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.”

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 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.”