Zechariah 1:4-6

The Voice

⁴ Do not be like your fathers and mothers, whom the prophets of their own time warned, “Here is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has to say: Turn away from your evil thoughts and your evil acts.” Even then they did not listen to Me. That was the message the Eternal One burdened His prophets with a generation ago.

Eternal One (to Zechariah): ⁵ Where are your ancestors now? And what about the prophets I sent to warn them? They did not live forever, did they? ⁶ Didn’t My words and My rules that I dictated through My servants the prophets outlive your rebellious ancestors? That’s why they repented eventually and realized, “The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has done to us exactly what He decided He would do if we behaved this way. His punishments match our evil thoughts and acts.”