¹Zvino negore rechina ramambo Dhariusi shoko raJehovha rakasvika kuna Zekariya nezuva rechina romwedzi wepfumbamwe, iwo weKisirevhi.

¹And it cometh to pass, in the fourth year of Darius the king hath a word of Jehovah been unto Zechariah, in the fourth of the ninth month, in Chisleu.

²Zvino vanhu veBhetieri vakanga vatuma Sharezeri naRegemimereki, navanhu vavo, kundokumbira nyasha kuna Jehovha,

²And Beth-El sendeth Sherezer and Regem-Melech, and its men, to appease the face of Jehovah,

³nokutaura navapristi veimba yaJehovha wehondo navaporofita, vachiti, Ko ndochema nomwedzi wechishanu, ndichizviparadzanisa navamwe, sezvandaiita makore awa mazhinji here?

³speaking unto the priests who [are] at the house of Jehovah of Hosts, and unto the prophets, saying, `Do I weep in the fifth month — being separated — as I have done these so many years?`

⁴Ipapo shoko raJehovha wehondo rakasvika kwandiri, richiti,

⁴And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts unto me, saying:

⁵Taura navanhu vose venyika ino, navapristi, uti, Zvamaitsanya muchichema nomwedzi wechishanu nowechinomwe, makore ano anamakumi manomwe, maitongotsanya nokuda kwangu, nokuda kwangu here?

⁵`Speak unto all the people of the land, and unto the priests, saying:

⁶Kana muchidya, kana muchimwa, hamuzvidyiri nokuzvimwira here?

⁶When ye fasted with mourning in the fifth and in the seventh [months] — even these seventy years — did ye keep the fast [to] Me — Me? And when ye eat, and when ye drink, is it not ye who are eating, and ye who are drinking?

⁷Ko haazi mashoko aJehovha aakadanidzira navaporofita vakare, Jerusaremu richakagarwa navanhu richinomufaro, iro namaguta aro ose akaripoteredza, nenyika yezasi yenyika yamapani dzichina vanhu.

⁷`Are not [these] the words that Jehovah proclaimed by the hand of the former prophets, in Jerusalem`s being inhabited, and [in] safety, and its cities round about it, and the south and the plain — abiding?`

⁸Zvino shoko raJehovha rakasvika kuna Zekariya, richiti,

⁸And there is a word of Jehovah unto Zechariah, saying:

⁹Ndizvo zvakataura Jehovha wehondo, achiti, Ruramisirai kwazvo pakutonga, mumwe nomumwe aitire hama yake unyoro netsitsi;

⁹`Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts, saying: True judgment judge ye, And kindness and mercy do one with another.

¹⁰regai kumanikidza chirikadzi, kana nherera, kana mutorwa, kana murombo; kurege kuva nomumwe wenyu anofungira hama yake zvakaipa pamwoyo pake.

¹⁰And widow, and fatherless, Sojourner, and poor, ye do not oppress, And the calamity of one another ye do not devise in your heart.

¹¹Asi vakaramba kuteerera, vakabvisa fudzi ravo, nokudzivira nzeve dzavo kuti varege kunzwa.

¹¹And they refuse to attend, And they give a refractory shoulder, And their ears have made heavy against hearing.

¹²Zvirokwazvo, mwoyo yavo vakaiita sedhaimani, kuti varege kunzwa murayiro namashoko akatumwa naJehovha wehondo noMweya wake navaporofita vakare; saka kutsamwa kukuru kwakabuda kuna Jehovha wehondo.

¹²And their heart they have made adamant, Against hearing the law, and the words, That Jehovah of Hosts sent by His Spirit, By the hand of the former prophets, And their is great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts.

¹³Zvino sezvaakadana, ivo vakaramba kunzwa, saizvozvo ivo vachadanawo ini ndicharamba kunzwa ndizvo zvinotaura Jehovha wehondo;

¹³And it cometh to pass, as He called, And they have not hearkened, So do they call, and I do not hearken, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

¹⁴asi ndichavaparadzira nechamupupuri pakati pendudzi dzose dzavakanga vasingazivi. nekuti nyika yakava dongo shure kwavo, kukasava nomunhu akaenda kana kudzoka neko; nekuti vakaparadza nyika yakanga ichifadza.

¹⁴And I toss them on all the nations, That they have not known, The land hath been desolate behind them, Of any passing by and turning back, And they set a desirable land for a desolation!