| Berean Study Bible | New International Version |
| 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. | 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 Kislev. |
| 2Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, along with their men, to plead before the LORD | 2The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the LORD |
| 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?” | 3by asking the priests of the house of the LORD Almighty and the prophets, "Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?" |
| 4Then the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying, | 4Then the word of the LORD Almighty came to 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? | 5"Ask all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? |
| 6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not doing so simply for yourselves? | 6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? |
| 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?’ ” | 7Are these not the words the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?'" |
| 8Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, | 8And the word of the LORD came again to Zechariah: |
| 9“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another. | 9"This is what the LORD Almighty said: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. |
| 10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’ | 10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.' |
| 11But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing. | 11"But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. |
| 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. | 12They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry. |
| 13And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts. | 13"'When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,' says the LORD Almighty. |
| 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.” | 14I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.'" |
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