Encourage God's People
1 Our God has said:
“Encourage my people!
Give them comfort.
2 Speak kindly to Jerusalem
and announce:
Your slavery is past;
your punishment is over.
I, the Lord, made you pay
double for your sins.”
3 Someone is shouting:
“Clear a path in the desert!
Make a straight road
for the Lord our God.
4 Fill in the valleys;
flatten every hill
and mountain.
Level the rough
and rugged ground.
5 Then the glory of the Lord
will appear for all to see.
The Lord has promised this!”
6 Someone told me to shout,
and I asked,
“What should I shout?”
We humans are merely grass,
and we last no longer
than wild flowers.
7 At the Lord's command,
flowers and grass disappear,
and so do we.
8 Flowers and grass fade away,
but what our God has said
will never change.
Your God Is Here!
9 There is good news
for the city of Zion.
Shout it as loud as you can
from the highest mountain.
Don't be afraid to shout
to the towns of Judah:
“Your God is here!”
10 Look! The powerful Lord God
is coming to rule
with his mighty arm.
He brings with him
what he has taken in war,
and he rewards his people.
11 The Lord cares for his nation,
just as shepherds care
for their flocks.
He carries the lambs
in his arms,
while gently leading
the mother sheep.
Who Compares with God?
12 Did any of you measure
the ocean by yourself
or stretch out the sky
with your own hands?
Did you put the soil
of the earth in a bucket
or weigh the hills and mountains
on balance scales?
13 Has anyone told the Lord
what he must do
or given him advice?
14 Did the Lord ask anyone
to teach him wisdom
and justice?
Who gave him knowledge
and understanding?
15 To the Lord, all nations
are merely a drop in a bucket
or dust on balance scales;
all of the islands
are but a handful of sand.
16 The cattle on the mountains
of Lebanon
would not be enough to offer
as a sacrifice to God,
and the trees would not
be enough for the fire.
17 God thinks of the nations
as far less than nothing.
18 Who compares with God?
Is anything like him?
19 Is an idol at all like God?
It is made of bronze
with a thin layer of gold,
and decorated with silver.
20 Or special wood may be chosen
because it doesn't rot—
then skilled hands
take care to make an idol
that won't fall on its face.
God Rules the Whole Earth
21 Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
Hasn't it been clear
since the time of creation?
22 God is the one who rules
the whole earth,
and we that live here
are merely insects.
He spread out the heavens
like a curtain or an open tent.
23 God brings down rulers
and turns them into nothing.
24 They are like flowers
freshly sprung up
and starting to grow.
But when God blows on them,
they wilt and are carried off
like straw in a storm.
25 The holy God asks,
“Who compares with me?
Is anyone my equal?”
26 Look at the evening sky!
Who created the stars?
Who gave them each a name?
Who leads them like an army?
The Lord is so powerful
that none of the stars
are ever missing.
The Lord Gives Strength
27 You people of Israel say,
“God pays no attention to us!
He doesn't care if we
are treated unjustly.”
But how can you say that?
28 Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
The Lord is the eternal God,
Creator of the earth.
He never gets weary or tired;
his wisdom cannot be measured.
29 The Lord gives strength
to those who are weary.
30 Even young people get tired,
then stumble and fall.
31 But those who trust the Lord
will find new strength.
They will be strong like eagles
soaring upward on wings;
they will walk and run
without getting tired.
Omambo womaundjiro
1 Ndjambi wetu ma tja:
“Huhumiṋeye otjiwaṋa tjandje; tji huhumiṋeye!”
2 “Yanḓipariseye otjiwaṋa tja Jerusalem!
Tji raereye kutja oruveze rondatumisiro yatjo rwa kapita,
nomauvi watjo nambano tja isirwa.
Ami mbe tji verera ourunde watjo auhe potuingi tjinene.”
3 Maku ravaere eraka ndi mari tja:
“Ṱunineye Muhona ondjira mokuti ongaango!
Sembamisireye Ndjambi wetu ondjira mokuti onguza!
4 Sireye otupoko atuhe,
ozondundu azehe novivanda ngaze ṱekisiwe pamwe!
Ozondjira ozongoto ngaze sembamisiwe,
nehi rovitumbehi nga ri serurwe!
5 Ouvara wa Muhona mau vandururwa,
nomundu auhe e u munu.
Muhona omuini otja kwizika nao.”
6 Eraka mari ravaere nai: “Zuvarisa ombuze!”
Ami e pura e tja: “Me zuvarisa onge mbuze?”
“Zuvarisa kutja ovandu avehe ve ri otja ehozu;
nouwa wawo auhe u ri otja owozongara zokuti.
7 Ehozu ri kukuta, nozongara ze kata,
Muhona tji ma hingi ombepo kombanda yazo.
Tjiri, ovandu ve ri otja ehozu.
8 Ii, ehozu ri kukuta, nozongara ze kata,
nungwari embo ra Ndjambi
wetu ri karerera nga aruhe.”
9 Jerusalem, ronda kondundu onde
u kazuvarise ombuze ombwa!
Ravaera neraka enene, Sion;
tjivisa ombuze ombwa!
Hungira nu o tira!
Raera ovihuro vya Juda
kutja Ndjambi wavyo meya!
10 Muhona Ndjambi
meya okuhonapara nouvara,
ama yende puna ovandu eye mba yama.
11 Eye ma ṱakamisa orupanda
rwe tjimuna omurise;
ma woronganisa ozondjona
ne ze tjindi momaoko we;
eye ma hongorere ozoina nozongama zomukwate.
Ounene wa Ndjambi wa Israel
12 Pena omundu ngu ma yenene
okusaneka okuvare meke okuura poo
ngu ma yenene okusaneka evaverwa momake we are?
Pena omundu ngu ma sora
okuwotera oruuma rwouye motjinwino poo
ngu ma sora okusaneka ozondundu
novivanda kotjisanekero are?
13 Pena omundu ngu ma yenene
okuraera Muhona ihi tji ma sokutjita are?
Owaṋi ngu ma sora okumuhonga
poo okumupa ondunge?
14 Ndjambi u pura uṋe
kutja a tjiwe na zuve ne rihonge
omuhingo oviṋa mbu mavi sokutjitwa?
15 Ku Muhona oviwaṋa kaviṋa,
vi ṱeki peta romeva
na pokaruuma ku ke ri kotjisanekero;
omakoverwa hi wokokure
owo omapupu tjimuna oruuma.
16 Ovipuka avihe vyokuti kwa Libanon nomiti vyakwo
kavi nonḓengu kokupunguhira Muhona ombunguhiro.
17 Oviwaṋa avihe ku ye kaviṋa oparukaze, ovyo opouriri.
18 Ndjambi ma sasanekwa kuna uṋe?
Mamu sora okuserekarera kutja eye wa sana pi are?
19 Eye ka sanene kotjiserekarera
tji tja ungurwa i omuungure onongo,
omuhambure tje vandeka ko ongoldo,
nu tje twako ouketanga wosilveri.
20 Omundu ngu hi nokuyenena
okumuna osilveri nongoldo,
u toorora omuti mbu ha romotoka.
Eye u paha omuungure onongo
okuungura otjiserekarera tji tji hi nakuwira pehi.
21 Kamu nokutjiwa are?
Kamu na indu mwa zuvire are?
Kamu raererwe okuza kombutiro are?
Kamu na pu mwa zuvire kutja ouye wa utirwe vi are?
22 Owo wa ungurirwe i ingwi
ngu haama kotjihavero tje tjouhona,
kombanda yehi na kongotwe yevaverwa;
ovature wokombanda yehi ve
munika ouṱiṱi tjimuna ozombahu.
Eye wa nyaturura evaverwa tjimuna ewiwiri,
tjimuna Ondanda yOmahakaeneno.
23 Eye u yarura ouhonapare kehi,
nu u ṱikonaparisa ovanane wouye ve rire pouriri.
24 Owo va sana novihape mbi hiye kura,
mbi mbiri pokunyomoka,
nu mbi hiya nangananisa omize mehi.
Nu Muhona tja hindi ombepo,
ovyo tjandje vya kukuta,
navi hingwa i ombepo tjimuna oviyaya.
25 Mamu ndji sasaneke kuna uṋe?
Nowaṋi ngu ma yenene okuṱeka pu ami?
Omuyapuke ongwa hungire.
26 Yereye omeho weṋu nu mu tare kevaverwa!
Owaṋi ngwa mema ozonyose ndu mamu munu?
Eye onguri ingwi ngu ze
hongorera tjimuna otjimbumba tjovita.
Eye u ze tjiwa kutja ingapi,
nu u isana aihe kena rayo.
Ouvara we ounene tjinene,
kape na imwe yazo ndji mai pandjara!
27 Israel, okutjavi ove tji u unauna amo tja:
“Muhona ke nokutjiwa omauzeu wandje,
nu ke rikendere ami, tji me tjitwa ouhasemba?”
28 Ko nokutjiwa are?
Ko zuvire are?
Muhona eye onguri Ndjambi waaruhe,
nu wa mema ouye auhe.
Eye ka urwa nu ka ngundipara;
omeripura we kaye tjiukwa i omundu.
29 Eye u zeuparisa ingwi ngwa wotama,
nu u yandja omasa ku ingwi ngwa ngundipara.
30 Andarire omitanda vi urwa nu vi ngundipara;
ovarumendu omitanda ve putara nave u,
31 nungwari imba mbe riyameka ku Muhona
amave ku ombatero ku ye
mave pewa omasa omape;
owo mave yere ovivava tjimuna ozonguvi;
mave tupuka nu kave nokuurwa,
mave ryanga nu kave nokuwotama.
