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.”
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断食ではなく正義とあわれみを
1ダリヨス王の第四年の第九の月に、主から私にことばがありました。
2ベテルの町のユダヤ人は、王の行政長官サル・エツェルとレゲム・メレクの率いる人々を、エルサレムにある主の神殿に遣わしました。それは、神の祝福を求めるためと、 3毎年第五の月に断食をして嘆くという伝統的習慣を続けるべきかどうか、祭司や預言者に尋ねるためでした。
4主の答えは次のとおりでした。 5「ベテルに帰ったら、全住民と祭司たちに言いなさい。『捕囚の七十年間、あなたがたは第五の月と第七の月に断食して嘆いたが、本気で罪から離れてわたしに帰ろうとしたか。全く、そんなことはなかった。 6そして今、神への聖なる祝宴の時も、わたしのことなど考えず、自分たちのことばかり考えている。 7昔、エルサレムが栄え、その南方にも平地に沿って人が大ぜい住んでいたころ、預言者が警告していたのは、このような状態のままでは滅びを免れないということだったが、そのとおりになった。』」
8-9それから、主からゼカリヤに、次のようなことばがありました。「彼らにこう言いなさい。正直に公平にふるまえ。わいろを取ることなくだれに対しても情け深く、親切にせよ。 10未亡人や孤児、外国人や貧しい人を虐げることをやめ、互いに悪をたくらむな、と彼らに告げなさい。 11あなたがたの先祖は、それに耳を貸そうとしなかった。強情に顔をそむけ、耳をふさいでわたしのことばを聞くまいとした。 12心を火打ち石のように堅くして、全能の主である神が命じたことば、主の霊によって先の預言者たちを通して示された教えを聞くことを怖がった。だから、あれほど激しい神の怒りが下ったのだ。 13わたしが呼んでも、彼らは聞こうとしなかった。それでわたしは、彼らがわたしに向かって叫んだ時、顔をそむけた。 14彼らをはるかかなたの国々に、つむじ風で吹き飛ばすようにまき散らした。彼らの地はさびれ、行き交う者もいなくなった。麗しい地は荒れすたれ、不毛の地となった。」
