Zechariah 7
1 In 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 Chislev.
Na i te wha o nga tau o Kingi Tariuha ka puta mai te kupu a Ihowa ki a Hakaraia, i te wha o nga ra o te iwa o nga marama, ara o Kihereu.
2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, along with their men, to plead before the LORD
Na kua unga e te hunga o Peteere a Haretere raua ko Rekeme Mereke, me a raua tangata, ki te inoi manaaki i a Ihowa,
3 by asking the priests of the house of the LORD of Hosts, as well as the prophets, “Should I weep and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?”
A hei korero hoki ki nga tohunga o te whare o Ihowa o nga mano, ki nga poropiti hoki, hei mea, Me tangi ranei ahau i te rima o nga marama, me te wehe i ahau, me pera me taku i mea ai i enei tau ka maha?
4 Then the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying,
Na ka puta mai te kupu a Ihowa o nga mano ki ahau, ka mea,
5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted?
Korero ki nga tangata katoa o te whenua, ratou ko nga tohunga, mea atu, I a koutou i nohopuku ra, i tangi ra, i te rima, i te whitu o nga marama, ara i enei tau e whitu tekau, he nohopuku ranei ta koutou ki ahau? ki ahau koia?
6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not doing so simply for yourselves?
A i a koutou e kai nei, e inu nei, he teka ianei ma koutou ano ta koutou e kai ai, e inu ai?
7 Are these not the words that the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were populous and prosperous, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?’”
Ehara ianei i te mea kia rongo koutou i nga kupu i karangatia e Ihowa, ara e nga poropiti o mua, i te mea e nohoia ana a Hiruharama, e noho rangatira ana, me ona pa ano a taka noa, i te mea hoki e nohoia ana te tonga me te mania?
8 Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying,
I puta mai ano te kupu a Ihowa ki a Hakaraia, i mea,
9 “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another.
Ko te kupu tenei a Ihowa o nga mano, e mea ana, Kia pono te whakarite o te whakawa, kia puta te aroha me te tohu tangata ki tona tuakana, ki tona teina.
10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’
Kaua hoki e tukinotia te pouaru, te pani, te manene, te ware; kaua hoki e whakaaroa he kino i roto i o koutou ngakau ki tona tuakana, ki tona teina.
11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
Heoi kihai ratou i pai ki te whakarongo, kei te whakahoki i te pokohiwi, kei te whakapuhoi i o ratou taringa kei rongo.
12 They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of Hosts.
Ae ra, i meinga e ratou o ratou ngakau kia rite ki te taimana kei rongo ratou ki te ture, ki nga kupu hoki i unga atu e Ihowa o nga mano, he mea na tona wairua, na te ringa o nga poropiti o mua; na reira ka puta mai he riri nui i a Ihowa o nga m ano.
13 And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.
Na, i tana karangatanga, kihai ratou i rongo; waihoki ka karanga ratou, a e kore ahau e rongo, e ai ta Ihowa o nga mano:
14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known, and the land was left desolate behind them so that no one could come or go. Thus they turned the pleasant land into a desolation.”
Otiia ka aia atu ratou e ahau ki te paroro ki waenga i nga iwi katoa kihai i mohiotia e ratou. Heoi ururua ana te whenua i muri i a ratou, te haerea, te hokia; na ratou hoki i mea te whenua ahuareka kia ururua.
