Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 24:20
Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest stands before the assembled people immediately after the Lord sent prophets whom they refused to hear. He delivers a direct divine message warning them of their impending failure.
The words — The text records the Spirit of God (רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים, Ruach Elohim) "clothed" (לָֽבְשָׁה, lavshah) Zechariah before his speech. This verb denotes the Spirit's active empowerment of the prophet rather than passive inspiration.
The thread — This commissioning mirrors 2 Chronicles 15:1 where the Spirit of God similarly came upon Azariah. The sequence of refused warnings followed by conspiracy and stoning directly links to 2 Chronicles 24:19 and 24:21.
Why it lands — The verse establishes that abandoning divine commandments directly causes lost prosperity. It requires the reader to acknowledge the reciprocal nature of covenant faithfulness and abandonment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you.
Cross-references
- Numbers 14:41 But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD? This will not succeed!
- Jeremiah 5:25 Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.
- 2 Chronicles 15:1 Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded.
- 2 Chronicles 20:14 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite from Asaph’s descendants, as he stood in the midst of the assembly.
- 1 Chronicles 12:18 Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the Thirty, and he said: “We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers, for your God helps you.” So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.
- Matthew 23:35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
- Deuteronomy 29:25 And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.
- Judges 6:34 So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, who blew the ram’s horn and rallied the Abiezrites behind him.
- 1 Samuel 13:13 “You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
- 2 Samuel 12:9 Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.