Zekkaliya 7
1 Awo olwatuuka mu mwaka ogwokuna ogw’obufuzi bwa kabaka Daliyo, ekigambo kya Mukama ne kijjira Zekkaliya, ku lunaku olwokuna olw’omwezi ogw’omwenda oguyitibwa Kisuleevu.
And it came about in the fourth year of King Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month Chislev.
2 Abayudaaya mu Beseri baali batumye Salezeeri omukungu wa kabaka ne Legemumereki n’abantu baabwe mu Yerusaalemi okwogerako ne bakabona babegayiririre eri Mukama,
Now they of Beth-el had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech to make a request for grace from the Lord,
3 n’okusaba bakabona b’omu nnyumba ya Mukama ow’Eggye ne bannabbi nti, “Nkaabe era nsiibe mu mwezi ogwokutaano nga bwe mbadde nkola okumala emyaka gino gyonna?”
And to say to the priests of the house of the Lord of armies and to the prophets, Am I to go on weeping in the fifth month, separating myself as I have done in past years?
4 Awo ekigambo kya Mukama ow’Eggye ne kinzijira nga kigamba nti,
Then the word of the Lord of armies came to me, saying
5 “Gamba abantu bonna abali mu nsi, ne bakabona nti, ‘Bwe mwasiiba ne mukungubaga mu mwezi ogwokutaano ne mu gw’omusanvu mu myaka gino ensanvu, mwali musiibira nze?
Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, When you went without food and gave yourselves to grief in the fifth and the seventh months for these seventy years, did you ever do it because of me?
6 Era bwe mulya ne munywa, muba temulya ku lwammwe era n’okunywa ku lwammwe?
And when you are feasting and drinking, are you not doing it only for yourselves?
7 Bino si bye bigambo Mukama bye yalangirira mu bannabbi ab’edda, Yerusaalemi bwe kyali kikyalimu abantu era nga kikyakulaakulana, nga n’ebibuga byakyo bikyetoolodde, nga ne mu bukiikaddyo ne mu bitundu eby’ensenyi mukyalimu abantu?’”
Are not these the words which the Lord said to you by the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem was full of people and wealth, and the towns round about her and the South and the Lowland were peopled?
8 Ekigambo kya Mukama ne kijjira Zekkaliya nate nti,
And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying,
9 “Bw’ati bw’ayogera Mukama ow’Eggye nti, ‘Musalenga emisango egy’ensonga, mukwatirweganenga ekisa n’okusaasiragananga buli muntu eri muganda we.
This is what the Lord of armies has said: Let your judging be upright and done in good faith, let every man have mercy and pity for his brother:
10 Temutulugunyanga bannamwandu, n’abatalina bakitaabwe, n’abatambuze wadde abaavu, era tewateekwa kubaawo muntu n’omu ku mmwe alowooza mu mutima gwe okukola obulabe ku muganda we!’
Do not be hard on the widow, or the child without a father, on the man from a strange country, or on the poor; let there be no evil thought in your heart against your brother.
11 “Naye baagaana okuwuliriza ne bakakanyaza emitima gyabwe ne baziba n’amatu gaabwe baleme okuwulira.
But they would not give attention, turning their backs and stopping their ears from hearing;
12 Ne bakakanyaza emitima gyabwe ng’ejjinja, ne batawuliriza mateeka wadde ebigambo Mukama ow’Eggye bye yaweereza n’Omwoyo we mu mukono gwa bannabbi ab’edda. Mukama ow’Eggye kyeyava abanyiigira ennyo.
And they made their hearts like the hardest stone, so that they might not give ear to the law and the words which the Lord of armies had said by the earlier prophets: and there came great wrath from the Lord of armies.
13 “‘Bwe nabakoowoola ne batafaayo, nange ne ŋŋaana okufaayo nga bankowodde,’ bw’ayogera Mukama ow’Eggye.
And it came about that as they would not give ear to his voice, so I would not give ear to their voice, says the Lord of armies:
14 Era nabasaasaanya n’omuyaga ogukunta mu mawanga ge baali batamanyi. Ensi gye baaleka n’ebeera matongo nga tewali agibeeramu, ensi ennungi esanyusa, kyeyava efuuka eddungu.”
But with a storm-wind I sent them in flight among all the nations of whom they had no knowledge. So the land was waste after them, so that no man went through or came back: for they had made waste the desired land.
