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.
Katika mwaka wa nne wa utawala wa Mfalme Dario, neno la Bwana lilimjia Zekaria siku ya nne ya mwezi wa tisa, mwezi wa Kisleu.
2 Bethel-sharezer sent Regem-melech and his men to ask for the Lord's blessing.
Watu wa Betheli walikuwa wamemtuma Shareza na Regem-Meleki pamoja na watu wao, kumsihi Bwana
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?”
kwa kuwauliza makuhani wa nyumba ya Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote na manabii, “Je, imempasa kuomboleza na kufunga katika mwezi wa tano, kama ambavyo nimekuwa nikifanya kwa miaka mingi?”
4 The Lord Almighty sent a message to me saying,
Kisha neno la Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote likanijia kusema:
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?
“Waulize watu wote wa nchi na makuhani, ‘Je, mlipofunga na kuomboleza katika mwezi wa tano na wa saba kwa miaka sabini iliyopita, mlifunga kweli kwa ajili yangu?
6 And when you eat and drink, don't you eat and drink for yourselves?
Na mlipokuwa mkila na kunywa, je, hamkuwa mnasherehekea kwa ajili ya nafsi zenu?
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?
Je, haya sio maneno ya Bwana aliyosema kupitia manabii waliotangulia, wakati Yerusalemu pamoja na miji inayoizunguka ilipokuwa katika hali ya utulivu na ya mafanikio, wakati Negebu na Shefala zikiwa zimekaliwa na watu?’”
8 The Lord Almighty sent another message to me.
Neno la Bwana likamjia tena Zekaria:
9 This is what the Lord says. Judge fairly and truthfully. Show mercy and kindness to one another.
“Hivi ndivyo asemavyo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote: ‘Fanyeni hukumu za haki, onyesheni rehema na huruma ninyi kwa ninyi.
10 Don't exploit those who are widowed or fatherless, foreigners or the poor. Don't think up ways of mistreating one other.
Msimwonee mjane wala yatima, mgeni wala maskini. Msiwaziane mabaya mioyoni mwenu ninyi kwa ninyi.’
11 But they refused to listen. They were obstinate, turning their backs and closing their ears.
“Lakini wakakataa kusikiliza, wakanipa kisogo kwa ukaidi na kuziba masikio yao.
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.
Wakaifanya mioyo yao migumu kama jiwe gumu na hawakuisikiliza sheria au maneno ambayo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote aliyatuma kwa njia ya Roho wake kupitia manabii waliotangulia. Kwa hiyo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote alikasirika sana.
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.
“‘Wakati nilipoita, hawakusikiliza, kwa hiyo walipoita, sikusikiliza,’ asema Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote.
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.
‘Niliwatawanya kwa upepo wa kisulisuli miongoni mwa mataifa yote, mahali ambapo walikuwa wageni. Nchi ikaachwa ukiwa nyuma yao kiasi kwamba hakuna aliyeweza kuingia au kutoka. Hivi ndivyo walivyoifanya ile nchi iliyokuwa imependeza kuwa ukiwa.’”
