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.”
Suŋo ñininkaaroo
1 Mansa Dariyusi la mansayaa sanji naaninjaŋo kari konontonjaŋo, ì ka a fo meŋ ye Kisilewi karoo, tili naaninjaŋo Yaawe* la kumoo naata Jakariya kaŋ. 2 Wo waatoo la Betelinkoolu ye Saresa niŋ Rekemu-Meleki niŋ a la moolu le kii naŋ ka neemoo duwaa moolu ye. 3 Ì ko fanaa, ì si piriisoolu* ñininkaa, mennu be Yaawe Alihawaa Maariyo* Batudulaa Buŋo* to, aniŋ annabiyomoolu ko, “Fo ǹ ñanta suŋ na le baŋ saŋo kari luulunjaŋo ǹ niŋ niikuyaa, ko ǹ ka a ke ñaameŋ sanji jamaa la?”
4 Bituŋ Yaawe Alihawaa Maariyo la kumoo naata n kaŋ ko: 5 “A fo bankoo moolu bee ye, aniŋ piriisoolu ko, ‘Ñiŋ sanji taŋ woorowuloo meŋ tambita, ali ka suŋo meŋ ke saŋo kari luulunjaŋo niŋ woorowulanjaŋo kono, ali niŋ niikuyaa, fo ali ka wo suŋo ke nte le ye baŋ? 6 Niŋ ali ye domoroo ke, ali ye i miŋ, fo wo ka jumaa le nafaa ali faŋo koolaa?’ ”
7 Fo Yaawe maŋ ñiŋ kumakaŋolu le bankee nuŋ ka bo niŋ a la annabiyomoolu la, waatoo meŋ Yerusalaamu be faariŋ moo la, a be neemoo kono, a niŋ a dandanna saatewolu, moolu tarata sabatiriŋ hani Nekefu* tundoo aniŋ Sefela* konkotundoo* to?
Ì la balaŋo le ye ì samba mutoo kono
8 Yaawe la kumoo naata Jakariya kaŋ kotenke. 9 Yaawe Alihawaa Maariyo ye ñiŋ ne fo ko: “Waati jaŋ koomanto, ŋa n na moolu yaamari ñiŋ ne la ko: ‘Ali kiitii tilindiŋo londi, ali ye timinandiyaa niŋ balafaa yitandi ñoo la. 10 Ali kana semboo yitandi furuyaamusoolu la, aliyatiimoolu, tumarankewolu waraŋ fuwaaroolu. Ali kana kuu jawoolu feere ñoo ye ali sondomoolu kono.’ 11 Bari ì maŋ soŋ i lamoyi la n na, ì ye ì koo dii. Ì ye ì tuloolu suki, ì maŋ n na kumoo moyi. 12 Ì ye ì jusoolu jandi ko beroo. Ì maŋ soŋ ka ì tuloo tu luwaa niŋ yaamaroolu to, n na Nooroo ye mennu dii nuŋ annabiyomoolu la ka ì bankee. Wo le ye a tinna nte Yaawe Alihawaa Maariyo kamfaabaata ì kamma.
13 “A keta teŋ ne: Biriŋ n diyaamuta ì ye, ì maŋ n danku, ì fanaa ye n kili, m maŋ ì danku. 14 Ko foñoo ka feŋo tindi ñaameŋ, ŋa ì janjandi bankoolu kaŋ wo le ñaama, ka ke tumarankewolu ti jee. Ì la bankoo kensemmaa tuta laariŋ, moo buka taa niŋ naa jee. Ñiŋ banku diimaa keta tumbuŋo ti.”
