1 And it comes to pass, in the fourth year of Darius the king, a word of YHWH has been to Zechariah, in the fourth of the ninth month, in Chisleu. 2 And Beth-El sends Sherezer and Regem-Melech, and its men, to appease the face of YHWH, 3 speaking to the priests who [are] at the house of YHWH of Hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Do I weep in the fifth month—being separated—as I have done these so many years?” 4 And there is a word of YHWH of Hosts to me, saying, 5 “Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, 6 When you fasted with mourning in the fifth and in the seventh [months]—even these seventy years—did you keep the fast [to] Me? And when you eat, and when you drink, is it not you who are eating, and you who are drinking? 7 Are [these] not the words that YHWH proclaimed by the hand of the former prophets, in Jerusalem’s being inhabited, and [in] safety, and its cities around it, and the south and the plain—abiding?” 8 And there is a word of YHWH to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus spoke YHWH of Hosts, saying, || Judge [with] true judgment, || And do kindness and mercy with one another. 10 And do not oppress widow, and fatherless, || Sojourner, and poor, || And you do not devise the calamity of one another in your heart. 11 And they refuse to attend, || And they give a stubborn shoulder, || And their ears are made heavy against hearing. 12 And their heart they have made adamant, || Against hearing the Law, and the words, || That YHWH of Hosts sent by His Spirit, || By the hand of the former prophets, || And there is great wrath from YHWH of Hosts. 13 And it comes to pass, as He called, || And they have not listened, || So they call, and I do not listen,” said YHWH of Hosts. 14 “And I toss them on all the nations, || That they have not known, || The land has been desolate behind them, || Of any passing by and turning back, || And they set a desirable land for a desolation!”