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.

Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev,

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 the people sent Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to the house of God, 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 ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?”

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

Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to 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?

“Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me?

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

When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat 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 you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?’” Disobedience Resulted in Captivity

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

Then the word of the Lord came to 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 says the Lord of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone 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.

Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.’

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 heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could 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.

Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came 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 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.

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 which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.”