1. In the fourth year of Darius the king, the Lord’s word came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, Kislev.
2. The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech, along with his men, to seek the Lord’s favor,
3. saying to the priests who were in the house of the Lord of heavenly forces and to the prophets: "Should I weep in the fifth month and abstain as I have done for a number of years?"
4. Then the word of the Lord of heavenly forces came to me:
5. Say to all the land’s people and to the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth month and the seventh month for these past seventy years, did you fast for me?
6. When you ate and drank, weren’t you the ones eating and drinking?