1 In the eighth month, ^ain the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^bZechariah, the son of ^cBerechiah, son of ^dIddo, saying, 2 ^e“The Lord was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: ^fReturn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and ^gI will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 4 ^hDo not be like your fathers, ⁱto whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^fReturn from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But ^jthey did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And ^kthe prophets, do they live forever? 6 ^lBut my words and my statutes, which I commanded ^mmy servants the prophets, did they not ⁿovertake your fathers? So they repented and said, ^o‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for ^pour ways and ^pdeeds, so has he dealt with us.’”