1 o[ch. 1:1, 7] In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which ispNeh. 1:1 Chislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their menqch. 8:21, 22; 1 Sam. 13:12; Mal. 1:9 to entreat the favor of the Lord, 3 rMal. 2:7 saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts andsch. 8:9; [Ezra 5:1; 6:14] the prophets, “Should I weep andt[ch. 12:12] abstain inuch. 8:19; [2 Kgs. 25:8] the fifth month, as I have done for so many years? ”
4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned inu[See ver. 3 above] the fifth month and inv[2 Kgs. 25:25] the seventh, for thesewSee ch. 1:12 seventy years,x[Isa. 58:4, 5] was itx[Isa. 58:4, 5] for me that you fasted? 6 y[1 Cor. 11:20, 21] And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 z[ch. 1:5, 6] Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimedaver. 12 by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous,bJer. 17:26 with her cities around her, and thebJer. 17:26 South and thebJer. 17:26 lowland were inhabited? ”
8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts,cIsa. 1:17; Jer. 21:12; Mic. 6:8; [Matt. 23:23] Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 dIsa. 1:23; Jer. 5:28; See Ex. 22:21, 22 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner,eProv. 22:22 or the poor, andfch. 8:17 let none of you devise evil against another in your heart. ” 11 Butgch. 1:4 they refused to pay attentionhNeh. 9:29 and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. 12 i[Ezek. 11:19; 36:26] They made their hearts diamond-hardj[Neh. 9:30] lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sentj[Neh. 9:30] by his Spirit throughkver. 7 the former prophets.l[2 Chr. 36:16; 1 Thess. 2:16] Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 m[Isa. 1:15; Jer. 11:11]; See Prov. 1:24-28 “As I called, and they would not hear,m[Isa. 1:15; Jer. 11:11]; See Prov. 1:24-28 so they called, and I would not hear, ” says the Lord of hosts, 14 n[ch. 2:6] “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among alloSee Deut. 28:33 the nations that they had not known.pEzek. 12:19 Thus the land they left was desolate,qch. 9:8; [Zeph. 3:6] so that no one went to and fro,r[Jer. 7:34] and the pleasant land was made desolate. ”