The Terrible Drought
1 The Lord said to me concerning the drought,
2 “Judah is in mourning;
its cities are dying,
its people lie on the ground in sorrow,
and Jerusalem cries out for help.
3 The rich people send their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns,
but find no water;
they come back with their jars empty.
Discouraged and confused,
they hide their faces.
4 Because there is no rain
and the ground is dried up,
the farmers are sick at heart;
they hide their faces.
5 In the field the mother deer
abandons her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 The wild donkeys stand on the hilltops
and pant for breath like jackals;
their eyesight fails them
because they have no food.
7 My people cry out to me,
‘Even though our sins accuse us,
help us, Lord, as you have promised.
We have turned away from you many times;
we have sinned against you.
8 You are Israel's only hope;
you are the one who saves us from disaster.
Why are you like a stranger in our land,
like a traveler who stays for only one night?
9 Why are you like someone taken by surprise,
like a soldier powerless to help?
Surely, Lord, you are with us!
We are your people;
do not abandon us.’”
10 The Lord says about these people, “They love to run away from me, and they will not control themselves. So I am not pleased with them. I will remember the wrongs they have done and punish them because of their sins.”
11 The Lord said to me, “Do not ask me to help these people. 12 Even if they fast, I will not listen to their cry for help; and even if they offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not be pleased with them. Instead, I will kill them in war and by starvation and disease.”
13 Then I said, “Sovereign Lord, you know that the prophets are telling the people that there will be no war or starvation, because you have promised, they say, that there will be only peace in our land.”
14 But the Lord replied, “The prophets are telling lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I give them any orders or speak one word to them. The visions they talk about have not come from me; their predictions are worthless things that they have imagined. 15 I, the Lord, tell you what I am going to do to those prophets whom I did not send but who speak in my name and say war and starvation will not strike this land—I will kill them in war and by starvation. 16 The people to whom they have said these things will be killed in the same way. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to all of them—including their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will make them pay for their wickedness.”
17 The Lord commanded me to tell the people about my sorrow and to say:
“May my eyes flow with tears day and night,
may I never stop weeping,
for my people are deeply wounded
and are badly hurt.
18 When I go out in the fields,
I see the bodies of men killed in war;
when I go into the towns,
I see people starving to death.
Prophets and priests carry on their work,
but they don't know what they are doing.”
The People Plead with the Lord
19 Lord, have you completely rejected Judah?
Do you hate the people of Zion?
Why have you hurt us so badly
that we cannot be healed?
We looked for peace, but nothing good happened;
we hoped for healing, but terror came instead.
20 We have sinned against you, Lord;
we confess our own sins
and the sins of our ancestors.
21 Remember your promises and do not despise us;
do not bring disgrace on Jerusalem,
the place of your glorious throne.
Do not break the covenant you made with us.
22 None of the idols of the nations can send rain;
the sky by itself cannot make showers fall.
We have put our hope in you, O Lord our God,
because you are the one who does these things.
Oluteni olululu
1 Oohapu ndhika dhOmuwa dha lombwelwa Jeremia, otadhi popi oluteni:
2 “Juda ota lilagana;
iilando ye oya shunduka,
aantu ye oya mbwata pevi moluhodhi,
naJerusalem ta kugu onkugo.
3 Aanamadhina taa tumu aapiya ya ka teke omeya.
Otaa yi kiitentemba, ihe itaa mono ko omeya.
Otaa galuka niiyuma yi li owala.
Oya tyololoka yo ya ngwangwana,
otaa holeke iipala yawo.
4 Evi olya kalanda, oshoka oshilongo inashi lokwa.
Aanamapya naaniimuna oya haluka
notaa holeke iipala yawo.
5 Oholongo onyali otayi thigi po okanimona kayo
molwoluhepo lwomwiidhi.
6 Uusinokuti owa lontomana koondungu dhoondundu
tau fudhagana wa fa oombandje.
Owa tsika oshitanana, oshoka kau na uunapelo.
7 Aantu yandje otaa kugile ndje taa ti:
‘Nando uulunde wetu u tu tompe,
Omuwa, tu kwatha, ngaashi wa uvaneka.
Otwe ku pilamene olwindji;
otwa yono kungoye.
8 Omuwa, ongoye etegameno lyaIsrael;
ongoye omuhupithi gwetu methimbo lyiiponga.
Omolwashike wa fa omukwiilongo mevi lyetu,
wa fa omweendanandjila ngoka to penduka mo esiku limwe?
9 Omolwashike wa fa omuntu a haluka,
wa fa omukwiita kee na oonkondo dhokukwatha?
Oshili, ongoye Omuwa to kala pamwe natse!
Otse aantu yoye;
ino tu thiga po nando.’ ”
10 Aantu mbaka Omuwa ote ya popi ta ti: “Oye hole okunyekuka po pungame notaa nyengwa okwiipangela. Onkee ano inandi ya hokwa. Otandi dhimbulukwa omayono gawo notandi ya geele moluulunde wawo.”
11 Omuwa okwa lombwele ndje a ti: “Ino galikana ndje nando, ndi kwathe aantu mbaka. 12 Nokuli nando naa idhilike iikulya, itandi ka pulakena onkugo yawo, nonando ya yambele ndje omafikilondjambo noondjambo dhiikulya, itandi ya hokwa nando. Otandi ke ya dhipagela miita, mondjala nomelega.”
13 Ngame onda ti: “Omuwa Omupangelinkondoawike, owa tseya aahunganeki mboka taa lombwele aantu kutya itaku kala iita nenge ondjala, oshoka owu uvaneke kutya moshilongo otamu ka kala ombili.”
14 Omuwa okwa yamukula a ti: “Aahunganeki mboka otaa popi iifundja medhina lyandje; ngame inandi ya tuma, inandi ya lombwela nenge ndi popye nayo. Omamoniko gawo inaga za kungame. Omahunganeko gawo kage na oshilonga, ogo omafafaeko gawo yene. 15 Ongame Omuwa tandi ku lombwele shoka tandi ka ninga aahunganeki mboka inaandi ya tuma, ihe otaa hunganeke medhina lyandje kutya iita nondjala itayi ke ya mo moshilongo shika — otandi ke ya dhipagela miita nomondjala. 16 Aantu mboka ye ya lombwele iinima mbika, otaa dhipagwa pahedhi ya faathana. Omidhimba dhawo otadhi ka umbilwa momapandaanda gaJerusalem, noitaku ka kala mboka taye dhi fumvike. Ayehe osho taa ka ningilwa ngaaka — aakiintu yawo, oyana aamati naakadhona. Otandi ke ya futithitha uulunde wawo.”
17 Omuwa okwa lombwele ndje, ndi hokololele aantu oluhodhi lwandje ndi tye:
“Omeho gandje otaga pononoka omahodhi uusiku nomutenya.
Itandi etha okulila, oshoka aantu yandje oya tosholwa nayi
noya hendagulwa nayi.
18 Nge te piti mo, ndi ye komalundu,
ote tala omidhimba dhaantu ya sile miita.
Nge tandi ya miilando, ote tala aantu ya sa kondjala.
Aahunganeki naayambi otaa yi koshilongo kaaye shi ko.”
Aantu taa galikana Omuwa
19 Omuwa, owe ekelahi shilishili Juda?
Owa tonda nduno Aasioni?
Omolwashike we tu hende nayinayi ngeyi,
notatu nyengathana okupangwa?
Otwa tegelele ombili, ihe inatu yi mona;
otwa tegelele ealudho, ihe uumbanda wowala we ya po.
20 Omuwa, tse otwa yona kungoye,
otatu hempulula oondjo dhetu nomayono gootatekulu.
21 Molwedhina lyoye ino tu etha.
Ino sitha Jerusalem ohoni;
osho oshipangelapundi shoye shesimano.
Ino teya po ehangano we li hangana natse.
22 Kaku na oshikalunga shaapagani
tashi vulu okulokitha omvula;
newangandjo lyo lyene ihali lokitha nando oshihomo shimwe.
Otwe ku inekela, Omuwa Kalunga ketu,
oshoka ongoye awike to longo mbika.
