| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev, | 1In King Darius' fourth year, on the fourth day of Kislev, the ninth month, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah. |
| 2when the people sent Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to the house of God, to pray before the LORD, | 2Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech and their companions to seek the LORD's favor |
| 3and to ask the priests who were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?” | 3by asking both the priests of the temple of the LORD who rules over all and the prophets, "Should we weep in the fifth month, fasting as we have done over the years?" |
| 4Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, | 4The word of the LORD who rules over all then came to me, |
| 5“Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me? | 5"Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows: 'When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me--for me, indeed? |
| 6When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? | 6And now when you eat and drink, are you not doing so for yourselves?'" |
| 7Should you not have obeyed the words which the LORD proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?’ ” | 7Should you not have obeyed the words that the LORD cried out through the former prophets when Jerusalem was peacefully inhabited and her surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah were also populated? |
| 8Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, | 8Again the word of the LORD came to Zechariah: |
| 9“Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother. | 9"The LORD who rules over all said, 'Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other. |
| 10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.’ | 10You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.' |
| 11“But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. | 11"But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear. |
| 12Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the LORD of hosts. | 12Indeed, they made their heart as hard as diamond, so that they could not obey the Torah and the other words the LORD who rules over all had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, the LORD who rules over all had poured out great wrath. |
| 13Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,” says the LORD of hosts. | 13"'It then came about that just as I cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,' the LORD LORD who rules over all had said. |
| 14“But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.” | 14Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.' Thus the land had become desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful land a waste." |
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