God Is Lord of the Future
1 Listen to this, people of Israel,
you that are descended from Judah:
You swear by the name of the Lord
and claim to worship the God of Israel—
but you don't mean a word you say.
2 And yet you are proud to say
that you are citizens of the holy city
and that you depend on Israel's God,
whose name is the Lord Almighty.
3 The Lord says to Israel,
“Long ago I predicted what would take place;
then suddenly I made it happen.
4 I knew that you would prove to be stubborn,
as rigid as iron and unyielding as bronze.
5 And so I predicted your future long ago,
announcing events before they took place,
to keep you from claiming
that your idols and images made them happen.
6 “All I foretold has now taken place;
you have to admit my predictions were right.
Now I will tell you of new things to come,
events that I did not reveal before.
7 Only now am I making them happen;
nothing like this took place in the past.
If it had, you would claim that you knew all about it.
8 I knew that you couldn't be trusted,
that you have always been known as a rebel.
That is why you never heard of this at all,
why no word of it ever came to your ears.
9 “In order that people will praise my name,
I am holding my anger in check;
I am keeping it back and will not destroy you.
10 I have tested you in the fire of suffering,
as silver is refined in a furnace.
But I have found that you are worthless.
11 What I do is done for my own sake—
I will not let my name be dishonored
or let anyone else share the glory
that should be mine and mine alone.”
Cyrus, the Lord's Chosen Leader
12 The Lord says,
“Listen to me, Israel, the people I have called!
I am God, the first, the last, the only God!
13 My hands made the earth's foundations
and spread the heavens out.
When I summon earth and sky,
they come at once and present themselves.
14 “Assemble and listen, all of you!
None of the gods could predict
that the man I have chosen would attack Babylon;
he will do what I want him to do.
15 I am the one who spoke and called him;
I led him out and gave him success.
16 “Now come close to me and hear what I say.
From the beginning I have spoken openly
and have always made my words come true.”
(Now the Sovereign Lord has given me his power and sent me.)
The Lord's Plan for His People
17 The holy God of Israel,
the Lord who saves you, says:
“I am the Lord your God,
the one who wants to teach you for your own good
and direct you in the way you should go.
18 “If only you had listened to my commands!
Then blessings would have flowed for you
like a stream that never goes dry.
Victory would have come to you
like the waves that roll on the shore.
19 Your descendants would be as numerous as grains of sand,
and I would have made sure they were never destroyed.”
20 Go out from Babylon, go free!
Shout the news gladly; make it known everywhere:
“The Lord has saved his servant Israel!”
21 When the Lord led his people through a hot, dry desert,
they did not suffer from thirst.
He made water come from a rock for them;
he split the rock open, and water flowed out.
22 “There is no safety for sinners,” says the Lord.
Kalunga oye Omuwa gwonakuyiwa
1 Pulakeneni ndhika, ne oluvalo lwaJakob,
one tuu mboka tamu tiwa Israel,
ne yomoludhi lwaJuda,
one mboka hamu gana medhina lyOmuwa
e tamu ithana Kalunga kaIsrael —
ihe itamu shi ningi moshili nomuuyuuki.
2 Otamu iluku aanashilando oshiyapuki
nomwi itula Kalunga kaIsrael,
ngoka edhina lye Omuwa Omunankondoawike.
3 Omuwa ota lombwele Israel ta ti:
“Onda hunganeke nale mbyoka tayi ka ningwa;
ohaluka onde yi gwanitha.
4 Onda tseya kutya ngoye omutangalali,
omathenga goye ga fa ga ningwa mosheela
noshipala shoye omoshikushu.
5 Onde ku hunganekele nale onakuyiwa yoye,
nda tomona iiningwanima, manga inaayi ningwa,
opo waa tye, iimenka yoye niiyelekela yoye oye yi eta po.
6 “Ayihe nde yi popile, oya gwanithwa.
Zimina ashike kutya omahunganeko gandje oge li mondjila.
Ngashingeyi otandi ku lombwele iinima iipe tayi ke ya,
iiholekwa mbyoka inoo yi tseya nale.
7 Ongashingeyi owala tandi yi longo,
kape na shimwe sha fa shika sha ningilwe nale.
Ngele nani oya ningilwe, oto vulu okutya owe yi tseya nale.
8 Ondi shi shi kutya ngoye ku shi omwiinekelwa,
ngoye hela wa kala omupandala.
Omolwasho ino uva iinima mbika nale,
omolwasho kaku na nando ohapu yimwe ya yile momakutsi goye.
9 “Ongame omutalanteni omolwedhina lyandje mwene.
Opo aantu ya pandule ndje,
otandi kankeke ondjahi yandje.
Onde yi lotitha, ndaaye ku hanagule po.
10 Onde ku yeleke momulilo gwomahepeko,
ongoshisiliveli tashi hemuninwa montelekelo.
Ihe onda dhimbulula kutya ngoye ogwowala nani.
11 Shoka tandi shi ningi,
otandi shi ningi molwandje mwene.
Itandi ka etha nando, edhina lyandje li shekwe,
nenge esimano lyandje li ye kugulwe.
Kores, omuwiliki a hogololwa kOmuwa
12 “Pulakena ndje, oluvalo lwaJakob,
Israel, ngoye ngoka nde ku ithana.
Ongame Kalunga, omutango nomuhugunini,
Kalunga awike tuu ti.
13 Oshikaha shandje osha dhike evi,
nolulyo lwandje lwa alele egulu.
Sho ndi ithana evi neyalelo,
oya holoka po polumwe yo yene.
14 “One amuhe gongaleni, ne mu pulakene!
Oku na tuu kalunga, ngoka a hunganeke kutya
omuntu ngoka nda hogolola, ota ka homona Babilon?
Ota ka ninga shoka nda hala e shi ninge.
15 Ongame awike nda popi nonde mu ithana;
onde mu pititha mo e tandi mu pe elago.
16 Ngashingeyi hedheni kungame, mu uve shoka tandi ti:
‘Okuza ketameko inandi popya meholamo.
Oko nda li okuza kethimbo ndyoka mbika tayi ningwa.’ ”
(Ngashingeyi Omuwa Omupangeliawike okwa tumu ndje pamwe nOmbepo ye.)
Shoka Kalunga a nunina Israel
17 Kalunga kaIsrael omuyapuki,
Omuwa omukulili gwoye ota ti:
“Ongame Omuwa Kalunga koye,
ngoka tii ku longele shoka she ku opalela
noku ku ulukila ondjila u na okweenda nayo.
18 Ando to pulakene shili iipango yandje,
andola omayambeko otage ku kungulukile ga fa omulonga tagu tondoka omeya,
nuuyuuki otau tondokele kungoye wa fa omakuthikuthi gomefuta;
19 Oluvalo lwoye otalu indjipala lwa fa omawe gehekevi,
naamwoye ongoomuma tadhi nyenge okuyalulwa.
Edhina lyawo itali ka kana,
itandi ke ya hanagula po.”
Eimbilo lyokutembuka muBabilon
20 Pitii mo muBabilon,
tembukii mo muKaldea!
Igidheni onkundana yenyanyu;
yi tseyithileni apehepehe tamu ti:
“Omuwa a hupitha oshigwana she Israel!”
21 Omuwa sho e enditha aantu ye
mombuga ya kalanda noyomutenya, oya li inaa sa enota.
Okwe ya kuthile omeya memanya:
okwa panda emanya, omeya noga tondoka mo.
22 Omuwa ota ti:
“Aakaanakalunga kaye na nando ombili.”
