1 You are doomed! You make unjust laws that oppress my people. 2 That is how you keep the poor from having their rights and from getting justice. That is how you take the property that belongs to widows and orphans. 3 What will you do when God punishes you? What will you do when he brings disaster on you from a distant country? Where will you run to find help? Where will you hide your wealth? 4 You will be killed in battle or dragged off as prisoners. Yet even so the Lord's anger will not be ended; his hand will still be stretched out to punish.
The Emperor of Assyria as the Instrument of God
5 The Lord said, “Assyria! I use Assyria like a club to punish those with whom I am angry. 6 I sent Assyria to attack a godless nation, people who have made me angry. I sent them to loot and steal and trample the people like dirt in the streets.”
7 But the Assyrian emperor has his own violent plans in mind. He is determined to destroy many nations. 8 He boasts, “Every one of my commanders is a king! 9 I conquered the cities of Calno and Carchemish, the cities of Hamath and Arpad. I conquered Samaria and Damascus. 10 I reached out to punish those kingdoms that worship idols, idols more numerous than those of Jerusalem and Samaria. 11 I have destroyed Samaria and all its idols, and I will do the same to Jerusalem and the images that are worshiped there.”
12 But the Lord says, “When I finish what I am doing on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I will punish the emperor of Assyria for all his boasting and all his pride.”
13 The emperor of Assyria boasts, “I have done it all myself. I am strong and wise and clever. I wiped out the boundaries between nations and took the supplies they had stored. Like a bull I have trampled the people who live there. 14 The nations of the world were like a bird's nest, and I gathered their wealth as easily as gathering eggs. Not a wing fluttered to scare me off; no beak opened to scream at me!”
15 But the Lord says, “Can an ax claim to be greater than the one who uses it? Is a saw more important than the one who saws with it? A club doesn't lift up a person; a person lifts up a club.”
16 The Lord Almighty is going to send disease to punish those who are now well-fed. In their bodies there will be a fire that burns and burns. 17 God, the light of Israel, will become a fire. Israel's holy God will become a flame, which in a single day will burn up everything, even the thorns and thistles. 18 The rich forests and farmlands will be totally destroyed, in the same way that a fatal sickness destroys someone. 19 There will be so few trees left that even a child will be able to count them.
A Few Will Come Back
20 A time is coming when the people of Israel who have survived will not rely any more on the nation that almost destroyed them. They will truly put their trust in the Lord, Israel's holy God. 21 A few of the people of Israel will come back to their mighty God. 22 Even though now there are as many people of Israel as there are grains of sand by the sea, only a few will come back. Destruction is in store for the people, and it is fully deserved. 23 Yes, throughout the whole country the Sovereign Lord Almighty will bring destruction, as he said he would.
The Lord Will Punish Assyria
24 The Sovereign Lord Almighty says to his people who live in Zion, “Do not be afraid of the Assyrians, even though they oppress you as the Egyptians used to do. 25 In only a little while I will finish punishing you, and then I will destroy them. 26 I, the Lord Almighty, will beat them with my whip as I did the people of Midian at Oreb Rock. I will punish Assyria as I punished Egypt. 27 When that time comes, I will free you from the power of Assyria, and their yoke will no longer be a burden on your shoulders.”
The Invader Attacks
28 The enemy army has captured the city of Ai! They have passed through Migron! They left their supplies at Michmash! 29 They have crossed the pass and are spending the night at Geba! The people in the town of Ramah are terrified, and the people in King Saul's hometown of Gibeah have run away. 30 Shout, people of Gallim! Listen, people of Laishah! Answer, people of Anathoth! 31 The people of Madmenah and Gebim are running for their lives. 32 Today the enemy are in the town of Nob, and there they are shaking their fists at Mount Zion, at the city of Jerusalem.
33 The Lord Almighty will bring them crashing down like branches cut off a tree. The proudest and highest of them will be cut down and humiliated. 34 The Lord will cut them down as trees in the heart of the forest are cut down with an ax, as even the finest trees of Lebanon fall!
Woo kovatokoli vadudu
1 Woo ava, hava ningi eemhango inadi yuka, novashangi hava shange omatokolo mai, 2 opo va pe ovafyoona oushima moihokolola, ndele va nyeke ouyuki komapongo oshiwana shange, opo nee ovafiyekadi va ninge oshihakanwa shavo neefiye oinyekwa yavo. 3 Ndelenee otamu ka ninga ngahelipi hano mefiku lehandu nolehanauno eli tali di kokule? Okulyelye otamu ka hondama mu kwafwe, nemona leni tamu ke li tulika peni? 4 Kape nomhito imwe, okuningina mo mokati keenghwate ile okuwila mokati koonakudipawa. Ndele mwaaishe ei ehandu laye inali kandulwa po, ndelenee natango tuu eke laye ola yeluka.
Ehanauno lOvaassuria tali xunganekwa
5 Woo Asiria, ongola yehandu lange nodibo youpyuhandu wange. 6 Ame ohandi mu tumu, a ka lwife oshiwana shovahenakalunga, ndele handi mu lombwele a ka denge ovanhu voupyuhandu wange, a ka hakane noku ka likola nokunyeka, ye e va lyataule ngaashi onhata tai lyataulwa momapandavanda. 7 Ndelenee hasho Ye ta diladila ngaha, nohasho omutima waye otau dilonga; ndelenee ehalo laye olo okuhanauna po nokunyonauna po oiwana, hashimwe, oihapu. 8 Osheshi Ye ota ti: “Ovakulunhu vange aveshe kave fi eehamba? 9 Kalno inashi ningwa ngaashi Karkemis sha ningwa, naHamat ongaashi Arpad, naSamaria ongaashi Damaskus? 10 Ngaashi eke lange la hanga oilongo yoikalunga ve i kwete, oikalunga ya hongwa iwa i dule ei yomuJerusalem nomuSamaria, 11 vati itai ka ninga Jerusalem noikalunga yasho ngaashi nda ningile Samaria noikalunga yasho?”
12 Ndelenee Omwene ngeenge a wanifa oilonga yaye aishe komhunda yaSion nomuJerusalem, opo nee ame ohandi ka handukila oshiimati shounhwa womomutima wohamba yaAsiria nefulalalo lomesho aye elinenepeko. 13 Osheshi ye ota popi, ta ti:
“Onde shi ninga keenghono domake ange mwene,
nokeendunge dange mwene, osheshi ame ondi nomayele.
Neengaba dopokati koilongo noilongo ame onde di lundulula,
noituvikilwa yavo onde i tinha;
novakali omutumba komalukalwapangelo
onde va tuwa ko ngaashi omhedi.
14 Ndele eke lange ola kwata oupuna woilongo
ngaashi oshihadi shodila,
ngaashi omunhu ta toola omai a fiwa,
osho ngaha ame nda kwata edu alishe,
ndele inapa kala nande umwe e linyengifa omavava
ile a makula omilungu ile a kwena.
15 “Ekuva otali dulu tuu mbela okulifimaneka nokukondjifa ou te li kefa, noshishaaxa otashi linenepeke nokukondjifa ou te shi shaaxifa? Ngaashi ngeno oshimwati otashi dulu okuvikavikila ou e shi kwete, ile odibo ngeno tai liyelula, ngaashi ngeno yo ihe fi oshiti?”
16 Onghee hano Omwene, Omwene womatanga ovakwaita, ota tumine movakwaita vaye va ondoka omukifi wokunangatela, nokoshi yoshinge shaye otaku ka pya ngaashi omundilo wa xwama tau xwike. 17 Ndele ouyelele waIsrael otau ka ninga omundilo nOmuyapuki waye omutemo womundilo, ndele tau ka lungwinifa po omano neeshosholo noku i mana po mefiku limwe alike. 18 Ndele ta ka hanauna po yo ewapalo leefuka daye nolomapya aye oiimati okudja momwenyo fiyo molutu, opo lo otali kala ngaashi omunaudu ta nangatele. 19 Nomiti odo tadi xupu meefuka daye, ke dihapu nokamati otaka dulu oku di shanga.
Elidilululo loixupe yomuIsrael
20 Ndele mefiku tuu olo oonakuxupa vomuIsrael nomafyaalela omeumbo laJakob itave lineekele vali ou e va denga, ndelenee otava kala nokulineekela Omwene Omuyapuki womuIsrael moshili.
21 Oonakuxupa otava ka alukila, oonakuxupa vaJakob, kuKalunga omunaenghono. 22 Osheshi, oshiwana shoye Israel nande shi kale shi fike pehekedu lokefuta, oixupe aike yomuvo tai aluka ko. Heeno, ehanauno olo la pangelwa, otali uya li yadi ndo ouyuki. 23 Osheshi omhangela yehanauno, Omwene, Omwene womatanga ovakwaita ote i wanifile pokati kedu alishe!
24 Onghee hano Omwene, Omwene womatanga ovakwaita ota ti: “Akutu oshiwana shange u li muSion, ino tila Asiria, ou te ku denge noshimwati note ku yedele odibo panghedi yOvaegipiti. 25 Osheshi ope na okafimbo kanini natango, opo nee onya tai wanifwa, nehandu lange tali yuka moku va mana po sheke. 26 Ndele Omwene womatanga ovakwaita ota ka vikavika ongola kombada yaAsiria ngaashi mefiku linya, Midian sha dengelwe pomamanya aOreb; nodibo yaye tai ka kala kombada yefuta, note ke i yeda ngaashi e shi ningile Ovaegipiti.
27 “Ndele mefiku tuu olo omutengi waye otau di ko kepepe loye nondjoko yaye omofingo yoye; nondjoko otai teka omolweondo.” 28 Oye okwa dja kuRimmon, nokwe uya kuAijat, ta pitile muMigron, oililongekidwa yaye ote i fii muMikmas; 29 tava pitile momhalungushu. MuGeba omo va onga eenhanda davo oufiku. Rama otashi kakama, Gibea yaSaul tashi i onhapo. 30 Kuwa onghuwo, oove okakadona kaGallim! Laisa, pwilikina! Woo oove, Anatot! 31 Madmena ta i onhapo, oonakukala muGebim, otava ka hondama. 32 Mefiku tuu olo ota uhala muNob, ndele ta dungadungile eke laye komhunda yokakadona kaSion, nokoshikulundudu shaJerusalem.
33 Ndelenee tala, Omwene, Kalunga komatanga ovakwaita ota tete po oitai meenghonohalwifi doixuna nomalupwelele aa makula otaa kewa po, naadi diledile otadi ka xupipalekwa. 34 Ndele ta ke po omufitu nomuulu nekuva, nomuulu waLibanon otau kewa po kOmunaenghono.
