¹It happened in the fourth year of king Darius that the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.

¹I Kong Darius's fjerde Regeringsår kom HERRENs Ord til Zakarias på den fjerde Dag i den niende Måned, Kislev.

²The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech, and their men, to entreat Yahweh’s favor,

²Da sendte Betel-Sar'ezer og Regem-Melek og hans Mænd Bud for at bede HERREN om Nåde

³and to speak to the priests of the house of Yahweh of Armies, and to the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?”

³og spørge Præsterne ved Hærskarers HERREs Hus og Profeterne: "Skal jeg græde og spæge mig i den femte Måned, som jeg nu har gjort i så mange År?"

⁴Then the word of Yahweh of Armies came to me, saying,

⁴Da kom Hærskarers HERREs Ord til mig således:

⁵“Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?

⁵Sig til alt Folket i Landet og til Præsterne: Når l har fastet og klaget i den femte og syvende Måned i halvfjerdsindstyve År, var det da mig, I fastede for?

⁶When you eat, and when you drink, don’t you eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

⁶Og når l spiser og drikker, er det da ikke eder, som spiser og drikker?

⁷Aren’t these the words which Yahweh proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’”

⁷Kender I ikke de Ord, HERREN forkyndte ved de tidligere Profeter, dengang Jerusalem og dets Byer trindt om var beboet og havde Fred, og Sydlandet og Lavlandetvar beboet?

⁸The word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying,

⁸Og HERRENs Ord kom til Zaka rias således:

⁹“Thus has Yahweh of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.

⁹Så siger Hærskarers HERRE: Fæld redelig Dom, vis Miskundhed og Barmhjertighed mod hverandre,

¹⁰Don’t oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.’

¹⁰undertryk ikke Enker og faderløse, fremmede og nødlidende og tænk ikke i eders Hjerter ondt mod hverandre!

¹¹But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.

¹¹Men de vilde ikke høre; de var stivnakkede og gjorde deres Ører døve

¹²Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law, and the words which Yahweh of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of Armies.

¹²og deres Hjerter hårde som Diamant for ikke at høre Loven og de Ord, Hærskarers HERRE sendte gennem sin Ånd ved de tidligere Profeter. Derfor kom der stor Vrede fra Hærskarers HERRE.

¹³It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen,” said Yahweh of Armies;

¹³Ligesom de ikke hørte, når han kaldte, således vil jeg, sagde Hærskarers HERRE, ikke høre, når de kalder;

¹⁴“but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate.”

¹⁴og jeg blæste dem bort blandt alle de Folk, de ikke kendte, og Landet blev øde efter dem, så ingen drog ud eller hjem; og de gjorde det yndige Land til en Ørk.