Judgment on Babylon
1 The Lord says,
“Babylon, come down from your throne,
and sit in the dust on the ground.
You were once like a virgin, a city unconquered,
but you are soft and delicate no longer!
You are now a slave!
2 Turn the millstone! Grind the flour!
Off with your veil! Strip off your fine clothes!
Lift up your skirts to cross the streams!
3 People will see you naked;
they will see you humbled and shamed.
I will take vengeance, and no one will stop me.”
4 The holy God of Israel sets us free—
his name is the Lord Almighty.
5 The Lord says to Babylon,
“Sit in silence and darkness;
no more will they call you the queen of nations!
6 I was angry with my people;
I treated them as no longer mine:
I put them in your power,
and you showed them no mercy;
even the aged you treated harshly.
7 You thought you would always be a queen,
and did not take these things to heart
or think how it all would end.
8 “Listen to this, you lover of pleasure,
you that think you are safe and secure.
You claim you are as great as God—
that there is no one else like you.
You thought that you would never be a widow
or suffer the loss of your children.
9 But in a moment, in a single day,
both of these things will happen.
In spite of all the magic you use,
you will lose your husband and children.
10 “You felt sure of yourself in your evil;
you thought that no one could see you.
Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray,
and you said to yourself, ‘I am God—
there is no one else like me.’
11 Disaster will come upon you,
and none of your magic can stop it.
Ruin will come on you suddenly—
ruin you never dreamed of!
12 Keep all your magic spells and charms;
you have used them since you were young.
Perhaps they will be of some help to you;
perhaps you can frighten your enemies.
13 You are powerless in spite of the advice you get.
Let your astrologers come forward and save you—
those people who study the stars,
who map out the zones of the heavens
and tell you from month to month
what is going to happen to you.
14 “They will be like bits of straw,
and a fire will burn them up!
They will not even be able to save themselves—
the flames will be too hot for them,
not a cozy fire to warm themselves by.
15 That is all the good they will do you—
those astrologers you've consulted all your life.
They all will leave you and go their own way,
and none will be left to save you.”
Ehanauko laBabilon
1 Londoloka, u kale omutumba mondwi yedu, oove okakadona, omona okakadona Babilon. Kala omutumba pedu longaho, uhe na olukalwapangelo, oove omona okakadona kaKaldea, osheshi ito ifanwa vali omundebauki nomupu. 2 Kufa omushi u ka twe oufila; uvukulula oshipala shoye, tonya ominghulo doshikutu shoye, uvukulula omipindi doye, tauluka omilonga. 3 Uvukulula ohoni yoye, heeno, noukainhu woye tau ka monika. Ame ohandi ka xwenena, ndele ihandi ka fila nande omunhu onghenda. 4 Edina lOmukulili wetu olo Omwene womatanga ovakwaita, Omuyapuki waIsrael.
5 Kala omutumba wa mwena filu, inda momilaulu, oove omona okakadona kaKaldea; osheshi ito ifanwa vali omupangeli woilongo. 6 Ame onda handukila ovanhu vange, nda fifa ohoni efyuululo lange, nonde va yandja momake oye, ove ino va fila onghenda, ndele wa twika omushamane ondjoko yoye idjuu unene; 7 ndele wa tya: Ame ohandi ka kala alushe omupangeli, nongaashi ino i lipulapula momutima woye, noino diladila exulilo loye. 8 Hano paife pwilikina, ove ou u hole mouwa, wa kala omutumba kolukalwapangelo, uhe na oshisho wa diladila komutima woye: aame andike, kape na vali umwe. Ame itandi ka ninga omufiyekadi ile ndi kale ongadji. 9 Ndelenee oinima ei ivali otai ke ku hanga shimwe mefiku limwe, to kala uhe na oludalo ndele to ningi omufiyekadi wa papala ye ku hanga, nande ou nongudu yovanyanekeli nomuvalu weemhule muhapu. 10 Owa kala wa pamenena mowii woye, ove owa tile: Kape na ou ta mono nge. Eendunge doye nomayele oye okwe ku pukifa, nongaashi wa diladila komutima woye: “Aame andike, kape na vali umwe.” 11 Opo nee omupya otau ku hange, ito shiiva oku u ta po nounongo woulodi woye; ehanauno otali ku hange, ndele ito dulu oku li ta po, okuteka po kwoye taku uya divadiva fimbo ino shi shiiva. 12 Holoka noupule woye pamwe nongudu yeedudu doye we lihepeka nado okounyasha woye, pamwe to dulu sha, pamwe to tilifa sha. 13 Ove we lilolokifa, eshi to diladila eshi naashinya. Nava holoke ve ku xupife, ovo tuu ovo hava koneke eulu nohava tale eenyofi, ovo tave ku lombwele keshe ohani, eshi tashi ku hange. 14 Tala, ovo va fa olungu, nomundilo otau va lungwinifa po, ndele vo itave lixupifa mo meenghono domundilo. Kau fi omundilo womakala wokuxuxumukwa, kau fi omundilo wokukalwa puwo omutumba. 15 Hano osho ove to ka ningwa kuvenya we ve lihepekela okounyasha woye; ovo tuu ovo mwa landafana navo, ova pepuka po, va xwateka, va ya, kape na ou te ku xupifa.
