Zekaria 7
1 Mugore rechina raMambo Dhariasi, shoko raJehovha rakasvika kuna Zekaria pazuva rechina romwedzi wepfumbamwe, mumwedzi weKisirevhi.
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.
2 Vanhu veBhetieri vakanga vatuma Sharezeri naRegemi-Mereki, pamwe chete navanhu vavo, kuti vaende kuna Jehovha
Bethel-sharezer sent Regem-melech and his men to ask for the Lord's blessing.
3 kundokumbira kuvaprista veimba yaJehovha Wamasimba Ose nokuvaprofita vachiti, “Ndochema nokutsanya nomwedzi wechishanu here, sezvandakaita kwamakore mazhinji aya?”
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?”
4 Ipapo shoko raJehovha Wamasimba Ose rakasvika kwandiri richiti,
The Lord Almighty sent a message to me saying,
5 “Bvunza vanhu vose venyika uye navaprista kuti, ‘Pamakatsanya uye mukachema mumwedzi wechishanu nowechinomwe kwamakore makumi manomwe akapfuura, makatsanyira ini zvechokwadi here?
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?
6 Uye pamaidya nokunwa, makanga musingangozvifadzi here?
And when you eat and drink, don't you eat and drink for yourselves?
7 Aya haasiwo here mashoko aJehovha akaparidzwa kubudikidza navaprofita vekare, Jerusarema namaguta aro akaripoteredza parakanga riri parugare uye richibudirira, uye nyika yeNegevhi nomujinga mezvikomo zvokumavirira muchakagarwa navanhu?’”
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?
8 Uye shoko raJehovha rakasvikazve kuna Zekaria richiti,
The Lord Almighty sent another message to me.
9 “Zvanzi naJehovha Wamasimba Ose, ‘Tongai nokururamisira kwezvokwadi; muitirane tsitsi nenyasha.
This is what the Lord says. Judge fairly and truthfully. Show mercy and kindness to one another.
10 Musamanikidza chirikadzi kana nherera, mutorwa kana murombo. Musafungirana zvakaipa mumwoyo menyu.’
Don't exploit those who are widowed or fatherless, foreigners or the poor. Don't think up ways of mistreating one other.
11 “Asi vakaramba kuteerera; mukuzvikudza vakafuratira uye vakadzivira nzeve dzavo.
But they refused to listen. They were obstinate, turning their backs and closing their ears.
12 Vakaomesa mwoyo yavo sedombo romusarasara uye vakasateerera kumurayiro kana kumashoko aJehovha Wamasimba Ose aakanga atuma noMweya wake kubudikidza navaprofita vekare. Saka Jehovha Wamasimba Ose akatsamwa zvikuru.
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.
13 “‘Pandakadana, havana kuteerera; saka pavakadana, handina kuvateerera,’ ndizvo zvinotaura Jehovha Wamasimba Ose.
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.
14 ‘Ndakavaparadzira nechamupupuri pakati pendudzi dzose, uko kwavakava vatorwa. Nyika yakava dongo shure kwavo zvokuti hapana aizogona kupinda kana kubudamo. Izvi ndizvo zvavakaita kunyika yaifadza, ikava dongo.’”
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.
