The Prayer of a Troubled Youth
1 Listen to my prayer, O Lord,
and hear my cry for help!
2 When I am in trouble,
don't turn away from me!
Listen to me,
and answer me quickly when I call!
3 My life is disappearing like smoke;
my body is burning like fire.
4 I am beaten down like dry grass;
I have lost my desire for food.
5 I groan aloud;
I am nothing but skin and bones.
6 I am like a wild bird in the desert,
like an owl in abandoned ruins.
7 I lie awake;
I am like a lonely bird on a housetop.
8 All day long my enemies insult me;
those who mock me use my name in cursing.
9-10 Because of your anger and fury,
ashes are my food,
and my tears are mixed with my drink.
You picked me up and threw me away.
11 My life is like the evening shadows;
I am like dry grass.
12 But you, O Lord, are king forever;
all generations will remember you.
13 You will rise and take pity on Zion;
the time has come to have mercy on her;
this is the right time.
14 Your servants love her,
even though she is destroyed;
they have pity on her,
even though she is in ruins.
15 The nations will fear the Lord;
all the kings of the earth will fear his power.
16 When the Lord rebuilds Zion,
he will reveal his greatness.
17 He will hear his forsaken people
and listen to their prayer.
18 Write down for the coming generation what the Lord has done,
so that people not yet born will praise him.
19 The Lord looked down from his holy place on high,
he looked down from heaven to earth.
20 He heard the groans of prisoners
and set free those who were condemned to die.
21 And so his name will be proclaimed in Zion,
and he will be praised in Jerusalem
22 when nations and kingdoms come together
and worship the Lord.
23 The Lord has made me weak while I am still young;
he has shortened my life.
24 O God, do not take me away now
before I grow old.
O Lord, you live forever;
25 long ago you created the earth,
and with your own hands you made the heavens.
26 They will disappear, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like clothes.
You will discard them like clothes,
and they will vanish.
27 But you are always the same,
and your life never ends.
28 Our children will live in safety,
and under your protection
their descendants will be secure.
Eindilo letungululo laSion
Eindilo lepongo mokuloloka kwalo, noupongo walo ngeenge tali u mbululile koshipala shOmwene.
1 Omwene, uda eindilo lange,
nonghuwo yange nai fike kwoove!
2 Alushe ngeenge handi tila,
ino holeka nge oshipala shoye,
alushe ngeenge handi ifana,
endekela okutwi kwoye kwaame, u kwafe nge diva.
3 Akutu, omafiku ange taa hanauka po ngaashi omwifi,
nomakipa ange otaa pupyala a fa taa pi komundilo;
4 omutima wange owa kata nowa kukuta ngaashi omwiidi;
osha dimbwifa nge okulya omungome.
5 Mokukema kwange mokule,
eenhumba dange otadi kanyatele komakipa ange.
6 Onda fa oshikakalwa mombuwa,
onda ninga nda fa exuvi meputu.
7 Ihandi mono nande eemhofi,
ndele ondi li ngaashi okadila ke likalela konduda.
8 Efiku alishe ovatondi vange ohava yeele nge;
ava tava shivile nge olwoodi,
otava halele nge omupya.
9 Osheshi ohandi li omute ngaashi omungome hau liwa,
nomoshikunwa shange
ohandi shishifile mo omahodi
10 molwehandu loye nomolwonya yoye;
osheshi Ove wa yelula nge nowa shata nge poshi.
11 Omafiku ange okwa fa omudidimbe wa ya kokule,
ndele ame ohandi kukuta ngaashi ombidi.
12 Ndelenee Omwene, Ove ho pangele alushe,
nedina loye otali kala koludalo noludalo.
13 Ove to fikama nokuli, u ka file Sion onghenda,
osheshi efimbo loku shi fila onghenda
olo alike eli; okafimbo kaye oka monika.
14 Osheshi ovapiya voye ove hole
pomamanya aSion,
nomakulukuma asho tave a nyikile oufiye.
15 Opo nee opo ovapaani
otava ka tila edina lOmwene,
neehamba dokombada yedu efimano loye.
16 Heeno, Omwene ota ka tungulula Sion,
ndele ta monika moshinge shaye,
17 ote liameke komaindilo ovaefiwa,
ndele ita dini omakweno avo.
18 Eshi, osho nashi shangelwe oludalo olo tali uya,
ovanhu ovo opo tava shitwa,
vo va tange Omwene,
19 molwaashi e li moulembada waye uyapuki
a taalela pedu,
heeno, Omwene eshi e li meulu, ota tale pedu,
20 Ye a pwilikine eenghwate, nhumba tadi keme,
nokuxupifa ava va tokolelwa efyo,
21 vo va udife muSion edina lOmwene,
nefimano laye muJerusalem,
22 oiwana yoilongo, ngeenge tai liongele
aishe mumwe,
noilongo i longele Omwene.
23 Eenghono dange okwe di xutula ondjilakati,
nomuvalu womafiku ange okwe u ninipika.
24 Kalunga kange, ohandi ti:
“Ino vakula nge po
poshakati shomafiku ange, Oove ou,
u nomido hadi kala komaludalo aeshe.”
25 Nalenale Oove wa shita edu,
nomaulu oo oshilongwa shomake oye.
26 Oyo tai xulu po, Ove auke to kala po,
otai kulupa po aishe, ya fa oshikutu,
to i lidula ngaashi omudjalo u djale umwe,
oyo notai shitukifwa.
27 Ndelenee Ove to kala ngaho, ngaashi u li,
omido doye ihadi xulu po nande.
28 Ovana vovapiya voye otava kala ve li nawa,
noludalo lavo otali kala alushe koshipala shoye.
