Zechariah 7:5
New International Version
“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?

New Living Translation
“Say to all your people and your priests, ‘During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting?

English Standard Version
“Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?

Berean Standard Bible
“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted?

King James Bible
Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

New King James Version
“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?

New American Standard Bible
“Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted?

NASB 1995
“Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted?

NASB 1977
“Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted?

Legacy Standard Bible
“Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted?

Amplified Bible
“Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years [that you were in exile], was it actually for Me that you fasted?

Christian Standard Bible
“Ask all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for me?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Ask all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh months for these 70 years, did you really fast for Me?

American Standard Version
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?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Say to all the people of the land and to the Priests: “When you fasted and you made lamentation in the fifth month and the seventh, behold, seventy years, were you fasting a fast for me?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Speak to the whole people of the land, and to the priests, saying, Though ye fasted or lamented in the fifth or seventh months (yea, behold, these seventy years) have ye at all fasted to me?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: When you fasted, and mourned in the fifth and the seventh month for these seventy years: did you keep a fast unto me?

English Revised Version
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?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Tell all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these past 70 years, did you really do it for me?

Good News Translation
He said, "Tell the people of the land and the priests that when they fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during these seventy years, it was not in honor of me.

International Standard Version
"Talk to everyone in the land, as well as to the priests. Ask them, 'When you were fasting and mourning during the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, were you really fasting for me?

JPS Tanakh 1917
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?

Literal Standard Version
“Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying,

Majority Standard Bible
“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted?

New American Bible
Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh month these seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?

NET Bible
"Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows: 'When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me--for me, indeed?

New Revised Standard Version
Say to all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?

New Heart English Bible
"Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?

Webster's Bible Translation
Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast to me, even to me?

World English Bible
“Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?

Young's Literal Translation
'Speak unto all the people of the land, and unto the priests, saying:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
A Call to Justice and Mercy
4Then the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying, 5“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted? 6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not doing so simply for yourselves?…

Cross References
Isaiah 1:11
"What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?" says the LORD. "I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

Isaiah 1:12
When you come to appear before Me, who has required this of you--this trampling of My courts?

Isaiah 43:23
You have not brought Me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, nor wearied you with frankincense.

Isaiah 58:3
"Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?" "Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers.

Isaiah 58:5
Is this the fast I have chosen: a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD?

Jeremiah 25:11
And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

Jeremiah 29:10
For this is what the LORD says: "When Babylon's seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.


Treasury of Scripture

Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did you at all fast to me, even to me?

When.

Isaiah 58:5
Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?

seventh.

Zechariah 8:19
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.

2 Kings 25:23
And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

Jeremiah 41:1-4
Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah…

seventy.

Zechariah 7:3
And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

Zechariah 1:12
Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?

Jeremiah 25:11
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

did.

Zechariah 7:6
And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

Isaiah 1:11,12
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats…

Isaiah 58:4-6
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high…

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Fast Fasted Fifth Food Grief Month Months Mourned Past Priests Really Seventh Seventy Speak Yourselves
Zechariah 7
1. The captives enquire concerning the set fasts.
4. Zechariah reproves the hypocrisy of their fasting.
8. Sin the cause of their captivity.














Verse 5. - Unto all the people of the land. The message was not for Bethel only, but for all the restored Jews, for whose satisfaction the question had been asked. And to the priests. The prophet was to make known to the priests God's will in this matter, it not being a mere ritual question. Fifth month (see note on ver. 3). The original question referred only to this fast; the answer embraces also another fast appointed by human authority. The seventh month. This fast was instituted in consequence of the murder of Gedaliah, B.C. 587, just seventy years ago, when the greater part of the remnant of the Jews, contrary to the prophet's warning, fled into Egypt to escape the punishment of the crime (2 Kings 25:25, 26; Jeremiah 41:2, 16, etc.). Did ye at all fast unto me? It was not by God's command, or to do him honor, that they fasted; not from hearty repentance or sorrow for the sins which had brought ruin upon their city and country; but from vexation at the calamity itself, and in a self-righteous spirit, with some idea of gaining merit by this punishment of the body; and God was not constrained by this formal observance to show them favour. Even to me. (For the forcible repetition of the pronoun, comp. Genesis 27:34; Proverbs 22:19; Haggai 1:4.)

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“Ask
אֱמֹר֙ (’ĕ·mōr)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

all
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the people
עַ֣ם (‘am)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

of the land
הָאָ֔רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

and the priests,
הַכֹּהֲנִ֖ים (hak·kō·hă·nîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3548: Priest

‘When
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

you fasted
צַמְתֶּ֨ם (ṣam·tem)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 6684: To abstain from food, fast

and mourned
וְסָפ֜וֹד (wə·sā·p̄ō·wḏ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 5594: To tear the hair and beat the breasts, to lament, to wail

in the fifth
בַּחֲמִישִׁ֣י (ba·ḥă·mî·šî)
Preposition-b, Article | Number - ordinal masculine singular
Strong's 2549: Fifth, a fifth

and seventh months
וּבַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י (ū·ḇaš·šə·ḇî·‘î)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Number - ordinal masculine singular
Strong's 7637: Seventh (an ordinal number)

for these
וְזֶה֙ (wə·zeh)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

seventy
שִׁבְעִ֣ים (šiḇ·‘îm)
Number - common plural
Strong's 7657: Seventy (a cardinal number)

years,
שָׁנָ֔ה (šā·nāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8141: A year

{was it really} for Me
אָֽנִי׃ (’ā·nî)
Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 589: I

that you fasted?
הֲצ֥וֹם (hă·ṣō·wm)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 6684: To abstain from food, fast


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OT Prophets: Zechariah 7:5 Speak to all the people (Zech. Zec Zc)
Zechariah 7:4
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