1. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, {cf15I that} the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth {cf15I day} of the ninth month, {cf15I even} in Chisleu;
2. When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,
3. {cf15I And} to speak unto the priests which {cf15I 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?
4. Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,
5. Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh {cf15I month}, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, {cf15I even} to me?
6. And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat {cf15I for yourselves}, and drink {cf15I for yourselves}?
7. {cf15I Should ye} not {cf15I 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 {cf15I men} inhabited the south and the plain?
8. And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,
9. Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
10. 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.
11. But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
12. Yea, they made their hearts {cf15I 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.
13. Therefore it is come to pass, {cf15I that} as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:
14. 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.