Zechariah 7
1 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.
Bara Daariyoos Mootichaa keessa waggaa afuraffaatti, bultii afuraffaa jiʼa saglaffaa, jiʼa Kaaseluu jedhamu keessa dubbiin Waaqayyoo gara Zakkaariyaas dhufe.
2 Bethel-sharezer sent Regem-melech and his men to ask for the Lord's blessing.
Namoonni Beetʼeel akka isaan Waaqayyoon kadhataniif Sharezerii fi Reege-Meleekin namoota isaanii wajjin ergan;
3 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?”
kunis akka isaan, “Ani akkuman waggoota hedduu godhe sana ammas jiʼa shanaffaa keessa gaddee soomuu qabaa?” jedhanii luboota mana qulqullummaa Waaqayyo Waan Hunda Dandaʼuutii fi raajota gaafataniif.
4 The Lord Almighty sent a message to me saying,
Dubbiin Waaqayyo Waan Hunda Dandaʼuu akkana jedhee gara koo dhufe;
5 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?
“Uummata biyya kanaatii fi luboota hunda akkana jedhii gaafadhu; ‘Isin waggoota torbaataman darban yeroo jiʼa shanaffaa fi torbaffaa keessa soomtanii gadditanitti dhugumaan anaaf soomtanii?
6 And when you eat and drink, don't you eat and drink for yourselves?
Yeroo nyaattanii fi dhugdanittis ofuma keessaniif nyaattanii dhugdan mitii?
7 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?
Dubbiin kun isa Waaqayyo gaafa Yerusaalemii fi magaalaawwan naannoo ishee nagaa fi badhaadhummaadhaan jiraatanitti, yeroo Negeebii fi gaarran lixaa bira namoonni jiraachaa turanitti karaa raajota isaa kanneen duriitiin dubbate mitii?’”
8 The Lord Almighty sent another message to me.
Dubbiin Waaqayyoo ammas akkana jedhee gara Zakkaariyaas dhufe:
9 This is what the Lord says. Judge fairly and truthfully. Show mercy and kindness to one another.
“Waaqayyo Waan Hunda Dandaʼu akkana jedha: ‘Murtii qajeelaadhaan bulchaa; waliif araaramaa; garaas walii laafaa.
10 Don't exploit those who are widowed or fatherless, foreigners or the poor. Don't think up ways of mistreating one other.
Isin haadha hiyyeessaa yookaan ijoollee abbaa hin qabne yookaan alagaa yookaan hiyyeeyyii hin hacuucinaa. Garaa keessanitti hammina walitti hin yaadinaa.’
11 But they refused to listen. They were obstinate, turning their backs and closing their ears.
“Isaan garuu dhagaʼuu didan; mataa jabinaanis dugda isaanii itti gatanii gurra isaanii cuqqaallatan.
12 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.
Isaan garaa isaanii akkuma dhagaa jabeeffatanii seera yookaan dubbii Waaqayyo Waan Hunda Dandaʼu karaa raajota isaa kanneen duriitiin Hafuura isaatiin erge dhaggeeffachuu didan. Kanaafuu Waaqayyo Waan Hunda Dandaʼu akka malee aare.
13 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.
“‘Yeroo ani waametti, isaan na hin dhaggeeffanne; kanaafuu yoo isaan na waammatan ani isaan hin dhaggeeffadhu’ jedha Waaqayyo Waan Hunda Dandaʼu.
14 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.
‘Ani bubbeedhaan saba isaan hin beekne hunda gidduutti isaan nan bittinneesse. Biyyi isaanii hamma namni itti galuu fi keessaan darbu tokko iyyuu dhabamutti isaan booddee ni onte. Isaan akkasiin biyya namatti toltu sana onsan.’”
