Zechariah 7:5

God asks whether their seventy years of fasting were truly for Him or merely for themselves. The question exposes that ritual without heart-devotion does not honor God.

Cross-references · 19

• Zech 1:12Then 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?
• Isa 58:4–6Behold, 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.
• 1 Cor 10:31Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
• Matt 5:16–18Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
• Col 3:23And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
• Zech 7:3And 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?
• Matt 6:2Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
• Rom 14:17–18For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
• Zech 7:6And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
• Matt 6:5And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
• Matt 6:16Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
• Rom 14:6–9He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
• Isa 1:11–12To 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.
• 2 Cor 5:15And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
• Zech 8:19Thus 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.
• Matt 23:5But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
• Jer 25:11And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
• Jer 41:1–4Now 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.
• 2 Kgs 25:23And 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.

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