Zekaria 7
1 Mwaka wa minne wa utawala mfalme Dario, siku ya nne ya mwezi wa Kisleu(ambao ni mwezi wa tisa), neno la Yahwe lilimjia Zekaria kusema.
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 Watu wa Betheli wamemtuma Shareza, Regemu Meleki na watu wao kuomba mbele ya uso wa Yahwe.
Bethel-sharezer sent Regem-melech and his men to ask for the Lord's blessing.
3 Wakaongea na makuhani waliokuwa katika nyumba ya Yahwe wa majeshi na kwa manabii; wakasema, “Je niomboleze katika mwezi wa tano kwa njia ya kufunga, kama nilivyofanya miaka mingi hii?”
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 Ndipo neno la Yahwe wa majeshi liliponijia kusema,
The Lord Almighty sent a message to me saying,
5 “Ongea na watu wote wa nchi na makuhani uwaambie, “Mlipofunga na kuomboleza katika mwezi wa tano na wa saba katika hii miaka sabini, je kweli mlifunga kwa ajili yangu?
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 Na mlipokula na kunywa, hamkula na kunywa kwa ajili yenu wenyewe?
And when you eat and drink, don't you eat and drink for yourselves?
7 Je hayo siyo maneno aliyosema Yahwe kwa vinywa vya manabii wa zamani, mlipokuwa bado mnaishi Yerusalemu na miji ya kandokando yenye mafanikio na iliyokaa Negebu, na upande wa magharibi chini ya vilima?”
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 Neno la Yahwe likamjia Zekaria kusema,
The Lord Almighty sent another message to me.
9 “Yahwe wa majeshi asema hivi, 'Hukumuni kwa haki, uaminifu wa agano, na rehema. Kila mtu na amtendee hivi ndugu yake.
This is what the Lord says. Judge fairly and truthfully. Show mercy and kindness to one another.
10 Juu ya mjane na yatima, mgeni, na masikini - usiwanyanyase, na asiwepo miongoni mwenu anayepanga madhara yoyote dhidi ya mwingine mioyoni mwenu.
Don't exploit those who are widowed or fatherless, foreigners or the poor. Don't think up ways of mistreating one other.
11 Lakini waliyashupaza mabega yao na hawakujari. Waliziba masikio yao ili wasisikie.
But they refused to listen. They were obstinate, turning their backs and closing their ears.
12 Waliifanya mioyo yao kuwa migumu kama mwamba ili wasiisikie sheria au neno la Yahwe wa majeshi. Alipeleka ujumbe kwa watu nyakati za zamani kwa Roho wake, kwa vinywa vya manabii. Lakini watu hawakusikia, hivyo Yahwe wa majeshi aliwakasirikia sana.
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 Hata ikawa alipoita hawakusikia. Vilevile,” asema Yahwe wa majeshi, “wataniita, lakini sitasikiliza.
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 Kwa maana nitawatawanya kwa upepo wa kisurisuri katika mataifa yote ambayo hawajawai kuyaona, na baada yao nchi itakuwa wazi. Kwa kuwa hakuna hata mmoja atakayepita au kukaa katika hiyo nchi kwa kuwa wameigeuza nchi yao yenye kupendeza kuwa isiyofaa.
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.
