And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chislev.
{Or, Now they of Beth-el, even Sharezer… had sent}Now they of Beth-el had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to entreat the favor of Jehovah,
and to speak unto the priests of the house of Jehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
Then came the word of Jehovah of hosts unto me, saying,
Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, even these seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
And when ye eat, and when ye drink, {Or, are not ye they that eat &c.}do not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
Should ye not hear the words which Jehovah cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?
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;
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.
But they refused to hearken, and {Or, turned a stubborn shoulder}pulled away the shoulder, and {Or, made their ears heavy See Isaiah 6:10.}stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
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.
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;
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 {Hebrew: land of desire.}pleasant land desolate.
Querverweise zu Sacharja 7,10 Sach 7,10
And a sojourner shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him: for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
If thou afflict them at all, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;
and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
For they intended evil against thee;They conceived a device which they are not able to perform.
And a sojourner shalt thou not oppress: for ye know the heart of a sojourner, seeing ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
He deviseth iniquity upon his bed;He setteth himself in a way that is not good;He abhorreth not evil.
Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy sojourners that are in thy land within thy gates:
in his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it (for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it); lest he cry against thee unto Jehovah, and it be sin unto thee.
The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
Thou shalt not wrest the justice due to the sojourner, or to the fatherless, nor take the widow's raiment to pledge;
but thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and Jehovah thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing.
Who devise mischiefs in their heart;Continually do they {Or, stir up wars}gather themselves together for war.
Cursed be he that wresteth the justice due to the sojourner, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Devise not evil against thy neighbor,Seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
He will judge the poor of the people,He will save the children of the needy,And will break in pieces the oppressor.
A heart that deviseth wicked purposes,Feet that are swift in running to mischief,
Rob not the poor, {Or, for}because he is poor;Neither {Or, crush}oppress the afflicted in the gate:
But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the {Hebrew: bread.}fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
For Jehovah will plead their cause,And despoil of life those that despoil them.
But, O Jehovah of hosts, who judgest righteously, who triest the {Hebrew: reins.}heart and the mind, I shall see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
Remove not the ancient landmark;And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
For their Redeemer is strong;He will plead their cause against thee.
Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
For from within, out of the heart of men, {Greek: thoughts that are evil.}evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness:
all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man.
learn to do well; seek justice, {Or, set right the oppressor}relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
but each man is {Or, tempted by his own lust, being drawn away by it, and enticed.}tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.
They are waxed fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
Shalt thou reign, because thou {Or, viest with the cedar}strivest to excel in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? then it was well with him.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Was not this to know me? saith Jehovah.
But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy {Or, dishonest gain}covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.
In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah.
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.
Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink.
Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine thereof.
For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins— ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate from their right.
Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks, neither shall ye walk haughtily; for it is an evil time.
And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?
ye who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
Then shall they cry unto Jehovah, but he will not answer them; yea, he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.
Woe to her that is rebellious and polluted! to the oppressing city!
She obeyed not the voice; she received not {Or, instruction}correction; she trusted not in Jehovah; she drew not near to her God.
Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they {Or, gnaw not the bones on the morrow}leave nothing till the morrow.
And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner from his right, and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.
- - -
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.