The Lord Condemns Insincere Fasting
1 In the fourth year that Darius was emperor, on the fourth day of the ninth month (the month of Kislev), the Lord gave me a message.
2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to the Temple of the Lord Almighty to pray for the Lord's blessing 3 and to ask the priests and the prophets this question: “Should we continue to mourn because of the destruction of the Temple, by fasting in the fifth month as we have done for so many years now?”
4 This is the message of the Lord that came to me. 5 He said, “Tell the people of the land and the priests that when they fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during these seventy years, it was not in honor of me. 6 And when they ate and drank, it was for their own satisfaction.”
7 This is what the Lord said through the earlier prophets at the time when Jerusalem was prosperous and filled with people and when there were many people living not only in the towns around the city but also in the southern region and in the western foothills.
Disobedience, the Cause of Exile
8 The Lord gave this message to Zechariah: 9 “Long ago I gave these commands to my people: ‘You must see that justice is done, and must show kindness and mercy to one another. 10 Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners who live among you, or anyone else in need. And do not plan ways of harming one another.’
11 “But my people stubbornly refused to listen. They closed their minds 12 and made their hearts as hard as rock. Because they would not listen to the teaching which I sent through the prophets who lived long ago, I became very angry. 13 Because they did not listen when I spoke, I did not answer when they prayed. 14 Like a storm I swept them away to live in foreign countries. This good land was left a desolate place, with no one living in it.”
Ndulamo ne ngoni kusi kuzwinyima zojiwa
1 Kwakati mu gole le bunna le mbuso wa Mambo Dariyasi, mu zhuba le bunna le mwedzi we buzhanalume unodang'wa we Khisilevi dama la Yahwe likazha kuna Zakhariya. 2 Bathu be Bhetele bakabe batuma Sharezeri na Regemu Meleki ne bamwe babo kukumbila lubu muna Yahwe 3 ne kukumbila bapirisiti be Ng'umba ye Ndzimu ya Yahwe Masimbawose banobusa shango yose ne balebesambeli beti, “Apa takafanila lila ne kuzwinyima zojiwa mu mwedzi we bushanu sekwa tagala tithama makole wose kene?”
4 Dama la Yahwe Masimbawose banobusa shango yose ngono likazha kundili liti, 5 “Bhuzwa bathu bose kose ne bapirisiti be shango uti, ‘Apa makati muzwinyima zojiwa kakale mulila mu mwedzi we bushanu ne we butendeka mu makole wose iyawa ali makumi ali kutendeka, apa makabe muzwinyimila imi, imi dumbu kene? 6 Ngono ngwenu amuja mung'wa apa amutobe muzwithamila kene? 7 Apa makabe musakafanila bhulutana matama a Yahwe abakapa balebesambeli bekutanga tjibaka tje Jerusalema itjina mbakiso ne mizi yakaipoteleka, ne burwa ne shango yakawila kutjina bathu banjinji kene?’ ”
8 Dama la Yahwe likazha kakale kuna Zakhariya liti, 9 “Yahwe Masimbawose bakati, ‘Sumikilisani nge lebeswa kakale mulakidzane lubu ne ngoni. 10 Amuzofanila tshambilidza tjilikadzi ne siyang'wa ne bazhi kene bashayi, kushete wakumbulila mmwe bubi.’
11 “Koga bakalamba teedza, bakabhatilila mu bukomba bakazwina zebe dzabo kuti ndizo basihwe. 12 Nge malebeswa bakakukutadza mimoyo yabo, ikawomelela se bgwe, kuti ndizo basilondolodze nlayo ne matama a Yahwe Masimbawose abakatumila nge Meya yabo nge balebesambeli be kutanga. Ndizo, Yahwe Masimbawose bazhisa bushongola gusibushoma.
13 “Ngono kwakashingikala koga sekwa ndakaleba koga bakadwilila bakasibhulutane ndizo banowolila koga anditowobateedza, kojalo Yahwe Masimbawose. 14 Ndizoke ndowobapaladza nge dutu ndibapaladzila mu shango dzabasinga zibe. Ndizo shango inowosala ili matongo nge kwabo kusina ndodwa ne unoyenda yenda ngono shango yakanaka ikabe dongo.”