And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of armies;
Parallel translations
- WEB It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen,” said Yahweh of Armies;
- KJV Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:
- BSB And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.
- NKJV Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts.
- NLT “Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Because they would not listen when God called, He would not listen when they called. Refusing God's word leads to a withdrawal of His favorable response.
Overview
The Lord describes a sobering correspondence: the people's deafness to Him was answered by His silence to their cries in the day of trouble (cf. Proverbs 1:24-28). It illustrates the principle of reaping what one sows in one's response to God. Yet this stands as a warning, not the final word, for God still calls the remnant to repentance and blessing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Prov 1:24–28Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention;
- Isa 1:15When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
- Jer 14:12When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and meal offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.”
- Jer 11:11Therefore Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will bring evil on them, which they shall not be able to escape; and they shall cry to me, but I will not listen to them.
- Mic 3:4Then they will cry to Yahweh, but he will not answer them. Yes, he will hide his face from them at that time, because they made their deeds evil.”
- Ps 81:8–12“Hear, my people, and I will testify to you, Israel, if you would listen to me!
- Jas 4:3You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.
- Luke 19:42–44saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes.
- Prov 28:9He who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
- Jer 6:16–17Yahweh says, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
- Isa 50:2Why, when I came, was there no one? when I called, why was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it can’t redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea. I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst.
- Prov 21:13Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.
- Ezek 20:3“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I will not be inquired of by you.”’
- Luke 13:34–35“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused!
- Luke 13:25When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
- Matt 25:11–12Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’
- Ezek 14:3“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face. Should I be inquired of at all by them?
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Christ at the center
The Branch who is both priest and king, the shepherd struck and the flock scattered, the king coming humble on a donkey, the one they pierced, the fountain opened for sin — Zechariah is dense with Christ.
How Zechariah 7:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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