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.
Le Fia Darius ƒe ƒe enelia me, le dzinu asiekɛlia si nye Kislev ƒe ŋkeke enea gbe la, Yehowa ƒe gbe va na Zekaria.
2 Bethel-sharezer sent Regem-melech and his men to ask for the Lord's blessing.
Ame siwo le Betel la dɔ Sarezer, Regen Melek kple wo ŋutimewo be woaɖe kuku na Yehowa
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?”
to nunɔlawo kple nyagblɔɖila siwo le Yehowa, Dziƒoʋakɔwo ƒe Aƒetɔ la ƒe gbedoxɔ me la dzi be, “Ɖe wòhiã be mafa avi, atsi nu adɔ le ɣleti atɔ̃lia me abe ale si mewɔnɛ ƒe geɖe siwo va yi la enea?”
4 The Lord Almighty sent a message to me saying,
Tete Yehowa, Dziƒoʋakɔwo ƒe Aƒetɔ la ƒe gbe va nam be,
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?
“Bia ame siwo katã le anyigba la dzi kple Osɔfoawo be, ‘Esi mietsi nu dɔ, fa avi le ɣleti atɔ̃lia kple adrelia me le ƒe blaadre siwo va yi me la, nyee mietsi nua dɔ na vavã?
6 And when you eat and drink, don't you eat and drink for yourselves?
Esi mienɔ nu ɖum, nɔ nu nom la, ɖe menye na miawo ŋutɔ ƒe dzidzɔkpɔkpɔ koe oa?
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?
Ɖe menye nya siawoe Yehowa gblɔ to nyagblɔɖila siwo do ŋgɔ la dzi, esi Yerusalem kple du siwo ƒo xlãe godoo la nɔ ŋutifafa kple dzidzedzekpɔkpɔ me, eye gbegbe kple ɣetoɖoƒetogbɛwo zu amenɔƒe oa?’”
8 The Lord Almighty sent another message to me.
Yehowa ƒe gbe gava na Zekaria be,
9 This is what the Lord says. Judge fairly and truthfully. Show mercy and kindness to one another.
“Ale Yehowa, Dziƒoʋakɔwo ƒe Aƒetɔ la gblɔe nye esi: ‘Midrɔ̃ ʋɔnu dzɔdzɔe, mikpɔ nublanui, eye mianyo dɔ me na mia nɔewo.
10 Don't exploit those who are widowed or fatherless, foreigners or the poor. Don't think up ways of mistreating one other.
Migate ahosiwo alo tsyɔ̃eviwo, amedzrowo alo ame dahewo ɖe anyi o. Migaɖo nu vɔ̃ɖi wɔwɔ ɖe mia nɔewo ŋu o.’
11 But they refused to listen. They were obstinate, turning their backs and closing their ears.
“Mia fofowo gbe toɖoɖo gbedeasi sia, wolia ʋume kpakoo, eye wotsɔ asibidɛ xe to me be yewomagase nye nya la o.
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.
Wona woƒe dziwo sẽ abe hlihãkpe ene, elabena womedi be yewoase nye Yehowa Dziƒoʋakɔwo ƒe Aƒetɔ la ƒe nyawo kple se siwo metsɔ na wo to nye Yehowa ƒe Gbɔgbɔ kple nyagblɔɖila siwo nɔ anyi tsã la dzi o. Esia ta nye Yehowa, Dziƒoʋakɔwo ƒe Aƒetɔ la, medo dɔmedzoe ɖe wo ŋuti ɖo.
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.
“‘Meyɔ wo, gake wogbe tɔtɔ, eya ta esi wodo ɣli yɔm la, nye hã metrɔ megbe de wo,’ Yehowa Dziƒoʋakɔwo ƒe Aƒetɔ lae gblɔe.
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.
‘Mekaka wo kple yali ɖe dukɔwo katã dome, afi si wozu amedzrowo le. Woƒe anyigba si wogblẽ ɖe megbea la zu aƒedo, afi si ame aɖeke mate ŋu ayi o. Aleae wowɔ anyigba nyui la wòzu gbegbe nye esi.’”
