The people inquire concerning fasting: they are admonished to fast from sin.

 1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, in the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Casleu.
Et factum est in anno quarto Darii regis, factum est verbum Domini ad Zachariam, in quarta mensis noni, qui est Casleu.

 2 When Sarasar, and Rogommelech, and the men that were with him, sent to the house of God, to entreat the face of the Lord:
Et miserunt ad domum Dei Sarasar et Rogommelech, et viri qui erant cum eo, ad deprecandam faciem Domini :

 3 To speak to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying: Must I weep in the fifth month, or must I sanctify myself as I have now done for many years?
ut dicerent sacerdotibus domus Domini exercituum, et prophetis, loquentes : Numquid flendum est mihi in quinto mense, vel sanctificare me debeo, sicut jam feci multis annis?

 4 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:
Et factum est verbum Domini exercituum ad me, dicens :

 5 Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: When you fasted, and mourned in the fifth and the seventh month for these seventy years: did you keep a fast unto me?
Loquere ad omnem populum terrae, et ad sacerdotes, dicens : Cum jejunaretis, et plangeretis in quinto et septimo per hos septuaginta annos, numquid jejunium jejunastis mihi?

 6 And when you did eat and drink, did you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
et cum comedistis et bibistis, numquid non vobis comedistis et vobismetipsis bibistis?

 7 Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem as yet was inhabited, and was wealthy, both itself and the cities round about it, and there were inhabitants towards the south, and in the plain?
numquid non sunt verba quae locutus est Dominus in manu prophetarum priorum, cum adhuc Jerusalem habitaretur ut esset opulenta, ipsa et urbes in circuitu ejus, et ad austrum, et in campestribus habitaretur?

 8 And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying:
Et factum est verbum Domini ad Zachariam, dicens :

 9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: Judge ye true judgment, and shew ye mercy and compassion every man to his brother.
Haec ait Dominus exercituum, dicens : Judicium verum judicate, et misericordiam et miserationes facite, unusquisque cum fratre suo.

 10 And oppress not the widow, and the fatherless, and the stranger, and the poor: and let not a man devise evil in his heart against his brother.
Et viduam, et pupillum, et advenam, et pauperem nolite calumniari : et malum vir fratri suo non cogitet in corde suo.

 11 But they would not hearken, and they turned away the shoulder to depart: and they stopped their ears, not to hear.
Et noluerunt attendere, et averterunt scapulam recedentem, et aures suas aggravaverunt ne audirent.

 12 And they made their heart as the adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent in his spirit by the hand of the former prophets: so a great indignation came from the Lord of hosts.
Et cor suum posuerunt ut adamantem, ne audirent legem, et verba quae misit Dominus exercituum in spiritu suo per manum prophetarum priorum : et facta est indignatio magna a Domino exercituum.

 13 And it came to pass that as he spoke, and they heard not: so shall they cry, and I will not hear, saith the Lord of hosts.
Et factum est sicut locutus est, et non audierunt : sic clamabunt et non exaudiam, dicit Dominus exercituum.

 14 And I dispersed them throughout all kingdoms, which they know not: and the land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed through or returned: and they changed the delightful land into a wilderness.
Et dispersi eos per omnia regna quae nesciunt : et terra desolata est ab eis, eo quod non esset transiens et revertens : et posuerunt terram desiderabilem in desertum.