1. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;
2. When they had sent to the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,
3. And to speak to the priests who 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?
4. Then came the word of the LORD of hosts to me, saying,
5. Speak to 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 to me, even to me?
6. And when ye ate, and when ye drank, did ye not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
7. Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities around her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?