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Zechariah Chapter 7
The people inquire concerning fasting, and they are admonished to fast from sin.
English (Douay-Rheims)
1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, in the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Casleu.
2 When Sarasar, and Rogommelech, and the men that were with him, sent to the house of God, to entreat the face of the Lord:
3 To speak to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying: Must I weep in the fifth month, or must I sanctify myself as I have now done for many years? The fifth month... They fasted on the tenth day of the fifth month; because on that day the temple was burnt. Therefore they inquire whether they are to continue the fast, after the temple is rebuilt. See this query answered in the 19th verse of the following chapter.
4 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:
5 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?
6 And when you did eat and drink, did you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
7 Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem as yet was inhabited, and was wealthy, both itself and the cities round about it, and there were inhabitants towards the south, and in the plain?
8 And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying:
9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: Judge ye true judgment, and show ye mercy and compassion every man to his brother.
10 And oppress not the widow, and the fatherless, and the stranger, and the poor: and let not a man devise evil in his heart against his brother.
11 But they would not hearken, and they turned away the shoulder to depart: and they stopped their ears, not to hear.
12 And they made their heart as the adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent in his spirit by the hand of the former prophets: so a great indignation came from Lord of hosts.
13 And it came to pass that as he spoke, and they heard not: so shall they cry, and I will not hear, saith the Lord of hosts.
14 And I dispersed them throughout all kingdoms, which they know not: and the land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed through or returned: and they changed the delightful land into a wilderness.
Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899
Latin (Clementine Vulgate)
1 Et factum est in anno quarto Darii regis, factum est verbum Domini ad Zachariam, in quarta mensis noni, qui est Casleu.
2 Et miserunt ad domum Dei Sarasar et Rogommelech, et viri qui erant cum eo, ad deprecandam faciem Domini:
3 ut dicerent sacerdotibus domus Domini exercituum, et prophetis, loquentes: Numquid flendum est mihi in quinto mense, vel sanctificare me debeo, sicut jam feci multis annis?
4 Et factum est verbum Domini exercituum ad me, dicens:
5 Loquere ad omnem populum terræ, et ad sacerdotes, dicens: Cum jejunaretis, et plangeretis in quinto et septimo per hos septuaginta annos, numquid jejunium jejunastis mihi?
6 et cum comedistis et bibistis, numquid non vobis comedistis et vobismetipsis bibistis?
7 numquid non sunt verba quæ locutus est Dominus in manu prophetarum priorum, cum adhuc Jerusalem habitaretur ut esset opulenta, ipsa et urbes in circuitu ejus, et ad austrum, et in campestribus habitaretur?
8 Et factum est verbum Domini ad Zachariam, dicens:
9 Hæc ait Dominus exercituum, dicens: Judicium verum judicate, et misericordiam et miserationes facite, unusquisque cum fratre suo.
10 Et viduam, et pupillum, et advenam, et pauperem nolite calumniari: et malum vir fratri suo non cogitet in corde suo.
11 Et noluerunt attendere, et averterunt scapulam recedentem, et aures suas aggravaverunt ne audirent.
12 Et cor suum posuerunt ut adamantem, ne audirent legem, et verba quæ misit Dominus exercituum in spiritu suo per manum prophetarum priorum: et facta est indignatio magna a Domino exercituum.
13 Et factum est sicut locutus est, et non audierunt: sic clamabunt et non exaudiam, dicit Dominus exercituum.
14 Et dispersi eos per omnia regna quæ nesciunt: et terra desolata est ab eis, eo quod non esset transiens et revertens: et posuerunt terram desiderabilem in desertum.
Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
Please notify the original transcriber (little.mouth@soon.com) of any errors in this Latin edition
