Zechariah 7:7

Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity and the cities thereof round about her, the suburbs dependent upon the capital, when men inhabited the south, the semiarid section of Judah toward the south-east, and the plain, the lowlands toward the southwest? They should have been familiar with the messages of the prophets before the exile, which time and again emphasized the need of a true worship of the heart, of sincere repentance and faith. The fasting in itself is a matter of indifference to the Lord. The fasting which is well-pleasing to God does not primarily consist in abstaining from food, but in one's observing the Word of the Lord and living in accordance with it at all times, as the prophets have ever preached.