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.”
Eweelelo molwoukolokoshi woshiwana shOmwene
1 Akutu, omutwe wange ngeno omeva, nomesho ange ofifiya yomahodi, ngeno nda lila eenghali doonakudipawa vomona okakadona koshiwana shange omutenya noufiku. 2 Ngeno onda li ndi nonduda yovaendanandjila mofuka, ngeno onda fiya po ovanhu vange, ndi dje po puvo! Osheshi vo aveshe ovatei vohombo, ongudu yovalunga. 3 Ndele ohava lukile omalaka avo noipupulu, ngaashi omauta, ndele eenghono domoshilongo ihave di longifa pashili, osheshi ohava twikile mowii, ndelenee inava shiiva nge, Omwene osho ta ti. 4 Kaleni mwa lungama, keshe umwe okaume kaye, ndele inamu lineekela omukweni nande umwe, osheshi omumwanyoko ote ku kengelele nokeshe omukweni ota ende nomalundilo. 5 Ndele hava kengelele keshe umwe okaume kaye noihava popi doshili; omalaka avo ve a ikililifa okupopya oipupulu, ndele fiyo okokuloloka ova ninga eshi inashi yuka. 6 Ou li mokati koipupulu, nomoipupulu yavo inava hala okushiiva nge, Omwene osho ta ti. 7 Onghee hano Omwene womatanga ovakwaita ota ti: Tala, Ame onda hala oku va hemuna ndi va tale; osheshi molwomona okakadona koshiwana shange ondi va ninge shike vali? 8 Omalaka avo oshikuti shefyo, otaa popi ekonda. Nomakanya avo hava popifa ombili nomukwao, ndelenee momitima davo ohave va nangele. 9 Ame ondi kale ngeno inandi va handukila molwoshinima eshi, Omwene osho ta ti, ile omwenyo wange uha kale nokuhandukila oshiwana sha tya ngaha?
10 Ame ohandi ka kwena nokukema pombada omolweemhunda, nomolweehambo domofuka ohandi lili eenghali. Osheshi odo da pya komundilo nokape nomunhu ta ende ko, nongaashi ihamu udika oshikuta shoimuna. Eedila dokeulu noifitukuti oya tembuka mo, ya ya onhapo. 11 Ndele Jerusalem ohandi shi ningi onduba yomamanya shi ninge onhele yeembadje, noilando yaJuda ohandi i ningi omaputu.
12 Olyelye omulumenhu omunaendunge, ou a shiiva eshi? Nolyelye ou okanya kOmwene ke mu hepaululila opo e shi hololele? Edu ola hanauninwa po shike nola pya ngaashi ombuwa itai endwa vali komunhu? 13 Ndele Omwene okwa tya: Osheshi va ekelashi omhango yange, nde i va pele, vo inava pwilikina ondaka yange, ve i shikule, 14 ndelenee ova li hava ende moukukutu womitima davo nova shikula ooBaal, ooxe ngaashi ve va honga. 15 Onghee hano, Omwene womatanga ovakwaita, Kalunga kaIsrael ota ti ngaha: Ovanhu ava onda hala oku va lifa oshimbodi shilula nohandi va nwefa omeva oudiyo. 16 Ndele handi va halakanifile moiwana inai shiivika kuvo noya li inai shiivika kooxekulu, ndele handi va shikulifile ko eongamukonda fiyo handi va mane po sheke.
17 Omwene womatanga ovakwaita ota ti ngaha: Taleni, ifaneni ovalikadi ve shii kulila eenghali, ve uye, heeno, tumeni ko mu ifane ovalikadi ve nounongo opo ve uye, 18 va endelele ve tu lilile eenghali, opo omesho etu a tondoke omahodi, neemhafu detu di tondoke omeva. 19 Osheshi muSion omwa udika elilaano: “Otwa hanaunwa po filufilu! Fye otwa fifwa ohoni shili, osheshi fye otu nokudja mo moshilongo, osheshi omaumbo etu a hanaunwa po.” 20 Pwilikineni hano onye ovalikadi, ondjovo yOmwene, omatwi eni naa tambule ondjovo yomokanya kaye; ovana veni oukadona va longeni okulila eenghali, longafaneni omaimbilo oufiye. 21 Osheshi efyo ola londa nokupitila mo momakende etu, le uya mo meengulu detu doupuna, li lye ounona momapandavanda novanyasha moilandelo.
22 Popya, u tye: Omwene osho ta ti: Oimhu yovanhu tai ka nangala kombada yedu ngaashi oushosho mepya nongaashi eenhumbulu di li konima yomukashuli, ndele pehe nomunhu te i ongele.
23 Omwene osho ta ti: Omunaendunge ine litangela eendunge daye, omunaenghono ine litangela eenghono daye, oshipuna shiha kale nokulitangela oupuna washo, 24 ndelenee ou te litangele, ne litangele ondunge yokushiiva nge kutya, Aame Omwene, handi wanifa onghenda nouyuki nouwa kombada yedu, osheshi oinima ei onde i hokwa, Omwene ta ti. 25 Tala, omafiku otae uya, Omwene osho ta ti, Ame ohandi ka handukila aveshe va pita etanda, ndelenee ve li ngaashi inava pita etanda: 26 Egipiti naJuda muEdom nOvaammoni, naMoab naaveshe ve likulula omitwe davo omixungo, ava va kala mofuka. Osheshi oiwana aishe yovapaani inava pita etanda, ndelenee epata alishe laIsrael inava pitifwa etanda komutima.
