Zechariah 7 — King James Version

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;● When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD, {pray...: Heb. intreat the face of}● {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 came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,● 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 ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat {for yourselves}, and drink {for yourselves}? {did not ye: or, be not ye they that}● {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? {Should...: or, Are not these the words} {by: Heb. by the hand of}● And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,● Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: {Execute...: Heb. Judge judgment of truth}● 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 hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. {pulled...: Heb. they gave a backsliding shoulder} {stopped: Heb. made heavy}● 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. {by: Heb. by the hand of}● 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 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. {pleasant...: Heb. land of desire}●