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.”
A Question about Going without Eating
1 On the fourth day of Chislev, the ninth month of the fourth year that Darius was king of Persia, the Lord again spoke to me. 2-3 It happened after the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer with Regem-Melech and his men to ask the priests in the Lord's temple and the prophets to pray for them. So they prayed, “Should we mourn and go without eating during the fifth month, as we have done for many years?”
4-5 It was then that the Lord All-Powerful told me to say to everyone in the country, including the priests:
For 70 years you have gone without eating during the fifth and seventh months of the year. But did you really do it for me? 6 And when you eat and drink, isn't it for your own enjoyment? 7 My message today is the same one I commanded the earlier prophets to speak to Jerusalem and its villages when they were prosperous, and when all of Judah, including the Southern Desert and the hill country, was filled with people.
8-9 So once again, I, the Lord All-Powerful, tell you, “See that justice is done and be kind and merciful to one another! 10 Don't mistreat widows or orphans or foreigners or anyone who is poor, and stop making plans to hurt each other.”
11-12 But everyone who heard those prophets, stubbornly refused to obey. Instead, they turned their backs on everything my Spirit had commanded the earlier prophets to preach. So I, the Lord, became angry 13 and said, “You people paid no attention when I called out to you, and now I'll pay no attention when you call out to me.”
14 That's why I came with a whirlwind and scattered them among foreign nations, leaving their lovely country empty of people and in ruins.