< Zekaria 1 >
1 Katika mwezi wa nane wa mwaka wa pili wa utawala wa Mfalme Dario, neno la Bwana lilimjia nabii Zekaria mwana wa Berekia, mwana wa Ido, kusema:
In the eighth month, in the second year of king Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying:
2 “Bwana aliwakasirikia sana baba zako wa zamani.
The Lord has become angry over the resentful anger of your fathers.
3 Kwa hiyo waambie watu: Hivi ndivyo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote asemavyo: ‘Nirudieni mimi,’ asema Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote, ‘nami nitawarudia ninyi,’ asema Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote.
And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Turn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will turn to you, says the Lord of hosts.
4 Msiwe kama baba zenu, ambao manabii waliotangulia waliwatangazia: Hivi ndivyo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote asemavyo: ‘Geukeni, mziache njia zenu mbaya na matendo yenu maovu.’ Lakini hawakunisikiliza wala kufuata maelekezo yangu, asema Bwana.
Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Turn from your evil ways and from your wicked thoughts. But they did not heed, and neither did they pay attention to me, says the Lord.
5 Wako wapi baba zako sasa? Nao manabii, je, wanaishi milele?
Your fathers, where are they? And will the prophets live unceasingly?
6 Je, maneno yangu na amri zangu nilizowaagiza manabii watumishi wangu, hayakuwapata baba zenu?” “Kisha walitubu na kusema, ‘Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote ametutenda sawasawa na njia zetu na matendo yetu yalivyostahili, kama alivyokusudia kufanya.’”
Yet truly my words and my lawfulness, which I entrusted to my servants the prophets, were indeed comprehended by your fathers, and so they were converted, and they said: Just as the Lord of hosts decided to do to us, according to our ways and according to our inventions, so has he done to us.
7 Katika siku ya ishirini na nne ya mwezi wa kumi na moja, yaani mwezi uitwao Shebati, katika mwaka wa pili wa utawala wa Mfalme Dario, neno la Bwana lilimjia nabii Zekaria mwana wa Berekia mwana wa Ido.
On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is called Shevat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying:
8 Wakati wa usiku nilipata maono, mbele yangu alikuwepo mtu akiendesha farasi mwekundu! Alikuwa amesimama katikati ya miti ya mihadasi kwenye bonde. Nyuma yake walikuwepo farasi wekundu, wa kikahawia na weupe.
I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees, which were in the chasm. And behind him were horses: red, speckled, and white.
9 Nikauliza, “Hivi ni vitu gani bwana wangu?” Malaika aliyekuwa akizungumza na mimi akanijibu, “Nitakuonyesha kuwa ni nini.”
And I said, “What are these, my lord?” And the angel, who was speaking with me, said to me, “I will reveal to you what these are.”
10 Kisha yule mtu aliyesimama katikati ya miti ya mihadasi akaeleza, “Ni wale ambao Bwana amewatuma waende duniani kote.”
And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are they, whom the Lord has sent in order to walk through the earth.”
11 Nao wakatoa taarifa kwa yule malaika wa Bwana, aliyekuwa amesimama katikati ya miti ya mihadasi, “Tumepita duniani kote na kukuta ulimwengu wote umepumzika kwa amani.”
And those who stood among the myrtle trees answered the angel of the Lord, and they said, “We have walked through the earth, and behold, all the earth is inhabited and is at rest.”
12 Kisha malaika wa Bwana akasema, “Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote, utazuia mpaka lini rehema kutoka Yerusalemu na miji ya Yuda, ambayo umeikasirikia kwa miaka hii sabini?”
And the angel of the Lord answered and said, “Lord of hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry? This is now the seventieth year.”
13 Kwa hiyo Bwana akazungumza maneno ya upole na ya kufariji kwa malaika aliyezungumza nami.
And the Lord answered the angel, who had been speaking with me, good words, consoling words.
14 Kisha malaika yule aliyekuwa akizungumza nami akasema, “Tangaza neno hili: Hili ndilo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote asemalo: ‘Nina wivu sana kwa ajili ya Yerusalemu na Sayuni,
And the angel, who was speaking with me, said to me: Cry out, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have been zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great zeal.
15 lakini nimeyakasirikia sana mataifa yanayojisikia kuwa yako salama. Nilikuwa nimewakasirikia Israeli kidogo tu, lakini mataifa hayo yaliwazidishia maafa.’
And, with a great anger, I am angry with the wealthy nations. Though I had been angry a little, truly they advanced further in evil.
16 “Kwa hiyo, hivi ndivyo asemavyo Bwana: ‘Nitairudia Yerusalemu kwa rehema na huko nyumba yangu itajengwa tena. Nayo kamba ya kupimia itanyooshwa Yerusalemu,’ asema Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote.
Because of this, thus says the Lord: I will be turned back, towards Jerusalem, with mercies; and my house will be built upon this, says the Lord of hosts. And the building line will be extended over Jerusalem.
17 “Endelea kutangaza zaidi kwamba: Hivi ndivyo asemavyo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote: ‘Miji yangu itafurika tena ustawi na Bwana atamfariji tena Sayuni na kumchagua Yerusalemu.’”
Until then, cry out saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Until then, my cities will flow with good things, and, until then, the Lord will comfort Zion, and, until then, he will single out Jerusalem.
18 Kisha nikatazama juu, na pale mbele yangu nikaona pembe nne!
And I lifted up my eyes, and I saw. And behold: four horns.
19 Nikamuuliza yule malaika aliyekuwa akizungumza nami, “Ni nini hivi?” Akanijibu, “Hizi ni zile pembe zilizowatawanya Yuda, Israeli na Yerusalemu.”
And I said to the angel, who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have winnowed Judah and Israel and Jerusalem.”
20 Kisha Bwana akanionyesha mafundi wanne.
And the Lord showed me four workmen.
21 Nikauliza, “Hawa wanakuja kufanya nini?” Akanijibu, “Hizi ndizo pembe zilizowatawanya Yuda ili asiwepo atakayeweza kuinua kichwa chake, lakini mafundi wamekuja kuzitia hofu na kuzitupa chini hizi pembe za mataifa ambayo yaliinua pembe zao dhidi ya nchi ya Yuda na kuwatawanya watu wake.”
And I said, “What have these come to do?” He spoke, saying, “These are the horns that have winnowed Judah, through every single man, and none of them lifted up his head. And these have come to frighten them away, so as to cast down the horns of the Gentiles, which have lifted up a horn over the land of Judah, so as to scatter it.”