2 Chronicles 24:20

20 The Spirit of God covered Z'kharyah the son of Y'hoyada the cohen; he stood above the people and addressed them: "Thus says God: 'Why are you transgressing the mitzvot of ADONAI and courting disaster? Because you have abandoned ADONAI, he has abandoned you."

2 Chronicles 24:20 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 24:20

And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Zechariah the son of
Jehoiada the priest
The spirit of prophecy, as the Targum; he was moved and influenced by it to speak what is after related:

which stood above the people;
in a desk, or sort of pulpit, in which the priests stood when they taught the people, that they might be the better heard, like that which Ezra used, ( Nehemiah 8:4 )

and said unto them, thus saith God;
being moved and directed by his Spirit, he spake in his name:

why transgress ye the command of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper?
by committing idolatry, than which nothing could more hinder prosperity, both in things spiritual and temporal, in soul and body:

because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you;
because they had forsaken the worship of God, as the Targum, God had forsaken them, and was about to give them up into the hand of their enemies.

2 Chronicles 24:20 In-Context

18 and they abandoned the house of ADONAI the God of their ancestors and served the sacred poles and the idols. In consequence of their guilt, [God's] anger fell on Y'hudah and Yerushalayim.

19 In spite of this, he sent them prophets to bring them back to ADONAI; they warned them, but they wouldn't pay attention.

20 The Spirit of God covered Z'kharyah the son of Y'hoyada the cohen; he stood above the people and addressed them: "Thus says God: 'Why are you transgressing the mitzvot of ADONAI and courting disaster? Because you have abandoned ADONAI, he has abandoned you."

21 But they conspired against him and stoned him to death at the order of the king in the courtyard of the house of ADONAI.

22 Thus Yo'ash the king did not remember the kindness which Y'hoyada, [Z'kharyah's] father, had done for him, but put his son to death. As he was dying he said, "May ADONAI see this and take vengeance!"