« | Zechariah 7 | » |
1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev.
2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the LORD,
3 saying to the priests of the house of the LORD of hosts and the prophets, "Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?"
4 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me:
5 "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?
6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?
7 Were not these the words that the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?"
8 And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying,
9 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another,
10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart."
11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.
12 They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts.
13 "As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear," says the LORD of hosts,
14 "and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate."
The English Standard Version (ESV)
The English Standard Version (ESV) is a prominent Bible translation that strives to balance word-for-word accuracy with readability. First published in 2001 by Crossway, the ESV was developed by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors. It aims to provide a faithful rendering of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts while maintaining the literary quality and stylistic beauty of the English language. This translation approach makes the ESV suitable for both personal study and public worship.
A key feature of the ESV is its commitment to formal equivalence, or essentially literal translation philosophy. This method prioritizes a close correspondence between the original languages and the English text, ensuring that the translation remains as true as possible to the original words and structures. The ESV translators worked meticulously to preserve the nuances and intricacies of the biblical languages, while also striving for clarity and smoothness in English. This balance makes the ESV highly regarded for its accuracy and readability.
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Despite its many strengths, the ESV has faced some criticism. Some readers and scholars argue that the translation’s formal equivalence approach can sometimes result in a text that is overly rigid and less fluid than more dynamic translations. Others have raised concerns about gender-specific language in the ESV, suggesting that it may not be as inclusive as some other modern translations. Nonetheless, the English Standard Version remains a highly respected and widely used translation, valued for its accuracy, readability, and commitment to preserving the original meaning of the biblical texts.