| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 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; | 1In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. |
| 2When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD, | 2Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer, Regem-melech, and their men to plead for the LORD's favor |
| 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? | 3by asking the priests who were at the house of the LORD of Hosts as well as the prophets, "Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done these many years?" |
| 4Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying, | 4Then the word of the LORD of Hosts 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? | 5Ask all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh months for these 70 years, did you really fast for Me? |
| 6And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? | 6When you eat and drink, don't you eat and drink simply for yourselves? |
| 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? | 7Aren't these the words that the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and secure, along with its surrounding cities, and when the southern region and the Judean foothills were inhabited?" |
| 8And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying, | 8The word of the LORD came to Zechariah: " |
| 9Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: | 9The LORD of Hosts says this: Make fair decisions. Show faithful love and compassion to one another. |
| 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. | 10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor, and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another. |
| 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 and turned a stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear. |
| 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 like a rock so as not to obey the law or the words that the LORD of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of Hosts. |
| 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: | 13Just as He had called, and they would not listen, so when they called, I would not listen," says the LORD of Hosts. " |
| 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 scattered them with a windstorm over all the nations that had not known them, and the land was left desolate behind them, with no one coming or going. They turned a pleasant land into a desolation." |
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