¹It happened in the fourth year of king Darius that the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.

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

²The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech, and their men, to entreat Yahweh’s favor,

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

³and to speak to the priests of the house of Yahweh of Armies, and to the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?”

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

⁴Then the word of Yahweh of Armies came to me, saying,

⁴Ipapo shoko raJehovha wehondo rakasvika kwandiri, richiti,

⁵“Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?

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

⁶When you eat, and when you drink, don’t you eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

⁶Kana muchidya, kana muchimwa, hamuzvidyiri nokuzvimwira here?

⁷Aren’t these the words which Yahweh proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’”

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

⁸The word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying,

⁸Zvino shoko raJehovha rakasvika kuna Zekariya, richiti,

⁹“Thus has Yahweh of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.

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

¹⁰Don’t oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.’

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

¹¹But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.

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

¹²Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law, and the words which Yahweh of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of Armies.

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

¹³It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen,” said Yahweh of Armies;

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

¹⁴“but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate.”

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.