1 I n the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is 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 town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to seek 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 s peaking to the priests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?”

and 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?

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

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

5 “ Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted?

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 W hen you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?

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

7 A re not these the words which the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous along with its cities around it, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?’”

Are 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?

8 T hen the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying,

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

9 “ Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘ Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother;

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

10 a nd do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’

and 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.

11 B ut they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing.

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

12 T hey made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came 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 the hosts has sent by his Spirit by the hand of the former prophets; therefore came great wrath from the LORD of the hosts.

13 A nd just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” 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 the hosts:

14 “ but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, for they made the pleasant land desolate.”

but 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.