1 AND 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;
2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the Lord,
3 And 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?
4 Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying,
5 Speak 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?
6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
7 Should 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?
8 And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying,
9 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
10 And 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.
11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
12 Yea, 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.
13 Therefore 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:
14 But 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.

1And it came to passe in the fourth yeere of King Darius, that the word of the Lord came vnto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth moneth, euen in Chisleu.

2When they had sent vnto the house of God, Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their men to pray before the Lord,

3And to speake vnto the priestes, which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weepe in the fift moneth, separating my selfe, as I haue done these so many yeeres?

4 Then came the word of the Lord of hosts vnto me, saying,

5Speake vnto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fift and seuenth moneth, euen those seuenty yeeres; did ye at all fast vnto me, euen to me?

6And when ye did eat, and when ye did drinke, did not ye eat for your selues, and drinke for your selues?

7Should yee not heare the wordes, which the Lord hath cried by the former Prophets, when Ierusalem was inhabited, and in prosperitie, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the South of the plaine?

8 And the word of the Lord came vnto Zechariah, saying;

9Thus speaketh the Lord of hostes, saying, Execute true iudgement, and shew mercie and compassions euery man to his brother.

10And oppresse not the widow, nor the fatherlesse, the stranger, nor the poore, and let none of you imagine euill against his brother in your heart.

11But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their eares, that they should not heare.

12Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should heare the Law, and the wordes which the Lord of hostes hath sent in his spirit by the former Prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hostes.

13Therefore it is come to passe, that as he cried, and they would not heare, so they cried, and I would not heare, saith the Lord of hostes.

14But I scattered them with a whirlewinde among all the nations, whom they knew not: thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through, nor returned: for they layed the pleasant land desolate.

 

 

 

 

 

III == 17:9-11 ; 33:10 ; Jer 52:10 ; Zech 8:19 ; Mal 2:7

 

 

V == Jer 41:1 ; Zech 1:12 ; 8:19 ; Rom 14:6

 

 

 

 

VII == Jer 17:26

 

 

 

 

 

IX == Isa 58:6-7 ; Jer 7:23 ; Mic 6:8 ; Zech 8:16 ; Matt 23:23

 

X == Ex 22:21-22 ; Deut 24:17 ; Jer 5:28 ; Zech 8:17

 

XI == Neh 9:29 ; Jer 7:24 ; Hos 4:16 ; Acts 7:57

XII == Ezek 11:19 ; 36:26 ; Dan 9:11

 

 

XIII == Pro 1:24-28 ; Jer 11:11 ; 14:12

 

XIV == Lev 26:22 ; Deut 4:27 ; 28:33 , 64 ; Ezek 36:19

 

 

 

 

1 In the fourth year of Darius the king (the word of the LORD came to Zechariah), on the fourth day of Chislev, the ninth month,

2 Bethelsarezer sent Regemmelech and his men to implore favor of the LORD

3 and to ask the priests of the house of the LORD of hosts, and the prophets, "Must I mourn and abstain in the fifth month as I have been doing these many years?"

4 Thereupon this word of the LORD of hosts came to me:

5 Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month these seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?

6 And when you were eating and drinking, was it not for yourselves that you ate, and for yourselves that you drank?

7 Were not these the words which the LORD spoke through the former prophets, when Jerusalem and the surrounding cities were inhabited and at peace, when the Negeb and the foothills were inhabited?

8 (This word of the LORD came to Zechariah:

9 Thus says the LORD of hosts:) Render true judgment, and show kindness and compassion toward each other.

10 Do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the alien or the poor; do not plot evil against one another in your hearts.

11 But they refused to listen; they stubbornly turned their backs and stopped their ears so as not to hear.

12 And they made their hearts diamondhard so as not to hear the teaching and the message that the LORD of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets.

13 Then the LORD of hosts in his great anger said that, as they had not listened when he called, so he would not listen when they called,

14 but would scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they did not know. Thus the land was left desolate after them with no one traveling to and fro; they made the pleasant land into a desert.

v 1-3. Two years after the night visions and midway in the temple building these two men were sent with others from Bethel to come to Jerusalem to pray and to ask the priests if they could discontinue the observance of fasting in the fifth month (July and August). It was not commanded by God and commemorated the burning of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. It may have started sincerely but had become formal and futile.

v 4-7. The question isn’t answered till the fourth message, but they are rebuked that the fast for 70 years had not been to God. Likewise their fast of the seventh month, not the Day of Atonement, but for the murder of Gedaliah was not decreed by God.

v 8-10. The second message from the Lord called for repentance. They should be showing justice, mercy and compassion, and not oppressing widows, fatherless, poor, or aliens. Neither were they to think evil against each other.

v 11-14. People had turned their backs, plugged their ears and hardened their hearts against the word of the Lord through His prophets. Therefore when they cried: a. He didn’t respond to their prayer, v 13; b. He dispersed them among nations, v 14;  c. He made the land a desolation, v 14.