TORAH
FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES
NEVI'IM
PROPHETS
KETUVIM
WRITINGS

Zechariah - Chapter 7

Listen to this chapter in Hebrew:

1In the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Kislev, the word of Hashem came to Zecharya—

אוַיְהִי בִּשְׁנַת אַרְבַּע לְדָרְיָוֶשׁ הַמֶּלֶךְ הָיָה דְבַר־יְהֹוָה אֶל־זְכַרְיָה בְּאַרְבָּעָה לַחֹדֶשׁ הַתְּשִׁעִי בְּכִסְלֵו׃

2when Beit El-sharezer and Regem-melech and his men sent to entreat the favor of Hashem,

בוַיִּשְׁלַח בֵּית־אֵל שַׂר־אֶצֶר וְרֶגֶם מֶלֶךְ וַאֲנָשָׁיו לְחַלּוֹת אֶת־פְּנֵי יְהֹוָה׃

3[and] to address this inquiry to the Kohanim of the House of Hashem and to the Neviim: “Shall I weep and practice abstinence in the fifth month, as I have been doing all these years?”

גלֵאמֹר אֶל־הַכֹּהֲנִים אֲשֶׁר לְבֵית־יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת וְאֶל־הַנְּבִיאִים לֵאמֹר הַאֶבְכֶּה בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַחֲמִשִׁי הִנָּזֵר כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי זֶה כַּמֶּה שָׁנִים׃

4Thereupon the word of the lord of Hosts came to me:

דוַיְהִי דְּבַר־יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת אֵלַי לֵאמֹר׃

5Say to all the people of the land and to the Kohanim: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months all these seventy years, did you fast for my benefit?

e-MOR el kol AM ha-A-retz v'-el ha-ko-ha-NEEM lay-MOR kee tzam-TEM v'-sa-FOD ba-kha-mee-SHEE u-va-sh'-vee-EE v'-ZEH shiv-EEM sha-NAH ha-TZOM tzam-TU-nee A-nee

האֱמֹר אֶל־כָּל־עַם הָאָרֶץ וְאֶל־הַכֹּהֲנִים לֵאמֹר כִּי־צַמְתֶּם וְסָפוֹד בַּחֲמִישִׁי וּבַשְּׁבִיעִי וְזֶה שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה הֲצוֹם צַמְתֻּנִי אָנִי׃

 7:5 Did you fast for my benefit?

In the fourth year of King Darius, a delegation is sent to the prophet in Yerushalayim by the Jews who remained behind in Babylonia. They come with the following question: since the Jewish people are back in the Land of Israel and the Beit Hamikdash is being rebuilt, is it appropriate to continue to fast and mourn over the destruction of the first Temple, as they have been doing annually for decades? The prophet’s response is clear. In Hashem’s eyes, fasting and other external signs of mourning have no value if not accompanied by sincere repentance and ethical behavior (verses 9-10). The medieval commentator, Rabbi Yitzchak Abrabanel, notes that while the question originates from the Jews in Babylon, the answer is directed towards the inhabitants of Eretz Yisrael. They sacrificed to return to the land; it is their actions that carry the most spiritual significance for the world.

Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508)

Jews mourning at the Western Wall, the location where the Holy Temple stood before its destruction.

6And when you eat and drink, who but you does the eating, and who but you does the drinking?

ווְכִי תֹאכְלוּ וְכִי תִשְׁתּוּ הֲלוֹא אַתֶּם הָאֹכְלִים וְאַתֶּם הַשֹּׁתִים׃

7Look, this is the message that Hashem proclaimed through the earlier Neviim, when Yerushalayim and the towns about her were peopled and tranquil, when the Negev and the Shephelah were peopled.

זהֲלוֹא אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר קָרָא יְהֹוָה בְּיַד הַנְּבִיאִים הָרִאשֹׁנִים בִּהְיוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַ ִם יֹשֶׁבֶת וּשְׁלֵוָה וְעָרֶיהָ סְבִיבֹתֶיהָ וְהַנֶּגֶב וְהַשְּׁפֵלָה יֹשֵׁב׃

8And the word of Hashem to Zecharya continued:

חוַיְהִי דְּבַר־יְהֹוָה אֶל־זְכַרְיָה לֵאמֹר׃

9Thus said the lord of Hosts: Execute true justice; deal loyally and compassionately with one another.

טכֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת לֵאמֹר מִשְׁפַּט אֱמֶת שְׁפֹטוּ וְחֶסֶד וְרַחֲמִים עֲשׂוּ אִישׁ אֶת־אָחִיו׃

10Do not defraud the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor; and do not plot evil against one another.—

יוְאַלְמָנָה וְיָתוֹם גֵּר וְעָנִי אַל־תַּעֲשֹׁקוּ וְרָעַת אִישׁ אָחִיו אַל־תַּחְשְׁבוּ בִּלְבַבְכֶם׃

11But they refused to pay heed. They presented a balky back and turned a deaf ear.

יאוַיְמָאֲנוּ לְהַקְשִׁיב וַיִּתְּנוּ כָתֵף סֹרָרֶת וְאָזְנֵיהֶם הִכְבִּידוּ מִשְּׁמוֹעַ׃

12They hardened their hearts like adamant against heeding the instruction and admonition that the lord of Hosts sent to them by His spirit through the earlier Neviim; and a terrible wrath issued from the lord of Hosts.

יבוְלִבָּם שָׂמוּ שָׁמִיר מִשְּׁמוֹעַ אֶת־הַתּוֹרָה וְאֶת־הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַח יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת בְּרוּחוֹ בְּיַד הַנְּבִיאִים הָרִאשֹׁנִים וַיְהִי קֶצֶף גָּדוֹל מֵאֵת יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת׃

13Even as He called and they would not listen, “So,” said the lord of Hosts, “let them call and I will not listen.”

יגוַיְהִי כַאֲשֶׁר־קָרָא וְלֹא שָׁמֵעוּ כֵּן יִקְרְאוּ וְלֹא אֶשְׁמָע אָמַר יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת׃

14I dispersed them among all those nations which they had not known, and the land was left behind them desolate, without any who came and went. They caused a delightful land to be turned into a desolation.

ידוְאֵסָעֲרֵם עַל כָּל־הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יְדָעוּם וְהָאָרֶץ נָשַׁמָּה אַחֲרֵיהֶם מֵעֹבֵר וּמִשָּׁב וַיָּשִׂימוּ אֶרֶץ־חֶמְדָּה לְשַׁמָּה׃