Zechariah 1:1-6
Return to the Lord
1 When Darius had been king of Persia for two years, Zechariah the prophet heard a message from the Lord. It was the eighth month of the year. Zechariah was the son of Berekiah, and Berekiah was the son of Iddo.
1:1When we write Lord like this, it is a special name for God. Sometimes people write it as ‘Yahweh’, or as ‘Jehovah’. It is his own name that he told Moses. See Exodus 3:14. It means ‘I am who I am’. This shows that God has always been there and he always will be there. 2 This was the Lord's message:
‘I, the Lord, was very angry with your ancestors. 3 Now I, the Lord Almighty, say this to you: “If you return to me, I will return to you.” 4 Do not be like your ancestors. Many years ago the prophets gave them a message from me. The message was, “Stop doing those evil and wicked things.” But they did not listen to me. They did not think that my message was important. 5 That was a long time ago. Your ancestors have been dead for a long time. So have the prophets. 6 I told my prophets to speak my message and my commands. I punished your ancestors, as I warned them I would do. Then they turned back to me. They said, “The Lord Almighty has punished us for our sins, as he said he would do.” ’
