1 ¶ 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;

In the fourth year of King Darius, the Word of the Lord came to Zechariah. This was on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.

2 w hen they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech and their men, to pray before the LORD

Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to ask for the Lord’s favor.

3 a nd to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of the hosts and to the prophets, saying, Should we weep in the fifth month? Should we do abstinence as we have done these so many years?

They asked the religious leaders of the house of the Lord of All, and the men who speak for God, “Should I cry and go without food in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?”

4 T hen the word of the LORD of the hosts came unto me, saying,

Then the Word of the Lord of All came to me saying,

5 S peak 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?

“Say to all the people of the land and to the religious leaders, ‘When you went without food and cried in sorrow in the fifth and seventh months these 70 years, was it to honor Me?

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

When you eat and drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves?

7 A re these not the words which the LORD has published by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and quiet and the cities thereof round about her and when the south and the plain were inhabited?

Are not these the words the Lord made known through the men who spoke for Him in the past? They spoke these words when Jerusalem was full of people and riches, together with the cities around it, and when the Negev and the lower hills were full of people.’” People Taken Away Because Of Not Obeying

8 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,

Then the Word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying,

9 T hus hath the LORD of the hosts spoken, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion each one to his brother;

“The Lord of All said, ‘Do what is right and be kind and show loving-pity to one another.

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

Do not make it hard for the woman whose husband has died, or the child who has no parents, or the stranger, or the poor. Do not make sinful plans in your hearts against one another.’

11 B ut they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their ears that they should not hear.

But they would not listen. They turned away and stopped their ears from hearing.

12 Y ea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone lest they should hear the law and the words which the LORD of the hosts has sent by his Spirit by the hand of the former prophets; therefore came great wrath from the LORD of the hosts.

They made their hearts like hard stone, so that they could not hear the Law and the words which the Lord of All had sent by His Spirit through the men who spoke for Him in the past. So the Lord of All became very angry.

13 T herefore 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 the hosts:

When I called, they would not listen. So when they called, I would not listen,” says the Lord of All.

14 b ut I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the Gentiles whom they did not know. Thus the land was desolate after them that no man passed through nor returned; for they laid the desirable land desolate.

“With the wind of a storm I sent them everywhere among all the nations that they had not known. The land was laid waste behind them, so that no one could come or go. They turned the good land into an empty waste.”