And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius , [ that ] the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth [ day ] of the ninth month , [ even ] in Chisleu ;
when they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer And Regemmelech , And their men , to pray before the LORD ,
And ] to speak unto the priests which [ were ] in the house of the LORD of hosts , And to the prophets , saying , should I weep in the fifth month , separating myself , as I have done These So Many years ?
Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me , saying ,
speak unto all the people of the land , And to the priests , saying , when ye fasted And mourned in the fifth And seventh [ month ] , even those seventy years , did ye at all fast unto me , [ even ] to me ?
And when ye did eat , And when ye did drink , did not ye eat [ for yourselves ] , And drink [ for yourselves ] ?
should ye ] not [ hear ] the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets , when Jerusalem was inhabited And in prosperity , And the cities thereof round about her , when [ men ] inhabited the south And the plain ?
And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah , saying ,
thus speaketh the LORD of hosts , saying , execute true judgment , And show mercy And compassions every man to his brother :
And oppress not the widow , nor the fatherless , the stranger , nor the poor ; And let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart .
but they refused to hearken , And pulled away the shoulder , And stopped their ears , that they should not hear .
yea , they made their hearts [ as ] an adamant stone , lest they should hear the law , And the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets : therefore came A great wrath from the LORD of hosts .
therefore it Is come to pass , [ that ] as he cried , And they would not hear ; So they cried , And I would not hear , saith the LORD of hosts :
but I scattered them with A whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not . thus the land was desolate after them , that no man passed through nor returned : for they laid the pleasant land desolate .