Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting
1In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev. 2The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the Lord 3by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
4Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? 7Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’ ”
8And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: 9“This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’
11“But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. 12They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.
13“ ‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty. 14‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’ ”
Atɛntenenee Ne Ahummɔborɔ Na Ɛnyɛ Mmuadadie
1Ɔhene Dario adedie mfeɛ ɛnan so no, Awurade asɛm baa Sakaria nkyɛn ɔbosome a ɛtɔ so nkron a wɔfrɛ no Kislew no ɛda ɛtɔ so ɛnan no mu. 2Na Bet-Elfoɔ asoma Sareser ne Regem-Melek ne wɔn mmarima sɛ wɔnkɔsrɛ Awurade. 3Wɔmfa asɔfoɔ a wɔwɔ Asafo Awurade fie ne adiyifoɔ so mmisa sɛ, “Menkɔ so ntwa adwo, nni abuada wɔ ɔbosome a ɛtɔ so enum no mu, sɛdeɛ mayɛ no mfeɛ bebree a atwam no anaa?”
4Afei Asafo Awurade asɛm baa me nkyɛn sɛ, 5“Bisa asase no so nnipa nyinaa ne asɔfoɔ no sɛ, ‘Mfeɛ aduɔson a atwam no, sɛ modi abuada na motwa adwo wɔ abosome enum ne nsom mu a, na ɛyɛ ampa sɛ me enti na modi abuada no anaa? 6Ɛberɛ a modidi na monom no, na ɛnyɛ mo ara na moyɛ de gye mo ani anaa? 7Ɛnyɛ saa nsɛm yi ara na Awurade faa kane adiyifoɔ so paee mu kaaeɛ, wɔ ɛberɛ a Yerusalem ne nkuro a atwa ne ho ahyia no wɔ asomdwoeɛ ne mpontuo no, ɛberɛ a na nnipa akɔtena Negeb ne atɔeɛ fam nkokoɔ no so anaa?’ ”
8Na Awurade asɛm baa Sakaria nkyɛn bio: 9“Yei ne deɛ Asafo Awurade seɛ, ‘Mommu atɛn a ɛyɛ nokorɛ na monnya ahummɔborɔ ne ayamhyehyeɛ mma mo ho mo ho. 10Monnhyɛ akunafoɔ, nwisiaa, ahɔhoɔ ne ahiafoɔ so. Monnnwene bɔne mo akoma mu mma mo ho mo ho.’
11“Nanso wɔanntie; wɔde asobrakyeɛ danee wɔn akyi na wɔsisii wɔn aso. 12Wɔyɛɛ wɔn akoma den sɛ twerɛboɔ, na wɔantie mmara anaa nsɛm a Asafo Awurade nam ne Honhom so de somaa kane adiyifoɔ no. Ɛno enti, Asafo Awurade bo fuu yie.
13“ ‘Mefrɛeɛ no, wɔannye me so, enti wɔfrɛ a merennye wɔn so,’ sɛdeɛ Asafo Awurade seɛ nie. 14‘Mede ntwahoframa bɔɔ wɔn petee aman nyinaa so ma wɔkɔyɛɛ ahɔhoɔ wɔ hɔ. Asase a wogyaaɛ no daa mpan a obiara ntwa mu wɔ hɔ. Sei na wɔyɛ maa asase fɛfɛɛfɛ no sɛeɛ.’ ”
