Sakaria 7

1 Ɔhene Dario adedi mfe anan so no, Awurade asɛm baa Sakaria nkyɛn ɔsram a ɛto so akron a wɔfrɛ no Kislev no da ɛto so anan no mu.

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 Bet-Elfo asoma Sareser ne Regem-Melek ne wɔn mmarima sɛ wɔnkɔsrɛ Awurade.

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

3 Wɔmfa asɔfo a wɔwɔ Asafo Awurade fi ne adiyifo so mmisa se, “Menkɔ so ntwa adwo, nni mmuada wɔ ɔsram a ɛto so anum no mu, sɛnea mayɛ no mfe bebree a atwa mu no ana?”

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 Afei Asafo Awurade asɛm baa me nkyɛn se,

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

5 “Bisa asase no so nnipa nyinaa ne asɔfo no se, ‘Mfe aduɔson a atwam no, sɛ mudii mmuada na mutwaa adwo wɔ asram anum ne ason so no, na ɛyɛ ampa sɛ me nti na mudi mmuada no ana?

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 Bere a mudidi na monom no, na ɛnyɛ mo ara na moyɛ de gye mo ani ana?

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

7 Ɛnyɛ saa nsɛm yi ara na Awurade faa kan adiyifo so paee mu kae, wɔ bere a Yerusalem ne nkurow a atwa ne ho ahyia no wɔ asomdwoe ne nkɔso no, bere a na nnipa akɔtena Negeb ne atɔe fam nkoko no so ana?’”

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 Na Awurade asɛm baa Sakaria nkyɛn bio:

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

9 “Sɛɛ na Asafo Awurade se, ‘Mummu atɛn a ɛyɛ nokware na munnya ahummɔbɔ ne ayamhyehye mma mo ho mo ho.

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 Monnhyɛ akunafo, ayisaa, ahɔho ne ahiafo so. Monnnwene bɔne mo koma mu mma mo ho mo ho.’

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 “Nanso wɔantie; wɔde asoɔden dan wɔn akyi na wosisiw wɔn aso.

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

12 Wɔyɛɛ wɔn koma den sɛ ɔtwɛrebo, na wɔantie mmara anaa nsɛm a Asafo Awurade nam ne Honhom so de somaa kan adiyifo no. Ɛno nti, Asafo Awurade bo fuw yiye.

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 “‘Mefrɛe no, wɔannye me so, enti wɔfrɛ a merennye wɔn so,’ sɛnea Asafo Awurade se ni.

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 ‘Mede mfɛtɛ bɔɔ wɔn petee aman nyinaa so ma wɔkɔyɛɛ ahɔho wɔ hɔ. Asase a wogyaw no daa mpan a obiara ntwa mu wɔ hɔ. Sɛɛ na wɔyɛ maa asase fɛfɛɛfɛ no sɛee.’”

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.