1 A nd in the fourth year of the reign of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev.

And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;

2 N ow the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to pray and entreat the favor of the Lord

When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the Lord,

3 A nd to speak to the priests of 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 ?

And 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?

4 T hen came the word of the Lord of hosts to me, saying,

Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying,

5 S peak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months, even those seventy years you were in exile, was it for Me that you fasted, for Me?

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

6 A nd when you ate and when you drank, did you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?

And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

7 S hould you not hear the words which the Lord cried by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity with her cities round about her, and the South (the Negeb) and the lowlands were inhabited?

Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?

8 A nd the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying,

And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying,

9 T hus has the Lord of hosts spoken: Execute true judgment and show mercy and kindness and tender compassion, every man to his brother;

Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

10 A nd oppress not the widow or the fatherless, the temporary resident or the poor, and let none of you devise or imagine or think evil against his brother in your heart.

And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

11 B ut they refused to listen and turned a rebellious and stubborn shoulder and made heavy and dull their ears that they might not hear.

But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

12 Y es, they made their hearts as an adamant stone or diamond point, lest they should hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore there came great wrath from the Lord of hosts.

Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.

13 S o it came to pass that as He cried and they would not hear, So they shall cry and I will not answer, says the Lord of hosts,

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:

14 B ut I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they know not and who know not them. Thus the land was desolate after they had gone, so that no man passed through or returned, for they had laid waste and forsaken the pleasant land (the land of desire).

But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.