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.

Pea naʻe hoko ʻo pehē, ʻi hono fā taʻu ʻoe tuʻi ko Talaiasi, naʻe hoko mai ʻae folofola ʻa Sihova kia Sakalaia, ʻi hono fā ʻoe ʻaho ʻi hono hiva ʻoe māhina ko Kisilu.

2 Bethel-sharezer sent Regem-melech and his men to ask for the Lord's blessing.

Ka kuo nau fekau ʻa Selesa, mo Likemeleki, mo ʻena kau tangata, ki he fale ʻoe ʻOtua, ke nau lotu ʻi he ʻao ʻo Sihova,

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?”

Pea ke lea ki he kau taulaʻeiki, naʻe ʻi he fale ʻo Sihova ʻoe ngaahi kautau, pea ki he kau palōfita, ʻo pehē, “He te u tangi ʻi hono nima ʻoe māhina, mo vaheʻi au, ʻo hangē ko ia kuo u fai ʻi he ngaahi taʻu lahi ni?”

4 The Lord Almighty sent a message to me saying,

Hili ia naʻe hoko mai kiate au, ʻae folofola ʻa Sihova ʻoe ngaahi kautau, ʻo pehē,

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?

“Lea ki he kakai kotoa pē ʻoe fonua, pea mo e kau taulaʻeiki, ʻo pehē, He kuo mou fai ʻa hoʻomou ʻaukai, mo hoʻomou tangi mamahi, ʻi hono nima pea mo hono fitu ʻoe māhina, ʻi he taʻu ko eni ʻe fitungofulu, ʻio, ko hoʻomou ʻaukai na naʻe momoʻi fai ia kiate au?

6 And when you eat and drink, don't you eat and drink for yourselves?

Ko hoʻomou kai, pea mo hoʻomou inu, ʻikai naʻa mou kai mo inu maʻamoutolu pe?”

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?

‌ʻIkai ʻoku totonu ʻa hoʻomou fanongo ki he ngaahi folofola ʻa Sihova, ʻaia kuo ne fakahā ʻi he kau palōfita ʻi muʻa, ʻi heʻene kei kakai, mo kei monūʻia ʻa Selūsalema, mo e ngaahi kolo naʻe tuʻu takatakai ʻiate ia, ʻi he kuonga naʻe kei kakai ʻae potu tonga, pea mo e potu tokalelei?

8 The Lord Almighty sent another message to me.

Pea naʻe hoko mai ʻae folofola ʻa Sihova kia Sakalaia, ʻo pehē,

9 This is what the Lord says. Judge fairly and truthfully. Show mercy and kindness to one another.

“ʻOku folofola ʻa Sihova ʻoe ngaahi kautau, ʻo pehē, ‘Fai ke totonu ʻae fakamaau, pea feʻofaʻaki mo manavaʻofa ʻae tangata taki taha ki hono kāinga:

10 Don't exploit those who are widowed or fatherless, foreigners or the poor. Don't think up ways of mistreating one other.

Pea ʻoua naʻa fakamālohiʻi ʻae fefine kuo mate hono husepāniti, pe ko e tamai mate, pe ko e muli, pe ko e masiva; pea ʻoua naʻa ai ha taha te ne fai fakakākā ʻi hono loto ki hono kāinga.’

11 But they refused to listen. They were obstinate, turning their backs and closing their ears.

Ka naʻa nau talangataʻa ke fanongo, mo nau hamusi mai honau uma, pea naʻa nau fakaongotuli honau telinga, ke ʻoua naʻa nau ongoʻi.

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.

‌ʻIo, naʻa nau ngaohi honau loto ke hangē ko e maka fefeka ʻaupito, telia naʻa nau ongoʻi ʻae fono, mo e ngaahi lea kuo fai mai ʻe Sihova ʻoe ngaahi kautau, ʻi hono laumālie, ʻi he kau palōfita naʻe ʻi muʻa, pea ko ia kuo hoko ai ʻae houhau lahi meia Sihova ʻoe ngaahi kautau.

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.

Ko ia kuo hoko ʻo pehē, ʻi heʻene kalanga naʻe ʻikai te nau fie fanongo; pea ko ia, kuo nau kalanga, ka naʻe ʻikai te u fanongo,” ʻoku pehē ʻa Sihova ʻoe ngaahi kautau.

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.

“Ka kuo u vilingiaʻi ʻaki ʻakinautolu ʻae ʻahiohio ki he ngaahi puleʻanga, ʻaia naʻe ʻikai te nau ʻiloʻi. Ko ia naʻe hili ange ia kuo lala ʻae fonua, pea naʻe ʻikai kei feʻaluʻaki ai ha tangata: he naʻa nau ʻai ke lala ʻaupito ʻae fonua matamatalelei.”