2 And Sherezer, and Regemmelech, and men that were with them, sent to the house of the Lord, for to pray the face of the Lord; (And Sherezer, and Regemmelech, and the men who were with them, sent word to the House of the Lord, for them to pray to the Lord;)
3 that they should say to priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to prophets, and speak, Whether it is to weep to me in the fifth month, either I shall hallow me, as I did now many years? (and so that they could ask the priests of the House of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, Is it for me to weep and to consecrate, or to dedicate, myself in the fifth month, as I have done now for so many years?)
4 And the word of the Lord [of hosts] was made to me, and said,
5 Speak thou to all the people of the land, and to priests, and say thou, When ye fasted, and wailed in the fifth and seventh month (s), by these seventy years, whether ye fasted a fast to me? (Speak thou to all the people of the land, and to the priests, and say thou, When ye fasted, and wailed in the fifth month and in the seventh month, during those seventy years, did ye ever fast in honour of me?)
6 And when ye ate, and drank, whether ye ate not to you, and drank not to yourselves? (And when ye ate, and drank, did ye not eat, and drink, to please only yourselves?)
7 Whether the words of prophets be not, which the Lord spake in the hand of the former prophets, when yet Jerusalem was inhabited, and was full of riches, and it, and the cities thereof in compass thereof, and at the south and in field place was inhabited? (Were not these the words of the prophets, which the Lord spoke by the earlier prophets, or by the prophets of old, when Jerusalem was still inhabited, and was full of riches, and it, and the cities there all around it, and to the south, or in the Negeb, and on the lowlands, or on the Shephelah, were all inhabited?)
8 And the word of the Lord was made to Zechariah, and said,
9 The Lord of hosts saith these things, and speaketh, Deem ye true doom, and do ye mercy, and doings of mercy, each man with his brother. (The Lord of hosts speaketh these things, and saith, Judge ye with true justice, and do ye mercy, and doings of mercy, each man with his brother or each person with his neighbour.)
10 And do not ye falsely challenge a widow, and fatherless, either motherless, and comeling, and poor man; and a man think not in his heart evil to his brother. (And do not ye oppress a widow, or the fatherless, or the motherless, child, or a newcomer, that is, a stranger, or a poor person; and do not let anyone think evil in his heart against his brother, or against his neighbour.)
11 And they would not take heed, and they turned away the shoulder, and went away, and made heavy their ears (or and closed their ears), lest they heard.
12 And they set their heart as an adamant (stone), lest they heard the law, and words which the Lord of hosts sent in his [holy] Spirit, by the hand of the former prophets; and great indignation was made of the Lord of hosts. (And they hardened their hearts like a stone, lest they heard the Law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent by his Holy Spirit, by the earlier prophets, or by the prophets of old; and so the Lord of hosts had great indignation.)
13 And it is done, as he spake; and as they heard not, so they shall cry, and I shall not hear [them], saith the Lord of hosts. (And it is done, as he had said it would be; and because they did not listen to me, so now they shall cry, and I shall not hear them or and I shall not listen to them, saith the Lord of hosts.)
14 And I scattered them by all realms, which they knew not, and the land is desolate from them; for that there was not a man going and turning again, and they have put [the] desirable land into desert. (And I scattered them into all the kingdoms, which they did not know about, and the land was made empty of them; and because there was no one going forth, and returning, they have made, or turned, this most desirable land into a desert, or deserted and desolate.)
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