| King James Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu; | 1During the fourth year of the reign of King Darius, a message from the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month Kislev. |
| 2When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD, | 2The people of Bethel were sending Sharezer, Regem-melech, and their men to pray in the LORD's presence |
| 3And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? | 3and to speak to the priests assigned to the Temple of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies along with the prophets, asking, "Am I to go about mourning, denying myself throughout the fifth month, as I have these many years?" |
| 4Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying, | 4Then this message from the LORD of the Heavenly Armies came to me: |
| 5Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? | 5"Talk to everyone in the land, as well as to the priests. Ask them, 'When you were fasting and mourning during the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, were you really fasting for me? |
| 6And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? | 6And when you eat and drink, you're eating and drinking for your own benefit, aren't you? |
| 7Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain? | 7Isn't this what the LORD proclaimed through the former prophets, when a prosperous Jerusalem was inhabited, as were its surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah?'" |
| 8And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying, | 8This message from the LORD came to Zechariah again: |
| 9Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: | 9"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: 'Administer true justice, and show gracious love and mercy toward each other. |
| 10And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. | 10You are not to wrong the widow, orphans, the foreigner, or the poor, and you are not to plan evil against each other. |
| 11But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. | 11But they refused to pay attention, turned their backs, and stopped listening. |
| 12Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts. | 12They made their hearts hard like a diamond, to keep from obeying the Law and the messages that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. |
| 13Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts: | 13Therefore, just as when I cried out and they would not listen, so also they will cry out, and I will not listen,' says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. |
| 14But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate. | 14I will scatter them to all of the nations, which they have not known.'" Now the earth was left desolate after them. As a result, no one came or went because they had turned a pleasant land into a desert. |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
|
