^3 (A)saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and ^(B)the prophets, “Should I weep and ^(C)abstain in ^(D)the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

¹⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the ^(A)fourth month and the fast of the ^(B)fifth and the fast of the ^(C)seventh and the fast of the ^(D)tenth shall be to the house of Judah ^(E)seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love ^(F)truth and peace.

^8 (A)In the fifth month, on ^(B)the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.