Now it happened that in the fourth year of King Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^aChislev. 2 And the town of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and ¹their men to ^2aentreat the favor of Yahweh, 3 speaking to the ^apriests, who belong to the house of Yahweh of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the ^bfifth month ¹and abstain, as I have done these many years?” 4 Then the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, 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 ¹these ^aseventy years, was it actually for ^bMe that you fasted? 6 And when you eat and when you drink, ¹are you not eating for yourselves and are you not drinking for yourselves? 7 Are not these the words which Yahweh ^acalled out by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^bat ease along with its cities around it, and the ^1cNegev and the ²Shephelah were inhabited?’”

8 Then the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah saying, 9 “Thus has Yahweh of hosts said, ‘^aJudge with true justice and show ^blovingkindness and compassion each to his brother; 10 and ^ado not oppress the widow or the ¹orphan, the sojourner or the afflicted; and do ^bnot devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ 11 But they ^arefused to give heed and ^1bturned a stubborn shoulder and ^2cdulled their ears from hearing. 12 And they made their ^ahearts ^1bdiamond-hard ²so that they could not hear the law and the ^cwords which Yahweh of hosts had sent by His Spirit by the hand of the ^dformer prophets; therefore great ^ewrath came from Yahweh of hosts. 13 And it happened that just as ^aHe called and they would not listen, so ^bthey called and I would not listen,” says Yahweh of hosts; 14 “but I ^1ascattered 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 was passing through and returning, for they ^emade the pleasant land desolate.”

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 hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the ^bfifth month ¹and abstain, as I have done these many years?” 4 Then the word of the LORD of hosts 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 When you eat and drink, ¹do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves? 7 Are not these the words which the LORD ^aproclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^1bprosperous along with its cities around it, and the ^2cNegev and the ³foothills 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 each to his brother; 10 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.’ 11 But they ^arefused to pay attention and ^1bturned a stubborn shoulder and ^2cstopped their ears from hearing. 12 They made their ^ahearts like ^1bflint 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. 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 ^1ascattered 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.”