In the fourth year
of King
Darius
, the word
of the LORD
came
to Zechariah
on the fourth
day of the ninth
month
, which is aChislev
.
Now the town of Bethel had sent
Sharezer
and Regemmelech
and 1their men
to 2 aseek
the favor
of the LORD
,
speaking to the apriests
who
belong to the house
of the LORD
of hosts
, and to the prophets
, saying
, "Shall I weep
in the bfifth
month
1and abstain
, as I have done
these
many
years
?"
Then the word of the LORD
of hosts
came
to me, saying
,
"Say to all
the people
of the land
and to the priests
, `When
you fasted
and mourned
in the fifth
and seventh
months 1these
aseventy
years
, was it actually
for bMe that you fasted
?
`When you eat
and drink
, 1do you not eat
for yourselves and do you not drink
for yourselves?
`Are not these the words which
the LORD
aproclaimed
by the former
prophets
, when Jerusalem
was inhabited
and 1 bprosperous
along with its cities
around
it, and the 2 cNegev
and the 3foothills
were inhabited
?' "
Then the word of the LORD
came
to Zechariah
saying
,
"Thus has the LORD
of hosts
said
, ` aDispense
true
justice
and practice
bkindness
and compassion
each
to his brother
;
and ado not oppress the widow
or the 1orphan
, the 2stranger
or the poor
; and do bnot devise
evil
in your hearts
against one
another
.'
"But they arefused to pay
attention
and 1 bturned
a stubborn
shoulder
and 2 cstopped
their ears
from hearing
.
"They made their ahearts
like 1 bflint
2so
that they could not hear
the law
and the cwords
which
the LORD
of hosts
had sent
by His Spirit
through
the dformer
prophets
; therefore great
ewrath
came
from the LORD
of hosts
.
"And just as aHe called
and they would not listen
, so
bthey called
and I would not listen
," says
the LORD
of hosts
;
"but I 1 ascattered them with a bstorm
wind
among
all
the nations
whom
they have not known
. Thus the land
is cdesolated
behind
them 2so
that dno
one went
back
and forth
, for they emade
the pleasant
land
desolate
."