Reading for March 14th

 Read Zechariah 7.1-7. In 7.1-14: A charge to live justly. Zechariah's concluding speech is divided into two parts: an appeal-with an eye on the past-to create a just society (ch 7), and a promise -with an eye on the future-of renewal and celebration (ch. 8). In verse 1; This speech is dated two years later (518 BCE) than Zechariah's opening speech (1.1). In verse 2: Bethel is 10 miles north of Jerusalem, In verse 3: Prophets were often asked for divine instruction (Ezek 8.1; 14.1). The period of mourning in the fifth month, about which envoys ask Zechariah, may have commemorated the destruction of the Temple in the fifth month (2 Kings 25.8-9). In verse 5: Seventy years appears to refer to the Exile, though the exile was shorter (see 1.12). In verse 7: Zechariah refers to the period before Jerusalem fall in 587BCE. Comments or Questions..