Hakaraia 7

1 Na i te wha o nga tau o Kingi Tariuha ka puta mai te kupu a Ihowa ki a Hakaraia, i te wha o nga ra o te iwa o nga marama, ara o Kihereu.

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 Na kua unga e te hunga o Peteere a Haretere raua ko Rekeme Mereke, me a raua tangata, ki te inoi manaaki i a Ihowa,

Now they of Beth-el had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech to make a request for grace from the Lord,

3 A hei korero hoki ki nga tohunga o te whare o Ihowa o nga mano, ki nga poropiti hoki, hei mea, Me tangi ranei ahau i te rima o nga marama, me te wehe i ahau, me pera me taku i mea ai i enei tau ka maha?

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 Na ka puta mai te kupu a Ihowa o nga mano ki ahau, ka mea,

Then the word of the Lord of armies came to me, saying

5 Korero ki nga tangata katoa o te whenua, ratou ko nga tohunga, mea atu, I a koutou i nohopuku ra, i tangi ra, i te rima, i te whitu o nga marama, ara i enei tau e whitu tekau, he nohopuku ranei ta koutou ki ahau? ki ahau koia?

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 A i a koutou e kai nei, e inu nei, he teka ianei ma koutou ano ta koutou e kai ai, e inu ai?

And when you are feasting and drinking, are you not doing it only for yourselves?

7 Ehara ianei i te mea kia rongo koutou i nga kupu i karangatia e Ihowa, ara e nga poropiti o mua, i te mea e nohoia ana a Hiruharama, e noho rangatira ana, me ona pa ano a taka noa, i te mea hoki e nohoia ana te tonga me te mania?

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 I puta mai ano te kupu a Ihowa ki a Hakaraia, i mea,

And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying,

9 Ko te kupu tenei a Ihowa o nga mano, e mea ana, Kia pono te whakarite o te whakawa, kia puta te aroha me te tohu tangata ki tona tuakana, ki tona teina.

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 Kaua hoki e tukinotia te pouaru, te pani, te manene, te ware; kaua hoki e whakaaroa he kino i roto i o koutou ngakau ki tona tuakana, ki tona teina.

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 Heoi kihai ratou i pai ki te whakarongo, kei te whakahoki i te pokohiwi, kei te whakapuhoi i o ratou taringa kei rongo.

But they would not give attention, turning their backs and stopping their ears from hearing;

12 Ae ra, i meinga e ratou o ratou ngakau kia rite ki te taimana kei rongo ratou ki te ture, ki nga kupu hoki i unga atu e Ihowa o nga mano, he mea na tona wairua, na te ringa o nga poropiti o mua; na reira ka puta mai he riri nui i a Ihowa o nga m ano.

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 Na, i tana karangatanga, kihai ratou i rongo; waihoki ka karanga ratou, a e kore ahau e rongo, e ai ta Ihowa o nga mano:

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 Otiia ka aia atu ratou e ahau ki te paroro ki waenga i nga iwi katoa kihai i mohiotia e ratou. Heoi ururua ana te whenua i muri i a ratou, te haerea, te hokia; na ratou hoki i mea te whenua ahuareka kia ururua.

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.