Opfordring til at vise retfærdighed og barmhjertighed
1Den fjerde dag i den niende måned7,1 Teksten tilføjer: „kislev måned”. 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.7,3 For at sørge over Jerusalems og templets ødelæggelse. 4Da gav Herren, den Almægtige, mig følgende budskab til præsterne og hele folket: 5„Når I har fastet og sørget i den femte og syvende7,5 Til minde om mordet på Gedalja, jf. 2.Kong. 25,25. måned i de sidste 70 år, er det virkelig mig I har fastet for? 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.”
Have Justice and Mercy
1During the fourth year that Darius was king, a message from the Lord came to me. It was the fourth day of the ninth month. That’s the month of Kislev. 2The people of Bethel wanted to ask the Lord for his blessing. So they sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek and their men. 3They went to the prophets and priests at the Lord’s temple. They asked them, “Should we mourn and go without eating in the fifth month? That’s what we’ve done for many years.”
4Then the message came to me from the Lord who rules over all. He said, 5“Ask the priests and all the people in the land a question for me. Say to them, ‘You mourned and fasted in the fifth and seventh months. You did it for the past 70 years. But did you really do it for me? 6And when you were eating and drinking, weren’t you just enjoying good food for yourselves? 7Didn’t I tell you the same thing through the earlier prophets? That was when Jerusalem and the towns around it were at rest and enjoyed success. People lived in the Negev Desert and the western hills at that time.’ ”
8Another message from the Lord came to me. 9Here is what the Lord who rules over all said to his people. “Treat everyone with justice. Show mercy and tender concern to one another. 10Do not take advantage of widows. Do not mistreat children whose fathers have died. Do not be mean to outsiders or poor people. Do not make evil plans against one another.”
11But they refused to pay attention to the Lord. They were stubborn. They turned their backs and covered their ears. 12They made their hearts as hard as the hardest stone. They wouldn’t listen to the law. They wouldn’t pay attention to the Lord’s messages. So the Lord who rules over all was very angry. After all, his Spirit had spoken to his people through the earlier prophets.
13“When I called, they did not listen,” says the Lord. “So when they called, I would not listen. 14I used a windstorm to scatter them among all the nations. They were strangers there. The land they left behind became dry and empty. No one could even travel through it. This is how they turned the pleasant land into a dry and empty desert.”
