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Zechariah 7

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1 καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ ἔτει ἐπὶ Δαρείου τοῦ βασιλέως ἐγένετο λόγος κυρίου πρὸς Ζαχαριαν τετράδι τοῦ μηνὸς τοῦ ἐνάτου ὅς ἐστιν Χασελευ 2 καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν εἰς Βαιθηλ Σαρασαρ καὶ Αρβεσεερ ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐξιλάσασθαι τὸν κύριον 3 λέγων πρὸς τοὺς ἱερεῖς τοὺς ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ κυρίου παντοκράτορος καὶ πρὸς τοὺς προφήτας λέγων εἰσελήλυθεν ὧδε ἐν τῷ μηνὶ τῷ πέμπτῳ τὸ ἁγίασμα καθότι ἐποίησα ἤδη ἱκανὰ ἔτη 4 καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος κυρίου τῶν δυνάμεων πρός με λέγων 5 εἰπὸν πρὸς ἅπαντα τὸν λαὸν τῆς γῆς καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἱερεῖς λέγων ἐὰν νηστεύσητε ἢ κόψησθε ἐν ταῖς πέμπταις ἢ ἐν ταῖς ἑβδόμαις καὶ ἰδοὺ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη μὴ νηστείαν νενηστεύκατέ μοι 6 καὶ ἐὰν φάγητε ἢ πίητε οὐχ ὑμεῖς ἔσθετε καὶ ὑμεῖς πίνετε

1 In the fourth year of Darius’ reign, another message from the Lord came to Za charias; it was on the fourth day of Casleu, the ninth month. 2 This was the occasion of it; here was Sarasar, with Rogommelech and others of his company, sending envoys to implore the Lord’s favour.[1] 3 A question they put to the priests, there in the temple of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets besides: Must I yet mourn, yet rid myself of defilement, when the fifth month comes round, as my wont has been these many years past?[2] 4 Then came this message to me from the Lord of hosts: 5 Ask this, of priests and people both; was it indeed fast of mine you kept, all these seventy years, the fifth month and the seventh observing ever with fasting and lament, 6 you, that when food and drink were set before you, shared them with none?[3]

1 Et factum est in anno quarto Darii regis, factum est verbum Domini ad Zachariam, in quarta mensis noni, qui est Casleu. 2 Et miserunt ad domum Dei Sarasar et Rogommelech, et viri qui erant cum eo, ad deprecandam faciem Domini: 3 ut dicerent sacerdotibus domus Domini exercituum, et prophetis, loquentes: Numquid flendum est mihi in quinto mense, vel sanctificare me debeo, sicut jam feci multis annis? 4 Et factum est verbum Domini exercituum ad me, dicens: 5 Loquere ad omnem populum terræ, et ad sacerdotes, dicens: Cum jejunaretis, et plangeretis in quinto et septimo per hos septuaginta annos, numquid jejunium jejunastis mihi? 6 et cum comedistis et bibistis, numquid non vobis comedistis et vobismetipsis bibistis?

7 οὐχ οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι εἰσίν οὓς ἐλάλησεν κύριος ἐν χερσὶν τῶν προφητῶν τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ὅτε ἦν Ιερουσαλημ κατοικουμένη καὶ εὐθηνοῦσα καὶ αἱ πόλεις αὐτῆς κυκλόθεν καὶ ἡ ὀρεινὴ καὶ ἡ πεδινὴ κατῳκεῖτο 8 καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος κυρίου πρὸς Ζαχαριαν λέγων 9 τάδε λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ κρίμα δίκαιον κρίνατε καὶ ἔλεος καὶ οἰκτιρμὸν ποιεῖτε ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ 10 καὶ χήραν καὶ ὀρφανὸν καὶ προσήλυτον καὶ πένητα μὴ καταδυναστεύετε καὶ κακίαν ἕκαστος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ μὴ μνησικακείτω ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν 11 καὶ ἠπείθησαν τοῦ προσέχειν καὶ ἔδωκαν νῶτον παραφρονοῦντα καὶ τὰ ὦτα αὐτῶν ἐβάρυναν τοῦ μὴ εἰσακούειν 12 καὶ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτῶν ἔταξαν ἀπειθῆ τοῦ μὴ εἰσακούειν τοῦ νόμου μου καὶ τοὺς λόγους οὓς ἐξαπέστειλεν κύριος παντοκράτωρ ἐν πνεύματι αὐτοῦ ἐν χερσὶν τῶν προφητῶν τῶν ἔμπροσθεν καὶ ἐγένετο ὀργὴ μεγάλη παρὰ κυρίου παντοκράτορος 13 καὶ ἔσται ὃν τρόπον εἶπεν καὶ οὐκ εἰσήκουσαν αὐτοῦ οὕτως κεκράξονται καὶ οὐ μὴ εἰσακούσω λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ 14 καὶ ἐκβαλῶ αὐτοὺς εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἃ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν καὶ ἡ γῆ ἀφανισθήσεται κατόπισθεν αὐτῶν ἐκ διοδεύοντος καὶ ἐξ ἀναστρέφοντος καὶ ἔταξαν γῆν ἐκλεκτὴν εἰς ἀφανισμόν

7 Bethink you, what warnings gave he by the prophets of an earlier day, when Jerusalem was yet safe and prosperous, she and the cities about her, populous the western valleys, populous the hill-country of the south. 8 (Such was the word the Lord sent to Zacharias.[4]) 9 A message from the Lord of hosts: Come now, the true award, the tender heart that pities a neighbour’s need! 10 Widow and orphan, the alien and the friendless, wrong no more; brother against brother plot no more! 11 And would they listen? Shrank every shoulder from the burden, deaf ears they turned him, 12 hardened their hearts to adamant. Heed his law they would not; heed they would not, when the Lord of hosts inspired those older prophets to speak in his name. What wonder if his divine anger was aroused beyond measure? 13 What wonder, says the Lord of hosts, they should call in vain on me, that in vain had warned them? 14 So it was I scattered them in unknown countries, left their land a desert, where none came or went; a land so fair, by its own inhabitants laid waste.

7 numquid non sunt verba quæ locutus est Dominus in manu prophetarum priorum, cum adhuc Jerusalem habitaretur ut esset opulenta, ipsa et urbes in circuitu ejus, et ad austrum, et in campestribus habitaretur? 8 Et factum est verbum Domini ad Zachariam, dicens: 9 Hæc ait Dominus exercituum, dicens: Judicium verum judicate, et misericordiam et miserationes facite, unusquisque cum fratre suo. 10 Et viduam, et pupillum, et advenam, et pauperem nolite calumniari: et malum vir fratri suo non cogitet in corde suo. 11 Et noluerunt attendere, et averterunt scapulam recedentem, et aures suas aggravaverunt ne audirent. 12 Et cor suum posuerunt ut adamantem, ne audirent legem, et verba quæ misit Dominus exercituum in spiritu suo per manum prophetarum priorum: et facta est indignatio magna a Domino exercituum. 13 Et factum est sicut locutus est, et non audierunt: sic clamabunt et non exaudiam, dicit Dominus exercituum. 14 Et dispersi eos per omnia regna quæ nesciunt: et terra desolata est ab eis, eo quod non esset transiens et revertens: et posuerunt terram desiderabilem in desertum.

[1] The interpretation of this verse is very doubtful; the persons referred to are not mentioned elsewhere.

[2] The fifth month was that in which Jerusalem had fallen; it had evidently been a time of fasting during the Captivity; now that the temple is in building, they ask, should the commemoration cease?

[3] Literally, in the Latin, ‘And when you ate and drank, did you not eat and drink for yourselves?’; in the Hebrew text, ‘And when you ate and when you drank, were not you the eaters and you the drinkers?’ A general accusation of selfishness is perhaps intended; cf. Deut. 16.14 and elsewhere.

[4] Some think the words were included here by accident; if not, they are a somewhat confusing repetition of the rubric in verse 1. It is clear that they interrupt the run of the paragraph; verses 9 and 10 are a message delivered (in the first instance) not by Zacharias but by the older prophets mentioned in verse 7.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd