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;
02 When they had sent unto the house of God
Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray
before the Lord,
03 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?
04 Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto
me, saying,
05 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?
06 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink,
did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for
yourselves?
07 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?
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08 And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah,
saying,
09 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 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, 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.
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