Zechariah 7
1 The Lord sent a message to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev. This was during the fourth year of king Darius' reign.
| وَكَانَ فِي ٱلسَّنَةِ ٱلرَّابِعَةِ لِدَارِيُوسَ ٱلْمَلِكِ أَنَّ كَلَامَ ٱلرَّبِّ صَارَ إِلَى زَكَرِيَّا فِي ٱلرَّابِعِ مِنَ ٱلشَّهْرِ ٱلتَّاسِعِ فِي كِسْلُو. | ١ |
2 Bethel-sharezer sent Regem-melech and his men to ask for the Lord's blessing.
| لَمَّا أَرْسَلَ أَهْلُ بَيْتِ إِيلَ شَرَاصِرَ وَرَجَمَ مَلِكَ وَرِجَالَهُمْ لِيُصَلُّوا قُدَّامَ ٱلرَّبِّ، | ٢ |
3 They were to ask the priests of the Temple of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I go on mourning and fasting in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
| وَلِيُكَلِّمُوا ٱلْكَهَنَةَ ٱلَّذِينَ فِي بَيْتِ رَبِّ ٱلْجُنُودِ وَٱلْأَنْبِيَاءَ قَائِلِينَ: «أَأَبْكِي فِي ٱلشَّهْرِ ٱلْخَامِسِ مُنْفَصِلًا، كَمَا فَعَلْتُ كَمْ مِنَ ٱلسِّنِينَ هَذِهِ؟». | ٣ |
4 The Lord Almighty sent a message to me saying,
| ثُمَّ صَارَ إِلَيَّ كَلَامُ رَبِّ ٱلْجُنُودِ قَائِلًا: | ٤ |
5 Tell everyone in the land and the priests, when you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and the seventh month during these seventy years, was it really me you were fasting for?
| «قُلْ لِجَمِيعِ شَعْبِ ٱلْأَرْضِ وَلِلْكَهَنَةِ قَائِلًا: لَمَّا صُمْتُمْ وَنُحْتُمْ فِي ٱلشَّهْرِ ٱلْخَامِسِ وَٱلشَّهْرِ ٱلسَّابِعِ، وَذَلِكَ هَذِهِ ٱلسَّبْعِينَ سَنَةً، فَهَلْ صُمْتُمْ صَوْمًا لِي أَنَا؟ | ٥ |
6 And when you eat and drink, don't you eat and drink for yourselves?
| وَلَمَّا أَكَلْتُمْ وَلَمَّا شَرِبْتُمْ، أَفَمَا كُنْتُمْ أَنْتُمُ ٱلْآكِلِينَ وَأَنْتُمُ ٱلشَّارِبِينَ؟ | ٦ |
7 Isn't this what the Lord told you to do through the former prophets, when Jerusalem was prosperous and inhabited, and when people were living in the Negev and the Shephelah?
| أَلَيْسَ هَذَا هُوَ ٱلْكَلَامُ ٱلَّذِي نَادَى بِهِ ٱلرَّبُّ عَنْ يَدِ ٱلْأَنْبِيَاءِ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ، حِينَ كَانَتْ أُورُشَلِيمُ مَعْمُورَةً وَمُسْتَرِيحَةً، وَمُدُنُهَا حَوْلَهَا، وَٱلْجَنُوبُ وَٱلسَّهْلُ مَعْمُورَيْنِ؟». | ٧ |
8 The Lord Almighty sent another message to me.
| وَكَانَ كَلَامُ ٱلرَّبِّ إِلَى زَكَرِيَّا قَائِلًا: | ٨ |
9 This is what the Lord says. Judge fairly and truthfully. Show mercy and kindness to one another.
| «هَكَذَا قَالَ رَبُّ ٱلْجُنُودِ قَائِلًا: ٱقْضُوا قَضَاءَ ٱلْحَقِّ، وَٱعْمَلُوا إِحْسَانًا وَرَحْمَةً، كُلُّ إِنْسَانٍ مَعَ أَخِيهِ. | ٩ |
10 Don't exploit those who are widowed or fatherless, foreigners or the poor. Don't think up ways of mistreating one other.
| وَلَا تَظْلِمُوا ٱلْأَرْمَلَةَ وَلَا ٱلْيَتِيمَ وَلَا ٱلْغَرِيبَ وَلَا ٱلْفَقِيرَ، وَلَا يُفَكِّرْ أَحَدٌ مِنْكُمْ شَرًّا عَلَى أَخِيهِ فِي قَلْبِكُمْ. | ١٠ |
11 But they refused to listen. They were obstinate, turning their backs and closing their ears.
| فَأَبَوْا أَنْ يُصْغُوا وَأَعْطَوْا كَتِفًا مُعَانِدَةً، وَثَقَّلُوا آذَانَهُمْ عَنِ ٱلسَّمْعِ. | ١١ |
12 They made their minds unreceptive, as hard as stone. They refused to listen to the law or to what the Lord Almighty told them by his Spirit through the former prophets. That's why the Lord Almighty became very angry with them.
| بَلْ جَعَلُوا قَلْبَهُمْ مَاسًا لِئَلَّا يَسْمَعُوا ٱلشَّرِيعَةَ وَٱلْكَلَامَ ٱلَّذِي أَرْسَلَهُ رَبُّ ٱلْجُنُودِ بِرُوحِهِ عَنْ يَدِ ٱلْأَنْبِيَاءِ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ. فَجَاءَ غَضَبٌ عَظِيمٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ رَبِّ ٱلْجُنُودِ. | ١٢ |
13 So since they didn't listen when I called out to them, I wouldn't listen when they called out to me, says the Lord Almighty.
| فَكَانَ كَمَا نَادَى هُوَ فَلَمْ يَسْمَعُوا، كَذَلِكَ يُنَادُونَ هُمْ فَلَا أَسْمَعُ، قَالَ رَبُّ ٱلْجُنُودِ. | ١٣ |
14 With the winds of a storm I scattered them among the nations where they lived as foreigners. The land they left became so desolate that no one even traveled through it. They turned the Promised Land into a desert.
| وَأَعْصِفُهُمْ إِلَى كُلِّ ٱلْأُمَمِ ٱلَّذِينَ لَمْ يَعْرِفُوهُمْ. فَخَرِبَتِ ٱلْأَرْضُ وَرَاءَهُمْ، لَا ذَاهِبَ وَلَا آئِبَ. فَجَعَلُوا ٱلْأَرْضَ ٱلْبَهِجَةَ خَرَابًا». | ١٤ |
