Zechariah 7

And it came to pass ^ain 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 ^bChisleu; ²when they had sent unto ^cthe house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the Lord, ³and to speak unto ^dthe priests which were in ^cthe house of the Lord of hosts, and to ^ethe prophets, saying, Should I weep in ^fgthe fifth month, ^hseparating myself, as I have done ^lthese so many years?

⁴Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying, ⁵Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ⁱye fasted and mourned in ^fgthe fifth and ^fkseventh month, even ^lthose seventy years, did ye at all fast ⁱunto me, even to me? ⁶And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat ^mfor yourselves, and drink ^mfor yourselves? ⁷Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ⁿin prosperity, and ^othe cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited ^othe south and ^othe plain?

⁸And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying,

⁹Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying,

^pqExecute true judgment,

And ^qshew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

¹⁰And oppress not ^rrthe widow, nor ^rrthe fatherless, ^rrthe stranger, nor ^sthe poor;

And ^tlet none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

¹¹But ^uthey refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder,

And stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

¹²Yea, ^wthey made their hearts as ^xan adamant stone, ^ylest they should hear the law,

And the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent ^yin his spirit ^yby the former prophets:

Therefore ^zcame a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.

¹³Therefore it is come to pass, that ^aas he cried, and they would not hear;

^aSo they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts:

¹⁴But I ^bscattered them with a whirlwind ^camong all the nations ^dwhom they knew not:

Thus ^ethe land was desolate ^fafter them, ^gthat no man passed through nor returned:

For they laid ^hthe pleasant land desolate.

VIII.