^51 (A)from the blood of Abel to ^(B)the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God ^[a]came upon ^(A)Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God: ^(B)‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? ^(C)Because you have forsaken the Lord, He also has forsaken you.’ ” ²¹ So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they ^(D)stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. ²² Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his ^[b]father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, “The Lord look on it, and ^(E)repay!”

Faith at the Dawn of History^(A)

⁴ By faith ^(B)Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still ^(C)speaks.

^35 (A)that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, ^(B)from the blood of righteous Abel to ^(C)the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

¹² not as ^(A)Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

A Call to Repentance^(A)

1 In the eighth month ^(B)of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came ^(C)to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of ^(D)Iddo the prophet, saying,

⁸ Now Cain ^[a]talked with Abel his ^[b]brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and ^(A)killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”

He said, ^(B)“I do not know. Am I ^(C)my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ^(D)cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ So now ^(E)you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

²⁴ to Jesus ^(A)the Mediator of the new covenant, and to ^(B)the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things ^(C)than that of Abel.

Judgment on Obscene Religion

²⁸ “So you shall say to them, ‘This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the Lord their God ^(A)nor receive correction. ^(B)Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.