Disobedience Resulted in Captivity

8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:

j‘Execute true justice,

Show 7mercy and compassion

Everyone to his brother.

10 kDo not oppress the widow or the fatherless,

The alien or the poor.

lLet none of you plan evil in his heart

Against his brother.’

11 But they refused to heed, mshrugged 8their shoulders, and nstopped 9their ears so that they could not hear. 12 Yes, they made their ohearts like flint, prefusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. qThus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so rthey called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts. 14 “But sI scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.”