Zechariah 7:1-7 NKJV


Zechariah 7:1-7 Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev,

when the people sent Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to the house of God, to pray before the LORD,

and to ask the priests who were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and the prophets, saying, "Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?

Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,

"Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests; "When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me--for Me?

'When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves?

'Should you not have obeyed the words which the LORD proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?'"

Malachi 2:1-7 "And now, O priests, this commandment is for you.

If you will not hear; And if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name," Says the LORD of hosts, "I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, Because you do not take it to heart.

"Behold, I will rebuke your descendants And spread refuse on your faces, The refuse of your solemn feasts; And one will take you away with it.

Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, That My covenant with Levi may continue." says the LORD of hosts.

"My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear Me; so he feared Me And was reverent before My name.

The law of truth was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, And turned many away from iniquity.

"For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth.

Isaiah 58:1-9 "Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.

Yet they seek My daily, and delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God.

'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and you take no notice?' "in fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, And exploit all your laborers.

Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness, You will not fast as you do this day, To make your voice heard on high.

Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the LORD?

"Is this not the fast that I have chosen; To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.' "if you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness.