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;

And it cometh to pass, in the fourth year of Darius the king hath a word of Jehovah been unto Zechariah, in the fourth of the ninth month, in Chisleu.

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

And Beth-El sendeth Sherezer and Regem-Melech, and its men, to appease the face of Jehovah,

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?

speaking unto the priests who at the house of Jehovah of Hosts, and unto the prophets, saying, `Do I weep in the fifth month -- being separated -- as I have done these so many years?'

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

And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts unto 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?

`Speak unto all the people of the land, and unto the priests, saying:

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

When ye fasted with mourning in the fifth and in the seventh -- even these seventy years -- did ye keep the fast Me -- Me? And when ye eat, and when ye drink, is it not ye who are eating, and ye who are drinking?

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 the words that Jehovah proclaimed by the hand of the former prophets, in Jerusalem's being inhabited, and safety, and its cities round about it, and the south and the plain -- abiding?'

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

And there is a word of Jehovah unto 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;

`Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts, saying: True judgment judge ye, And kindness and mercy do one with 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.

And widow, and fatherless, Sojourner, and poor, ye do not oppress, And the calamity of one another ye do not devise in your heart.

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

And they refuse to attend, And they give a refractory shoulder, And their ears have made heavy against 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.

And their heart they have made adamant, Against hearing the law, and the words, That Jehovah of Hosts sent by His Spirit, By the hand of the former prophets, And their is great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts.

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:

And it cometh to pass, as He called, And they have not hearkened, So do they call, and I do not hearken, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

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.

And I toss them on all the nations, That they have not known, The land hath been desolate behind them, Of any passing by and turning back, And they set a desirable land for a desolation!