⁸ Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”^[a] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.^(A)

²⁰ Then the Spirit^(A) of God came on Zechariah^(B) son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper.^(C) Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken^(D) you.’”

²¹ But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned^(E) him to death^(F) in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple.^(G)

A Call to Return to the Lord

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

³⁵ And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel^(A) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,^(B) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.^(C)