Zechariah received a message from the Lord in the fourth year that Darius was the king of Persia. This was on the fourth day of the ninth month (Kislev).
They went to the prophets and to the priests at the Temple of the Lord All- Powerful. They asked them this question: "For many years we have shown our sadness for the destruction of the Temple. In the fifth month of each year we have had a special time of crying and fasting. Should we continue to do this?"
"Tell the priests and the other people in this country this: 'For seventy years you fasted and showed your sadness in the fifth month and in the seventh month. But was that fasting really for me?
The Lord used the earlier prophets to say the same thing long ago. That was when Jerusalem was still a rich city filled with people and there were still people living in the surrounding towns, in the Negev, and in the western foothills.'"
They were very stubborn and would not obey the law. The Lord All-Powerful used his Spirit and sent messages to his people through the prophets. But the people would not listen, so the Lord All-Powerful became very angry.
I will bring the other nations against them like a storm. They didn't know those nations, but the country will be destroyed after those nations pass through. This pleasant country will be destroyed."