1 I wish my head were a well of water,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
so that I could cry day and night
for my people who have been killed.
2 I wish I had a place to stay in the desert
where I could get away from my people.
They are all unfaithful,
a mob of traitors.
3 They are always ready to tell lies;
dishonesty instead of truth rules the land.
The Lord says,
“My people do one evil thing after another
and do not acknowledge me as their God.”
4 Everyone must be on guard against their friends,
and no one can trust their relatives;
for all relatives are as deceitful as Jacob,
and everyone slanders their friends.
5-6 They all mislead their friends,
and no one tells the truth;
they have taught their tongues to lie
and will not give up their sinning.
They do one violent thing after another,
and one deceitful act follows another.
The Lord says that his people reject him.
7 Because of this the Lord Almighty says,
“I will refine my people like metal
and put them to the test.
My people have done evil—
what else can I do with them?
8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows;
they always tell lies.
Everyone speaks friendly words to their neighbors,
but they are really setting a trap for them.
9 Will I not punish them for these things?
Will I not take revenge on a nation like this?
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
10 I said, “I will mourn for the mountains
and weep for the pastures,
because they have dried up,
and no one travels through them.
The sound of livestock is no longer heard;
birds and wild animals have fled and gone.”
11 The Lord says, “I will make Jerusalem a pile of ruins,
a place where jackals live;
the cities of Judah will become a desert,
a place where no one lives.”
12 I asked, “Lord, why is the land devastated and dry as a desert, so that no one travels through it? Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom have you explained it so that they can tell others?”
13 The Lord answered, “This has happened because my people have abandoned the teaching that I gave them. They have not obeyed me or done what I told them. 14 Instead, they have been stubborn and have worshiped the idols of Baal as their ancestors taught them to do. 15 So then, listen to what I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, will do: I will give my people bitter plants to eat and poison to drink. 16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have heard about, and I will send armies against them until I have completely destroyed them.”
The People of Jerusalem Cry Out for Help
17 The Lord Almighty said,
“Think about what is happening!
Call for the mourners to come,
for the women who sing funeral songs.”
18 The people said,
“Tell them to hurry and sing a funeral song for us,
until our eyes fill with tears,
and our eyelids are wet from crying.”
19 Listen to the sound of crying in Zion:
“We are ruined!
We are completely disgraced!
We must leave our land;
our homes have been torn down.”
20 I said,
“Listen to the Lord, you women,
and pay attention to his words.
Teach your daughters how to mourn,
and your friends how to sing a funeral song.
21 Death has come in through our windows
and entered our palaces;
it has cut down the children in the streets
and the young men in the marketplaces.
22 Dead bodies are scattered everywhere,
like piles of manure on the fields,
like grain cut and left behind by the reapers,
grain that no one gathers.
This is what the Lord has told me to say.”
23 The Lord says,
“The wise should not boast of their wisdom,
nor the strong of their strength,
nor the rich of their wealth.
24 If any want to boast,
they should boast that they know and understand me,
because my love is constant,
and I do what is just and right.
These are the things that please me.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
25-26 The Lord says, “The time is coming when I will punish the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and the desert people, who have their hair cut short. All these people are circumcised, but have not kept the covenant it symbolizes. None of these people and none of the people of Israel have kept my covenant.”
1 Ami me zeri kutja andakuzu otjiuru
tjandje ombu yomeva,
nomeho wandje andakuzu
otuharwi twomahoze,
kokutja mbi yenene okurira omutenya nouṱuku
mena rotjiwaṋa tjandje tji tja ṱa.
2 Me zeri kutja andakuzu mbi nopoṋa
pomasuviro mokuti onguza,
etje zapo potjiwaṋa tjandje.
Owo avehe kava ṱakame,
owo otjira tjovanauvi.
3 Owo aruhe ve rirongerera okukora ovizeze;
ouhaṱakama moruveze rwouatjiri
ombu honaparera ehi.
Muhona ma tja nai:
“Otjiwaṋa tjandje tji kara pokutjita ouvi,
nu katji ndji zemburuka
otja ngu mbi ri Ndjambi watjo.”
4 Omundu auhe ma sokuritjevera kepanga re;
nu kape na umwe ngu
nongamburiro momukwao;
orondu omuzamumwe auhe u wovisa
nu auhe u yamba omapanga we.
5-6 Owo avehe ve tikura omapanga wawo,
nu kape na umwe ngu hungira ouatjiri.
Owo va iririra okukora ovizeze,
nu kave isa okutjita omauvi wawo.
Aruhe ve tjita ozondjito zoutwe,
novitjitwa avihe vyovineya vi kongorerasana.
Muhona opu ma tjere nai:
“Otjiwaṋa tjandje tji ndji nyengwa.
7 Nu ami ngu mbi ri
Muhona Omunamasaaehe
me zuzura otjiwaṋa tjandje tjimuna otjitenda,
nu me tji roro.
Otjiwaṋa tjandje tja tjita ouvi;
hi tji tjite vi?
8 Omaraka watjo ye ri otja oviku ovizepe;
aruhe ye kora ovizeze.
Omundu auhe u hungira omambo
wohange komuraranganda na ye,
nungwari eye tjandje momutima we
we mu twira po ombate.
9 Ami hi nokuveverera oviṋa mbi are?
Ami, hi nokusutisa otjiwaṋa otja ihi are?
Ami, ngu mbi ri Muhona,
owami ngu mba hungire.”
10 Ami mba tja nai:
“Ami me ṱire ozondundu oruhoze,
nu me ririre omaryo,
orondu owo ya kukuta,
nu kape na umwe ngu ma
ryanga okutuurunga wo.
Omavandarero wozongombe
kaye tji zuvaka rukwao;
ozonḓera novipuka vyokuti vya taura,
nu vya pizuka.”
11 “Muhona ma tja nai:
Ami me tjiti Jerusalem tji rire otjitambatundu,
moṋa mu mu tura ozombandje;
ovihuro vya Juda mavi rire okuti onguza,
moṋa mu mu ha tura omundu.”
12 Ami mba pura e tja: “Muhona, okutjavi ehi tji ra ṱukuṱuka nu tji ra rira ekukutu tjimuna okuti onguza, nga tji pe hi nomundu ngu ma ryanga okutuurunga ro? Owaṋi ngu nozondunge nḓa yenene okutjiwa otjiṋa hi? Ove we tji handjaurira uṋe, kokutja eye a sore okutjivisa ku varwe?”
13 Muhona wa zira a tja: “Otjiṋa hi tja tjitwa mena rokutja otjiwaṋa tjandje tja isa omahongero ami ngu mbe tji pa. Otjo katji karere nonḓuviro ku ami, nu katji tjitire imbi ami mbi mbe tji raera. 14 Moruveze rwanao otjo tja ri otjirangaranga, nu tje rikotamena koviserekarera vya Baal otja ooihe mukururume pu ve tji hongere okutjita. 15 Nambano, purateneye ku imbi ami, ngu mbi ri Muhona Omunamasaaehe, Ndjambi wa Israel, mbi me tjiti: Ami me yandja omiti omiruru kotjiwaṋa tjandje kutja tji rye, nomeva wouanga kutja tji nwe. 16 Ami meve rimbi mokati koviwaṋa, owo poo ooihe mukururume mbi ve hi na va zuvire, nu meve hindire ovanavita okuverwisa, nga tji mbe ve yandeke okumana.”
Otjiwaṋa tja Jerusalem matji ku ombatero
17 Muhona Omunamasaaehe wa tja nai:
“Ripureye na imbi mbi mavi tjitwa!
Isaneye ovakazendu vomutambo kutja ve ye;
kaisaneye ovakazendu ozonongo,
ngave ye nguno.”
18 Ovandu va tja nai:
“Ve raereye kutja ve hakahane,
ve yekututangununina omiṱanḓu vyomutambo,
ngandu omeho wetu tji ye ura nomahoze,
nomikova vyomeho tji vya
ningenisiwa i omahoze nga.”
19 Purateneye kombosiro yomutambo mOsion, ndji mai tja:
“Owee ku eṱe mbu twa yandekwa!
Eṱe twa yambururwa oparukaze!
Matu sokuisa ehi retu;
ozondjuwo zetu za haṋewa.”
20 Ami mba tja:
“Purateneye ku Muhona, oweṋe vakazendu,
nomatwi weṋu ngaye zuve omambo we.
Hongeye ovasuko veṋu omitambo,
nomapanga weṋu omiṱanḓu vyomutambo wina.
21 Onḓiro ya rondere motuiho twetu
nu ya hiti mozondjuwo zetu zouhona;
oyo ya zepa ovanatje momivanda,
novarumendu omitanda
pomarandisiro wotjihuro.
22 Oturova matu rimbara apehe
tjimuna ombumbi mokuti,
tjimuna omikuta vyovikokotwa mbya isiwa i omukonde,
nu mbi hi nomuwonge.
Imbi Muhona ombye ndji raera okuhungira.”
23 Muhona ma tja nai:
“Ovandu ozonongo ave he rihivire ounongo wawo,
novandu ovanamasa ave he rihivire omasa wawo,
novatumbe wina ave he ritongamisire outumbe wawo.
24 Omundu auhe tji ma vanga okurihiva,
u sokurihiva kutja u nondjiviro
nu u ndji tjiwa kutja owami Muhona,
ngu mbi honaparisa ouwa womutima
nouṱakame nousemba kombanda yehi.
Imbi ombi ri oviṋa mu mbi nonyuṋe.
Ami, ngu mbi ri Muhona, owami ngu mba hungire.”
25 Muhona ma tja nai: “Tareye, omayuva maye ya ami mu me vere avehe mba sukarekwa, 26 okutja otjiwaṋa tja Engipte notja Juda notja Edom notja Amon notja Moab na ihi tjokuti onguza tji tji henya ozondjise zatjo. Oviwaṋa avihe mbi, notjiwaṋa tja Israel wina, me vi vara otja mbi ha sukarekerwe mena rokutja kavi ṱakamisire omerikutiropamwe wandje.”