1 I n 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.

In the fourth year of king Darius, Yahweh’s word came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.

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

The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech, and their men, to entreat Yahweh’s favor,

3 T hey 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?”

and to speak to the priests of the house of Yahweh of Armies, 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 the Word of the Lord of All came to me saying,

Then the word of Yahweh of Armies came to me, saying,

5 “ 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?

“Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?

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

When you eat, and when you drink, don’t you eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

7 A re 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

Aren’t these the words which Yahweh proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’”

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

Yahweh’s word came to Zechariah, saying,

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

“Thus has Yahweh of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.

10 D o 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.’

Don’t oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.’

11 B ut they would not listen. They turned away and stopped their ears from hearing.

But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.

12 T hey 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.

Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law, and the words which Yahweh of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of Armies.

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

It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen,” said Yahweh of Armies;

14 “ 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.”

“but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate.”