In the fourth year of the reign of King Darius of Persia, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^aChislev (Dec 7, 518 B.C.). 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to ^aseek the favor of the LORD, 3 speaking to the ^apriests who belong to the house of the LORD of hosts and to the prophets, saying, “ Now that I am returned from exile shall I weep in the ^bfifth month mourning the destruction of the temple, and fast as I have done these many years in Babylon?” 4 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me (Zechariah) , saying, 5 “Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these ^aseventy years that you were in exile, was it actually for ^bMe that you fasted? 6 When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves to satisfy your own needs? 7 Should you not hear the words which the LORD ^aproclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^bprosperous along with her cities around her, and the ^cSouth (the Negev) and the foothills were inhabited?’”

8 Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus has the LORD of hosts said, ‘^aDispense true justice and practice ^bkindness and compassion, to each other; 10 and ^ado not oppress or exploit the widow or the fatherless, the stranger or the poor; and do ^bnot devise or even imagine evil in your hearts against one another.’ 11 But they ^arefused to listen and pay attention and ^bturned a stubborn shoulder stiffening themselves in resistance and ^cstopped up their ears. 12 They made their ^ahearts hard like ^bflint, so 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. 13 And just as ^aHe called and they would not listen, so ^bthey called and I would not listen,” says the LORD of hosts; 14 “but I ^ascattered them with a ^bstorm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land was ^cdesolate after they had gone, so that ^dno one passed through or returned, for they by their sins ^ehad made the pleasant land desolate and deserted.”

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. 2 Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and ¹their men to ^2aseek the favor of the LORD, 3 speaking to the ^apriests who belong to the house of the LORD of armies, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the ^bfifth month ¹and fast, as I have done these many years?” 4 Then the word of the LORD of armies came to 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 ¹these ^aseventy years, was it actually for ^bMe that you fasted? 6 And when you eat and drink, ¹do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 Are these not the words which the LORD ^aproclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^bcarefree along with its cities around it, and the ^1cNegev and the ²foothills were inhabited?’”

8 Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “This is what the LORD of armies has said: ‘^aDispense true justice and practice ^bkindness and compassion each to his brother; 10 and ^ado not oppress the widow or the ¹orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do ^bnot devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ 11 But they ^arefused to pay attention, and ^1bturned a stubborn shoulder and ^2cplugged their ears from hearing. 12 They also made their ^ahearts as hard as ^ba diamond ¹so that they could not hear the Law and the ^cwords which the LORD of armies had sent by His Spirit through the ^dformer prophets; therefore great ^ewrath came from the LORD of armies. 13 And just as ^aHe called and they would not listen, so ^bthey called and I would not listen,” says the LORD of armies; 14 “but I ^1ascattered them with a ^bstorm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was ^cdesolated behind them ²so that ^dno one went back and forth, since they ^emade the pleasant land desolate.”