Dual Panel1In King <04428> Darius <01867>’ fourth <0702> year <08141>, on the fourth <0702> day of Kislev <03691>, the ninth <08671> month <02320>, the word <01697> of the Lord <03068> came <01961> to <0413> Zechariah <02148>.
2Now the people of Bethel <01008> had sent <07971> Sharezer <08272> and Regem-Melech <07278> and their companions <0582> to seek <02470> the Lord’s <03069> favor <02470>
3by asking <0559> both the priests <03548> of the temple <01004> of the Lord <03068> who rules over all <06635> and the prophets <05030>, “Should we weep <01058> in the fifth <02549> month <02320>, fasting <05144> as <0834> we have done <06213> over the years <08141>?”
4The word <01697> of the Lord <03068> who rules over all <06635> then came <01961> to <0413> me,
5“Speak <0559> to <0413> all <03605> the people <05971> and priests <03548> of the land <0776> as follows: ‘When <03588> you fasted <06684> and lamented <05594> in the fifth <02549> and seventh <07637> months through all these <02088> seventy <07657> years <08141>, did you truly fast <06684> <06684> for me– for me <0589>, indeed?
6And now when <03588> you <0859> eat <0398> and drink <08354>, are you <0859> not <03808> doing <08354> <0398> so for yourselves?’”
7Should you not <03808> have obeyed the words <01697> that <0834> the Lord <03068> cried out <07121> through <03027> the former <07223> prophets <05030> when Jerusalem <03389> was <01961> peacefully <07961> inhabited <03427> and her surrounding <05439> cities <05892>, the Negev <05045>, and the Shephelah <08219> were also populated <03427>?
8Again the word <01697> of the Lord <03068> came <01961> to <0413> Zechariah <02148>:
9“The Lord <03068> who rules over all <06635> said <0559>, ‘Exercise <04941> true <0571> judgment <08199> and show <06213> brotherhood <02617> and compassion <07356> to <0854> each <0376> other <0251>.
10You must not <0408> oppress <06231> the widow <0490>, the orphan <03490>, the foreigner <01616>, or the poor <06041>, nor <0408> should anyone <0376> secretly <03824> plot <02803> evil <07451> against his fellow human being <0251>.’
11“But they refused <03985> to pay attention <07181>, turning away stubbornly <05637> <03802> <05414> and stopping <03513> their ears <0241> so they could not hear <08085>.
12Indeed, they made <07760> their heart <03820> as hard as diamond <08068>, so that they could not obey <08085> the Torah <08451> and the other words <01697> the Lord <03068> who rules over all <06635> had sent <07971> by his Spirit <07307> through <03027> the former <07223> prophets <05030>. Therefore, the Lord <03068> who rules over all <06635> had poured out <01961> great <01419> wrath <07110>.
13“‘It then came <01961> about that <0834> just as I cried out <07121>, but they would not <03808> obey <08085>, so <03651> they will cry out <07121>, but I will not <03808> listen <08085>,’ the Lord Lord <03068> who rules over all <06635> had said <0559>.
14‘Rather, I will sweep <05590> them away in a storm <05590> into <05921> all <03605> the nations <01471> they are not <03808> familiar <03045> with.’ Thus the land <0776> had become desolate <08047> because <0310> of them, with no one crossing through <05674> or returning <07725>, for they had made <07760> the fruitful <02532> land <0776> a waste <08074>.”