1And it happened in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of Yehovah came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chislev. 2Now the people of Beth-el had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to entreat the favor of Yehovah, 3and to speak to the priests of the house of Yehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? 4Then the word of Yehovah of hosts came to me, saying, 5Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, even these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, even to me? 6And when you eat, and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? 7Should you not hear the words which Yehovah cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited? 8And the word of Yehovah came to Zechariah, saying, 9Thus has Yehovah of hosts spoken, saying, Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother; 10and do not oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart. 11But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. 12Indeed, they made their hearts like flint, lest they should hear the law, and the words which Yehovah of hosts had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets: therefore great wrath came from Yehovah of hosts. 13And it has come to pass that, as he cried, and they would not hear, so they shall cry, and I will not hear, said Yehovah of hosts; 14but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.