Zechariah 7:13

"And it is come to pass that, as he cried, and they would not hear, so they shall cry, and I will not hear, said Jehovah of hosts."

The change of persons here, "He cried... I will not hear," both having reference to Jehovah, is a source of perplexity to some students; this is due only to the fact that the prophets simply did not write like other people. This switch from one person to another, and such things as the scrambling of tenses, along with the failure always to form complete sentences, are absolutely par for the course in the sacred writings. It should be admitted by people who complain about such things, however, that the meaning is absolutely certain. The change as given in the New English Bible gives the correct meaning, of course; but it is not a translation of this verse. "As they did not listen when I called, so I did not listen when they called."[25]