| New King James Version | Berean Study 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 the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev. |
| 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, along with their men, to plead before the LORD |
| 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 the priests of the house of the LORD of Hosts, as well as the prophets, “Should I weep and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?” |
| 4Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, | 4Then 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 during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me? | 5“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted? |
| 6When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? | 6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not doing so simply 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?’ ” | 7Are these not the words that the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were populous and prosperous, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?’ ” |
| 8Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, | 8Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, |
| 9“Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother. | 9“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another. |
| 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.’ | 10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’ |
| 11“But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. | 11But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing. |
| 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. | 12They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to 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 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. | 13And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts. |
| 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.” | 14But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known, and the land was left desolate behind them so that no one could come or go. Thus they turned the pleasant land into a desolation.” |
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