Zacarias 7 – TCB & NIRV

Tagalog Contemporary Bible

Zacarias 7:1-14

Tinuligsa ang Pakunwaring Pag-aayuno

1May sinabi ang Panginoon kay Zacarias noong ikaapat na araw ng buwan ng Kislev (ikasiyam na buwan), nang ikaapat na taon ng paghahari ni Darius. 2-3Nangyari ito matapos ipadala ng mga mamamayan ng Betel si Sharezer at si Regem Melec, kasama ang kanilang mga tauhan, upang hilingin sa mga pari sa templo at sa mga propeta na tanungin ang Panginoon kung talagang kailangan pa nilang magluksa at mag-ayuno sa ikalimang buwan upang alalahanin ang pagkagiba ng templo, gaya ng maraming taon na nilang ginagawa. 4At ito ang sinabi ng Panginoong Makapangyarihan kay Zacarias: 5“Sabihin mo sa lahat ng mga mamamayan ng Israel pati sa mga pari, na ang kanilang pag-aayuno at pagluluksa sa bawat ikalima at ikapitong buwan sa loob ng 70 taon ay hindi nila ginagawa para sa akin. 6At kung silaʼy kumakain at umiinom, ginagawa nila iyan para lamang sa sarili nilang kaligayahan. 7Ito rin ang mensahe na ipinasabi ko sa mga propeta noon, nang masagana pa ang Jerusalem at marami pa itong tao pati ang mga bayang nasa paligid nito, at pati na ang Negev7:7 Negev: Lugar na nasa bandang timog ng Juda. at ang kaburulan sa kanluran.”7:7 kaburulan sa kanluran: sa Hebreo, Shefela.

8-9Sinabi muli ng Panginoong Makapangyarihan kay Zacarias, “Ito ang sinabi ko sa aking mga mamamayan: ‘Humatol kayo nang makatarungan. Ipakita ninyo ang inyong kabutihan at habag sa isaʼt isa. 10Huwag ninyong gigipitin ang mga biyuda, mga ulila, mga dayuhan, at ang mga mahihirap. Huwag kayong magbalak ng masama laban sa isaʼt isa.’

11“Ngunit hindi nila pinansin ang aking sinabi. Tinanggihan nila ito at hindi sila nakinig. 12Pinatigas nilang parang bato ang kanilang mga puso, at hindi sila nakinig sa Kautusan at mga salitang ipinasasabi ng aking Espiritu sa pamamagitan ng mga propeta noon. Kaya ako, ang Makapangyarihang Panginoon, ay talagang galit na galit. 13At dahil hindi sila nakinig sa mga sinabi ko, hindi rin ako makikinig kapag tumawag sila sa akin. 14Para akong buhawing nagpangalat sa kanila sa ibaʼt ibang lugar na hindi pa nila napupuntahan. Iniwanan nila ang kanilang magandang lupain na hindi na mapapakinabangan at hindi na rin matitirhan.”

New International Reader’s Version

Zechariah 7:1-14

Have Justice and Mercy

1During the fourth year that Darius was king, a message from the Lord came to me. It was the fourth day of the ninth month. That’s the month of Kislev. 2The people of Bethel wanted to ask the Lord for his blessing. So they sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek and their men. 3They went to the prophets and priests at the Lord’s temple. They asked them, “Should we mourn and go without eating in the fifth month? That’s what we’ve done for many years.”

4Then the message came to me from the Lord who rules over all. He said, 5“Ask the priests and all the people in the land a question for me. Say to them, ‘You mourned and fasted in the fifth and seventh months. You did it for the past 70 years. But did you really do it for me? 6And when you were eating and drinking, weren’t you just enjoying good food for yourselves? 7Didn’t I tell you the same thing through the earlier prophets? That was when Jerusalem and the towns around it were at rest and enjoyed success. People lived in the Negev Desert and the western hills at that time.’ ”

8Another message from the Lord came to me. 9Here is what the Lord who rules over all said to his people. “Treat everyone with justice. Show mercy and tender concern to one another. 10Do not take advantage of widows. Do not mistreat children whose fathers have died. Do not be mean to outsiders or poor people. Do not make evil plans against one another.”

11But they refused to pay attention to the Lord. They were stubborn. They turned their backs and covered their ears. 12They made their hearts as hard as the hardest stone. They wouldn’t listen to the law. They wouldn’t pay attention to the Lord’s messages. So the Lord who rules over all was very angry. After all, his Spirit had spoken to his people through the earlier prophets.

13“When I called, they did not listen,” says the Lord. “So when they called, I would not listen. 14I used a windstorm to scatter them among all the nations. They were strangers there. The land they left behind became dry and empty. No one could even travel through it. This is how they turned the pleasant land into a dry and empty desert.”