1And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah in the fourth [day] of the ninth month, even in Chislev.
2Now [they of] Beth-el had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to entreat the favor of Jehovah,
3[and] to speak unto the priests of the house of Jehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
4Then came the word of Jehovah of hosts unto me, saying,
5Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh [month], even these seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
6And when ye eat, and when ye drink, do not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
7[Should ye] not [hear] the words which Jehovah cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?
