¶ And it came to pass in the fourth¹ year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu²;

When they³ had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD⁴,

And to speak⁵ unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should⁶ I weep in the fifth⁷ month, separating⁸ myself, as I have done these so many years?

Then came the word of the LORD of hosts⁹ unto me, saying,

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When¹⁰ ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh¹¹ month, even those seventy¹² years, did¹³ ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for¹⁴ yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

Should ye not hear the words¹⁵ which the LORD hath cried¹⁶ by the former¹⁷ prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?

¶ And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,

Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying¹⁸, Execute true judgment¹⁹, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

¶ And oppress²⁰ not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine²¹ evil against his brother in your heart.

But they refused²² to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder²³, and stopped²⁴ their ears, that they should not hear.

Yea, they made their hearts²⁵ as an adamant stone, lest²⁶ they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent²⁷ in his spirit by the former²⁸ prophets: therefore²⁹ came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

Therefore it is come to pass, that as³⁰ he cried, and they would not hear; so³¹ they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:

But I scattered³² them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom³³ they knew not. Thus the land³⁴ was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land³⁵ desolate.