VII. * 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; 2 when they had sent unto cthe house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, * to pray before the Lord, 3 and 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?

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 iye fasted and mourned in fgthe fifth and fkseventh month, even lthose seventy years, did ye at all fast iunto me, even to me? 6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, * did not ye eat mfor yourselves, and drink mfor yourselves? 7 * Should 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?

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

9  Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying,

pq* Execute true judgment,

And qshew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

10  And 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.

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

And * stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

12  Yea, 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.

13  Therefore 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:

14  But 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.