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In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev.

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;

Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to seek the favor of the LORD,

When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the Lord ,

speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the LORD of armies, and to the prophets, saying, "Shall I weep in the fifth month and fast, as I have done these many years?"

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?

Then the word of the LORD of armies came to me, saying,

Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying,

"Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted?

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?

'And when you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?

And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

'Are these not the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and carefree along with its cities around it, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?'"

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?

Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying,

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

"This is what the LORD of armies has said: 'Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother;

Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.'

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.

"But they refused to pay attention, and turned a stubborn shoulder and plugged their ears from hearing.

But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

"They also made their hearts as hard as a diamond so that they could not hear the Law and the words which the LORD of armies had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of armies.

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.

"And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen," says the LORD of armies;

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:

"but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, since they made the pleasant land desolate."

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.