Zechariah 7:8-14 - Disobedience, The Cause Of Exile

⁸ And the word of Jehovah came to Zechariah: ⁹ Jehovah of Hosts has spoken: Every man should execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion to his brother! ¹⁰ Do not oppress the widow. Do not oppress the fatherless. Do not oppress the stranger and do not oppress the poor. And you should not devise evil in your heart against your brother. ¹¹ They refused to pay heed, turned a stubborn shoulder (resisted), and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. ¹² They made their hearts hard like flint and would not listen to the law, and the words that Jehovah of Hosts sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Great anger came from Jehovah of Hosts! ¹³ I cried, and they would not listen. Now they will cry, and I will not listen,' said Jehovah of Hosts! ¹⁴ I will scatter them with a whirlwind among the nations that they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned. They tread down the pleasant land and made it desolate.'