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And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah on the fourth [day] of the ninth month , [even] in Chislev,
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when Bethel had sent Sherezer and Regem-melech, and his men, to supplicate Jehovah ,
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[and] to speak unto the priests that were in the house of Jehovah of hosts , and to the prophets , saying, Should I weep in the fifth month , separating myself, as I have done now so many years?
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And the word of Jehovah of hosts came unto me, saying,
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Speak unto all the people of the land , and to the priests , saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh [month], even those seventy years, did ye really fast unto me, [even] unto me?
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And when ye ate , and when ye drank , was it not you that were eating and drinking ?
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Are not these the words that Jehovah cried by the former prophets , when Jerusalem was inhabited and at peace, and her cities round about her, when the south and the lowland were inhabited ?
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And the word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah , saying,
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Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts , saying, Execute true judgment , and shew loving-kindness and mercies one to another,
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and oppress not the widow and the fatherless , the stranger and the afflicted; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
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But they refused to hearken , and turned a rebellious shoulder , and made their ears heavy, that they should not hear .
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And they made their heart [as] an adamant, that they should not hear the law, and the words that Jehovah of hosts sent by his Spirit by the hand of the former prophets : therefore was there great wrath from Jehovah of hosts .
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And it came to pass, like as he called , and they would not hear , so they called , and I would not hear , saith Jehovah of hosts;
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and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not, and the land was desolate after them, so that no one passed through nor returned ; and they laid the pleasant land desolate.