Punishment, Repentance, and Hope
1 I am one who knows what it is to be punished by God.
2 He drove me deeper and deeper into darkness
3 And beat me again and again with merciless blows.
4 He has left my flesh open and raw, and has broken my bones.
5 He has shut me in a prison of misery and anguish.
6 He has forced me to live in the stagnant darkness of death.
7 He has bound me in chains; I am a prisoner with no hope of escape.
8 I cry aloud for help, but God refuses to listen;
9 I stagger as I walk; stone walls block me wherever I turn.
10 He waited for me like a bear; he pounced on me like a lion.
11 He chased me off the road, tore me to pieces, and left me.
12 He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows.
13 He shot his arrows deep into my body.
14 People laugh at me all day long; I am a joke to them all.
15 Bitter suffering is all he has given me for food and drink.
16 He rubbed my face in the ground and broke my teeth on rocks.
17 I have forgotten what health and peace and happiness are.
18 I do not have much longer to live; my hope in the Lord is gone.
19 The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison.
20 I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed.
21 Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing:
22 The Lord's unfailing love and mercy still continue,
23 Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.
24 The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.
25 The Lord is good to everyone who trusts in him,
26 So it is best for us to wait in patience—to wait for him to save us—
27 And it is best to learn this patience in our youth.
28 When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience;
29 We should bow in submission, for there may still be hope.
30 Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it all.
31 The Lord is merciful and will not reject us forever.
32 He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong.
33 He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain.
34 The Lord knows when our spirits are crushed in prison;
35 He knows when we are denied the rights he gave us;
36 When justice is perverted in court, he knows.
37 The will of the Lord alone is always carried out.
38 Good and evil alike take place at his command.
39 Why should we ever complain when we are punished for our sin?
40 Let us examine our ways and turn back to the Lord.
41 Let us open our hearts to God in heaven and pray,
42 “We have sinned and rebelled, and you, O Lord, have not forgiven us.
43 “You pursued us and killed us; your mercy was hidden by your anger,
44 By a cloud of fury too thick for our prayers to get through.
45 You have made us the garbage dump of the world.
46 “We are insulted and mocked by all our enemies.
47 We have been through disaster and ruin; we live in danger and fear.
48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears at the destruction of my people.
49 “My tears will pour out in a ceaseless stream
50 Until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees us.
51 My heart is grieved when I see what has happened to the women of the city.
52 “I was trapped like a bird by enemies who had no cause to hate me.
53 They threw me alive into a pit and closed the opening with a stone.
54 Water began to close over me, and I thought death was near.
55 “From the bottom of the pit, O Lord, I cried out to you,
56 And when I begged you to listen to my cry, you heard.
57 You answered me and told me not to be afraid.
58 “You came to my rescue, Lord, and saved my life.
59 Judge in my favor; you know the wrongs done against me.
60 You know how my enemies hate me and how they plot against me.
61 “You have heard them insult me, O Lord; you know all their plots.
62 All day long they talk about me and make their plans.
63 From morning till night they make fun of me.
64 “Punish them for what they have done, O Lord;
65 Curse them and fill them with despair!
66 Hunt them down and wipe them off the earth!”
1 Aame omulumenhu ou nda monifwa oluhepo koshikumbwati shoupyuhandu waye. 2 Oye okwa endifa nge ndele a twala nge momilaulu muhe nouyelele. 3 Heeno, efimbo alishe ta pilulile nge eke laye, heeno, efiku alishe. 4 Onhumba yange noshipa shange, Ye okwe i kunya, nomakipa ange Ye a teyaula po. 5 Oye okwa tungila nge omafitiko, a dingililifa nge noudiyo noudjuu. 6 Oye okwa kaleka omutumba monhele yomilaulu ngaashi oonakufya ava vonalenale. 7 Oye okwa idilila nge nekumangubu, osho ame itandi dulu okudja mo. Nokwa tula nge momalyenge madjuu oshikushu. 8 Nande handi ingida nonande handi ifana, Ye ita udu eindilo lange. 9 Eendjila dange okwe di fitikifa omakumamanya a hongwa, a ngolyola omalila ange. 10 Oye oku li oshilyani eshi sha nangela nge, onghoshi moshihondameno. 11 Oye okwa kandula po eendjila dange nokwa pombaula nge nokwa tokeka nge. 12 Oye a shila outa waye, nokwa ninga nge etanga loikuti yaye. 13 Oikuti yomonywa yaye e i yasha meefiyo dange. 14 Ame onda ninga oshiyolifa koshiwana shange ashishe, eimbilosheko omutenya aushe. 15 Oye okwa kutifa nge noinima ilula nokwa nwefa nge edimba. 16 Ndele Oye okwa kokotifa nge oumanya ndele a teya po omayoo ange, Ye okwa delaula nge momute. 17 Ndele oove omwenyo wange, owe u nyeka ombili, ame onda dimbwa ouwa. 18 Heeno, ame onda tile: “Etumbalo lange ola fiya nge po, nelineekelo lange kOmwene.”
19 Diladila oluhepo lange nokukalakala kwange, nedimba noudiyo. 20 Ngeenge omwenyo wange tau diladila oshinima eshi, otau nyongama mwaame. 21 Eshi handi shi tula momutima wange, onghee ndi nelineekelo: 22 molwouwanghenda wOmwene fye inatu kombwa po sheke, osheshi omafilonghenda aye kaena apa taa xulu po; 23 oo mape ongula keshe. Oudiinini woye ounene. 24 Omwenyo wange tau ti: “Omwene Oye oshitukulwa shange, onghee ame ohandi ka tula muye elineekelo lange.” 25 Omwene ota ningile ouwa kwaava tava tula muye elineekelo lavo nokomwenyo ou tau mu kongo. 26 Osho oshiwa okulineekela ekwafo lOmwene melimweneneno. 27 Osho osha wapalela omulumenhu a humbate ondjoko mounyasha waye. 28 Ne likalele omutumba ndele na mwene, eshi Oye e i mu lekifa. 29 Oye na twike okanya kaye mondwi, shiimba ope neteelelo. 30 Oye na yandje olupandu kwaau te mu denge, oye na kale a wana omasheko. 31 Osheshi Omwene ita ekeleshi fiyo alushe. 32 Ndelenee Ye ngeenge a nyikifa oluhodi, Oye ta filonghenda yo molwounene womauwanghenda aye. 33 Osheshi hakomutima Ye ta fininike nokunyikifa oluhodi ovana vovanhu.
34 Eshi eenghwate adishe domoshilongo tadi lyatelwa koshi yeemhadi, 35 eshi vo hava endameke ouyuki womulumenhu koshipala shaau wOkombadambada, 36 eshi vo hava lundulula eendjovo doihokolola yomunhu, mbela Omwene ke di wete? 37 Olyelye ota popi ndele tashi ningwa, Omwene ngeenge ine shi popya? 38 Owii nouwa itau di mo mokanya kaau wOkombadambada? 39 Oshike omunhu ta keme mokukala kwaye. Keshe umwe na keme molwoulunde waye. 40 Natu lipulaapuleni eendjila detu noku di hadahada, fye tu lialuke kOmwene. 41 Natu yeluleni omitima pamwe nomake kuKalunga komeulu, tu tye: 42 “Ofye otwa tauluka ndele twa kala tu noita. Ove ino tu dimina po. 43 Ove owe li tuvikila nehandu ndele we tu taataa. Ove wa dipaa uhe nonghenda. 44 Ove mwene we li tuvikila noshilemo, opo eindilo nande limwe itali dulu okupitila mo. 45 Ove we tu ninga oshala nomafikofikinini mokati koiwana. 46 Ovatondi vetu aveshe ove tu ekamekela omakanya avo. 47 Oshitukulwa shetu ehalwifwa nombwili nehanauko nenyonauno. 48 Omakungulukilo omeva taa kunguluka momesho ange, molwenyonauko lomona okakadona koshiwana shange. 49 Eisho lange tali kunguluka lihe nefudepo, ndele itali dimbuka, 50 fiyo Omwene meulu ta kevauka ndele ta taalele poshi. 51 Eisho lange tali etele nge ouyehame molwoukadona aveshe vomoshilando shange.
52 “Venya ovo va ninga ovatondadi vange ngaho, ohava taataa nge ngaashi odila. 53 Omwenyo wange vo ove u idilila mondungu, ndele ova kupula nge nomamanya. 54 Omeva okwa tondoka kombada yomutwe wange, ame nda tya: ‘Nda xula po!’ 55 Moule wondungu ame onda ifana edina loye, Omwene. 56 Ove wa uda ondaka yange: ‘Onghuwo yange ove ino i fitikila okutwi kwoye.’ 57 Ove wa ehena popepi mefiku olo ame nde ku ifana, ndele wa tile: ‘Ino kala wa tila!’ 58 Oove Omwene, wa popila nge mokuhokololifa kwange. Wa mangulula omwenyo wange. 59 Oove Omwene, u wete omafininiko ange, ame handi hepekwa nao. Yukifile nge! 60 Ove wa mona ko onghonehalo lavo, omadiladilo avo aeshe oo e nondubo naame. 61 Omwene, omashekondjovo avo Ove we a uda, omadiladilo avo aeshe oo e nondubo naame. 62 Omilungu davo nomauko avo ovatondi vange ohava kondjifa nge efiku alishe. 63 Vo ngeenge ve li omutumba ile tava penduka po, tala, aame eimbilosheko lavo. 64 Omwene, va alulila shi fike poilonga yomake avo. 65 Kukutika eemwenyo davo, etulomutima loye nali va hange. 66 Va shikulifa ehandu loye, Ove u va fe mo okoshi yeulu lOmwene.”
