unto the priests, saying: ⁶ When ye fasted with mourning in the fifth and in the seventh 'months'—even these seventy years—did ye keep the fast 'to' Me—Me? And when ye eat, and when ye drink, is it not ye who are eating, and ye who are drinking? ⁷ 'Are not 'these' the words that Jehovah proclaimed by the hand of the former prophets, in Jerusalem's being inhabited, and 'in' safety, and its cities round about it, and the south and the plain—abiding?'

Disobedience the Cause of Captivity

⁸ And there is a word of Jehovah unto Zechariah, saying: ⁹ 'Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts, saying: True judgment judge ye, And kindness and mercy do one with another. ¹⁰ And widow, and fatherless, Sojourner, and poor, ye do not oppress, And the calamity of one another ye do not devise in your heart. ¹¹ And they refuse to attend, And they give a refractory shoulder, And their ears have made heavy against hearing. ¹² And their heart they have made adamant, Against hearing the law, and the words, That Jehovah of Hosts sent by His Spirit, By the hand of the former prophets, And their is great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts. ¹³ And it cometh to pass, as He called, And they have not hearkened, So do they call, and I do not hearken, Said Jehovah of Hosts. ¹⁴ And I toss them on all the nations, That they have not known, The land hath been desolate behind them, Of any passing by and turning back, And they set a desirable land for a desolation!

The Prophet's Vision of Joshua the High Priest

3¹ And he sheweth me Joshua the high priest standing before the messenger of Jehovah, and the Adversary standing at his right hand, to be an adversary to him. ² And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary: 'Jehovah doth push against thee, O Adversary, Yea, push against thee doth Jehovah, Who is fixing on Jerusalem, Is not this a brand delivered from fire?' ³ And Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and is standing before the messenger. ⁴ And he answereth and speaketh unto those standing before him, saying: 'Turn aside the filthy garments from off him.' And he saith unto him, 'See, I have caused thine iniquity to pass away from off thee, so as to clothe thee with costly apparel.' ⁵ He also said, 'Let them set a pure diadem on his head. And they set the pure diadem on his head, and clothe him with garments. And the messenger of Jehovah is standing, ⁶ and the messenger of Jehovah doth protest to Joshua, saying: ⁷ 'Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: If in My ways thou dost walk, And if My charge thou dost keep, Then also thou dost judge My house, And also thou dost keep My courts, And I have given to thee conductors among these standing by.

⁸ Hear, I pray thee, Joshua, the high priest, Thou and thy companions sitting before thee, (For men of type 'are' they,) For lo, I am bringing in My servant—a Shoot. ⁹ For lo, the stone that I put before Joshua, On one stone 'are' seven eyes, Lo, I am graving its graving, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, And I have removed the iniquity of that land in one day. ¹⁰ In that day—an affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, Ye do call, each unto his neighbour, Unto the place of the vine, And unto the place of the fig-tree!'