Opfordring til at vise retfærdighed og barmhjertighed
1Den fjerde dag i den niende måned[1] i kong Dareios’ fjerde regeringsår talte Herren igen til mig.2Lederne i Betel havde sendt en delegation til templet i Jerusalem, anført af Sarezer og Regem-Melek.3De kom for at spørge præsterne og profeterne dér, om man fortsat skulle overholde den årlige sørge- og fastedag i den femte måned.[2]4Da gav Herren, den Almægtige, mig følgende budskab til præsterne og hele folket:5„Når I har fastet og sørget i den femte og syvende[3] måned i de sidste 70 år, er det virkelig mig I har fastet for? (2.Kong 25,25)6Og når I spiser offermåltiderne, tænker I så ikke kun på at spise og drikke?7Ved I ikke, at profeterne advarede imod den slags hykleri allerede for længe siden, da Jerusalem og dens forstæder tillige med de vestlige bakkeskråninger og Negev endnu var beboet, og der var fred i landet?8-9Derfor siger Herren, den Almægtige: Vær retfærdige i jeres domme, tag hensyn til hinanden og vær barmhjertige.10I må ikke udnytte enkernes og de forældreløses svaghed, ikke se ned på de fattige og fremmede og ikke udtænke onde planer imod hinanden.11Alt dette indprentede jeg allerede jeres forfædre, men de ville ikke høre efter og stak stædigt fingrene i ørerne.12De gjorde deres hjerter hårde som sten, så de hverken overholdt Toraen eller lyttede til de budskaber, som Herren, den Almægtige, ved sin Ånd bragte dem gennem tidligere tiders profeter. Derfor ramte Guds vrede dem.13Siden de ikke ville høre, når jeg kaldte på dem, ville jeg heller ikke lytte til dem, når de kaldte.14Det var derfor, jeg spredte dem for alle vinde blandt fremmede folkeslag. Deres land kom til at ligge øde hen, og ingen havde lyst til at rejse igennem det. De var skyld i, at det udvalgte land blev til en ødemark.”
1In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. (Neh 1,1; Zak 1,1; Zak 1,7)2Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord, (1.Sam 13,12; Zak 8,21; Mal 1,9)3saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” (2.Kong 25,8; Ez 5,1; Ez 6,14; Zak 8,9; Zak 8,19; Zak 12,12; Mal 2,7)4Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me:5“Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? (2.Kong 25,25; Es 58,4; Zak 1,12; Zak 7,3)6And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? (1.Kor 11,20)7Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’” (Jer 17,26; Zak 1,5; Zak 7,12)8And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying,9“Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, (Es 1,17; Jer 21,12; Mika 6,8; Matt 23,23)10do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” (2.Mos 22,21; Ord 22,22; Es 1,23; Jer 5,28; Zak 8,17)11But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.[1] (Neh 9,29; Zak 1,4)12They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. (2.Krøn 36,16; Neh 9,30; Ez 11,19; Ez 36,26; Zak 7,7; 1.Thess 2,16)13“As I[2] called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, (Ord 1,24; Es 1,15; Jer 11,11)14“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.” (5.Mos 28,33; Jer 7,34; Ez 12,19; Zef 3,6; Zak 2,6; Zak 9,8)