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.
Eithano lyomuhunganeki
1 Kalunga ketu ota ti:
“Hekelekeni, hekelekeni aantu yandje.
2 Aajerusalem ya tseni omukumo.
Ya lombweleni kutya ehepeko lyawo olya hulu,
noondjo dhawo ngashingeyi odha dhimwa po.
Onde ya geele egeelo lya gwana molwoondjo dhawo.”
3 Ewi tali kolomoka tali ti:
“Longekidhileni Omuwa ondjila mombuga!
Paleleni Kalunga ketu epola montale!
4 Omasilu agehe naga filwe po;
oondundu adhihe nadhi kumunwe po.
Iikulundundu nayi palwe,
niisilukutumba nayi yelekanithwe.
5 Eadhimo lyOmuwa otali iholola:
naana yaantu otaye ke li mona ko.
Omuwa oye mwene e shi uvaneke.”
6 Ewi olya ti: “Uvitha!”
Onda pula nda ti:
“Nandi uvithe shike?”
“Uvitha to ti: Aantu ayehe oya fa omwiidhi;
nesimano lyawo olya fa oongala dhokelundu.
7 Omwiidhi otagu kukuta,
noongala otadhi ganya, uuna Omuwa te dhi pepithile ombepo.
Aantu kaa vulathane nomwiidhi.
8 Eeno, omwiidhi otagu kukuta,
noongala otadhi ganya,
ihe oohapu dhaKalunga ketu
otadhi kala sigo aluhe.”
Ehunganeko lyeihololo lyaKalunga kaantu
9 Jerusalem, londa pombanda kondundu
nou uvithe elaka etoye!
Sion, igidha newi lyopombandambanda,
u tomone onkundana ombwanawa!
Kugagana shili ngoye ino tila!
Lombwela iilando yaJuda kutya Kalunga kawo ote ya!
10 Omuwa Omupangeliawike ote ya okulela,
oye omunankondoawike.
Ote etelele aantu mboka a mangulula,
11 ongomusita ta litha oshigunda she;
oonzigona ote dhi gongele pamwe
noku dhi humbata momaako ge;
oonyali ote dhi sisidha nawa.
Esimano lyaKalunga kali shi kuyelekwa
12 Oku na tuu ngoka ta vulu okuyeleka efuta neshambekela,
nenge a yeleke eyalelo nolundya lwe?
Oku na tuu ngoka ta pungula ontsi yevi montungwa,
nenge a vihe oondundu niikulundundu moshiviha?
13 Oku na tuu ngoka ta vulu okulombwela Omuwa shoka e na okuninga?
Olye ta vulu oku mu longa,
nenge e mu pe omayele?
14 Kalunga ota pula oondunge kulye,
opo a tseye ye uve ko
nokwiilonga kutya iinima ohayi ningwa ngiini?
15 KOmuwa iigwana kayi na po sha;
kuye oya faathana neta limwe lyomeya,
iipuupuka moshiviha ya fa ontsi.
Nge ta tumbu oontuntu,
odho oompu dha fa owala ontsi.
16 Iiyamakuti ayihe momakuti gaLibanon
inayi gwana okuyambelwa Kalunga ketu,
nomiti adhihe kadhi shi odhindji
dhi ninge iikuni yokutema omulilo.
17 Iigwana ayihe kayi shi sha koshipala she,
kayi na omwago gwasha kuye.
18 Kalunga ota yelekwa nalye?
Otamu mu faathanitha nashike?
19 Ita faathanitha noshimenka sha hongwa kiikaha yaantu,
oshilonga shiiyela ya kolongwa noshingoli
nosha tulwa mekota lyoshisiliveli.
20 Omuntu ngoka ita vulu okulanda oshisiliveli nenge oshingoli,
ota hogolola omuti gu na olute lwa kola.
Ota ka konga onkulungu, a honge oshiyelekelakalunga,
shi dhikwe itaashi tenguka.
21 Kamu shi shi?
Inamu shi lombwelwa nale?
Inamu kundana, uuyuni nkene wa tameka po?
22 Owa shitwa kungoka a kuutumba koshipangelapundi
mookathele mwi handiyaka yeyalelo;
aantu kombanda yevi oya fa uudhidhi.
Egulu ote li yala lya fa onguwo,
ote li alele ngetsali lyokukala mo.
23 Aawa ote ya kutha ko kiipundi,
aapangeli yomuuyuni ote ya shundula.
24 Oya fa iimeno opo ya tsikwa,
opo tayi tsapuka omidhi.
Omuwa nge a pepitha ombepo,
otaa pepuka po,
taa yi ombepo ya fa etutu.
25 Kalunga omuyapuki ota vulu okuyelekwa nalye?
Oku na tuu ngoka e mu fa?
26 Tala owala utale kegulu!
Olye a shiti oonyothi ndhoka wa tala?
Oye ngoka te dhi enditha dha fa etangakwiita.
Adhihe okwe dhi tseya nawa,
nokehe yimwe ote yi tumbula kedhina lyayo!
Oonkondo dhe oonenenene,
odha kolelela nokape na ndjoka e yi hunutha po.
Esiloshimpwiyu lya mana mo
27 Israel, omolwashike to ngungutula to ti,
Omuwa ina tseya uudhigu woye
nenge e ku kwathe, sho to hepekelwa uuyuuki?
28 Ku shi shi nani?
Nani ino shi uva kutya Omuwa oye Kalunga kaaluhe?
Oye a shiti omakankameno gevi.
Oye iha vulwa ye iha loloka.
Owino ye oya nyengana okutseyika.
29 Oye ta tsu omukumo oonakuvulwa
naamboka yaa na oonkondo,
oonkondo dhawo ote dhi indjipaleke odhindji.
30 Aagundjuka ohaa vulwa nohaa adhika kuutongwe,
aalumentu aagundjuka otaa punduka e taa ihata po,
31 ihe mboka taa inekele Omuwa,
ohaa mono oonkondo oompe.
Oya fa oontsa tadhi yelutha omawawa pombanda;
ohaa matuka yo itaa vulwa;
otaye ende noitaa loloka.
