The Terrible Drought
1 The Lord said to me concerning the drought,
2 “Judah is in mourning;
its cities are dying,
its people lie on the ground in sorrow,
and Jerusalem cries out for help.
3 The rich people send their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns,
but find no water;
they come back with their jars empty.
Discouraged and confused,
they hide their faces.
4 Because there is no rain
and the ground is dried up,
the farmers are sick at heart;
they hide their faces.
5 In the field the mother deer
abandons her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 The wild donkeys stand on the hilltops
and pant for breath like jackals;
their eyesight fails them
because they have no food.
7 My people cry out to me,
‘Even though our sins accuse us,
help us, Lord, as you have promised.
We have turned away from you many times;
we have sinned against you.
8 You are Israel's only hope;
you are the one who saves us from disaster.
Why are you like a stranger in our land,
like a traveler who stays for only one night?
9 Why are you like someone taken by surprise,
like a soldier powerless to help?
Surely, Lord, you are with us!
We are your people;
do not abandon us.’”
10 The Lord says about these people, “They love to run away from me, and they will not control themselves. So I am not pleased with them. I will remember the wrongs they have done and punish them because of their sins.”
11 The Lord said to me, “Do not ask me to help these people. 12 Even if they fast, I will not listen to their cry for help; and even if they offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not be pleased with them. Instead, I will kill them in war and by starvation and disease.”
13 Then I said, “Sovereign Lord, you know that the prophets are telling the people that there will be no war or starvation, because you have promised, they say, that there will be only peace in our land.”
14 But the Lord replied, “The prophets are telling lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I give them any orders or speak one word to them. The visions they talk about have not come from me; their predictions are worthless things that they have imagined. 15 I, the Lord, tell you what I am going to do to those prophets whom I did not send but who speak in my name and say war and starvation will not strike this land—I will kill them in war and by starvation. 16 The people to whom they have said these things will be killed in the same way. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to all of them—including their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will make them pay for their wickedness.”
17 The Lord commanded me to tell the people about my sorrow and to say:
“May my eyes flow with tears day and night,
may I never stop weeping,
for my people are deeply wounded
and are badly hurt.
18 When I go out in the fields,
I see the bodies of men killed in war;
when I go into the towns,
I see people starving to death.
Prophets and priests carry on their work,
but they don't know what they are doing.”
The People Plead with the Lord
19 Lord, have you completely rejected Judah?
Do you hate the people of Zion?
Why have you hurt us so badly
that we cannot be healed?
We looked for peace, but nothing good happened;
we hoped for healing, but terror came instead.
20 We have sinned against you, Lord;
we confess our own sins
and the sins of our ancestors.
21 Remember your promises and do not despise us;
do not bring disgrace on Jerusalem,
the place of your glorious throne.
Do not break the covenant you made with us.
22 None of the idols of the nations can send rain;
the sky by itself cannot make showers fall.
We have put our hope in you, O Lord our God,
because you are the one who does these things.
1 Muhona wa hungira ku ami mena rourumbu na tja:
2 “Juda arihe ri ri momutambo;
ovihuro vyaro mavi yanda,
ovandu varo va saravara pehi moruhoze,
nu Jerusalem matji ku ombatero.
3 Ovatumbe mave hindi ovakarere
vawo okukateka omeva,
owo mave i kozombu,
nungwari kave nokukamuna mo omeva;
mave kotoka novitjuma mbi ri tjo.
Owo mave horeke omirungu vyawo
ave rihahiza nava kumwa.
4 Ovakune ve rihahiza,
nu mave horeke omirungu vyawo,
orondu ombura otjinga aya kanuka,
nehi tjinga ra kukuta.
5 Mokuti omenye onḓenḓu
mai isa okamenyona kayo
ku ya kwata nambano,
ehozu tjinga ari hiya nyomoka.
6 Ozongoro maze teremana
kozondundu nḓa kuruka,
nu maze hekana otja ozombandje,
omeho wazo ya kahita mena rokuhinaviriwa.
7 Otjiwaṋa tjandje matji uru ku ami ama tji tja:
‘Nandarire kutja omauvi wetu maye tu pe ondjo,
tu tjitira ouwa motjimbe tjena roye.
Eṱe twa poka kove potuingi;
twa tura ondjo komurungu woye.
8 Oove ngu u ri omaundjiro wa Israel porwe.
Oove erike ngu u tu yama kotjiwonga.
Okutjavi tji u ri otja owozonganda mehi retu,
otja omuryange ngu rara ouṱuku umwe uriri?
9 Okutjavi tji u ri otja omurumendu ngwa yumana,
otja omurwe wovita ngu hi nomasa okutuvatera?
Tjiri, Muhona, ove u ri mokati ketu!
Oweṱe otjiwaṋa tjoye.
O tu esa ko.’ ”
10 Muhona wa hungirira otjiwaṋa hi na tja:
“Owo va suvera okuryangaryanga,
nu kave suvisa ozombaze zawo.
Ami otji mbi hi nohange na wo.
Nambano me zemburuka
ozongatukiro nḓu va tjita,
nu meve verere omauvi wawo.”
11 Muhona wa tja nai ku ami: “O ndji ningire kutja mbi vatere otjiwaṋa hi. 12 Nangarire kutja otjo matji ritjaere kovikurya, ami hi nokupuratena ko, tji matji ku ombatero; nu nangarire kutja matji ndji punguhire ozombunguhiro ozoningiririsiwa nozovikurya, ami himee kara nonyuṋe mu tjo. Moruveze rwanao ami me tji yandeke movita, nu me tji zepa nondjara nomutjise wina.”
13 Ami mba tja nai: “Muhona Ndjambi, ove mo tjiwa kutja ovaprofete ve raera ovandu kutja kape nokukara ovita nondjara, nungwari owo ve tja ove wa kwizika kutja mamu kara ohange porwayo mehi retu.”
14 Nungwari Muhona wa zira a tja: “Ovaprofete ve kora ovizeze mena randje; ami hi ve hindire, wina hi ve pere omarakiza ngamwa, nu hi hungirire embo nangarire rimwe ku wo. Ovirimunikise, mbi ve serekarera, kavi zire ku ami; omaukiro wawo oviṋa uriri mbi ve ripura oveni. 15 Ami, ngu mbi ri Muhona, me ku raere imbi mbi me tjiti kovaprofete imba ami mbu mbi ha hindire, nungwari mbe hungira mena randje mokutja ovita nondjara kavi nokuya mehi ndi. Ami meve yandeke movita nu meve zepa nondjara. 16 Ovandu owo ku va hungira oviṋa mbi, wina mave ṱu momuhingo tjingewo. Oturova twawo matu nakaurwa momivanda vya Jerusalem, nu kape nokukara omundu ngu me tu paka. Oviṋa mbi mavi tjitwa ku wo avehe, nangarire kovakazendu novanatje vawo ovazandu novakazona. Ami meve sutisire ouvi wawo.”
17 Muhona we ndji rakiza kutja mbi raere ovandu oruhoze rwandje nu mbi tje nai:
“Omeho wandje ngaye pupe omahoze omutenya nouṱuku,
e ha isa okurira,
orondu otjiwaṋa tjandje tja tendwa tjinene
nu tja hihamisiwa navi.
18 Tji me piti okuyenda komahi womakunino,
mbi kamuna oturova twovarumendu mba ṱa movita;
tji me hiti movihuro,
mbi muna ovandu mba ṱondjara.
Ovaprofete novapristeri ve kayendisa
oviungura vyawo komurungu,
nungwari kave tjiwa kutja mave ungura tjike.”
Otjiwaṋa matji riyarikaṋa ku Muhona
19 Muhona, ove wa imbirahi Juda oparukaze are?
Wa nyengwa otjiwaṋa tja Sion are?
Okutjavi tji we tu hihamisa tjinene nai
nga tji tu hi nokusora okuveruka?
Eṱe twa vanga ohange, nungwari kapa
ri otjiṋa otjiwa tji tja tjitwa;
twa undja omberukiro,
nungwari moruveze rwanao pe ya ondirisiro.
20 Muhona, eṱe twa tura ondjo komurungu woye;
matu rihepura omauvi wetu oveni,
nomauvi wootate mukururume wina.
21 Zemburuka omakwizikiro woye,
nu o tu imbirahi;
o eta ondjambu kOjerusalem,
poṋa potjihavero tjoye tjouhona otjinandjozikiro.
O teya omerikutiropamwe ngu wa tjita na eṱe.
22 Kape nomukuru woviwaṋa nangarire
umwe ngu hinda ombura;
evaverwa orini kari rokisa ombura onamasa.
Muhona, Ndjambi wetu, eṱe tu undja kove,
tjinga au ri ngwi ngu u tjita oviṋa avihe mbi.
