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.”
Elelo lyaJuda
1 Omutse gwandje andola gwa li omuthima gwomeya,
nomeho gandje othithiya yomahodhi,
ando te lili uusiku nomutenya
omolwaantu yandje mboka ya dhipagwa po.
2 Ando onda li ndi na ehala mombuga,
moka te vulu okukala kokule naantu yandje.
Oyo ayehe aahasha, ongundu yaakengeleli.
3 Aluhe oyi ilongekidha okufundja;
oshili ihayi pangele moshilongo.
Omuwa ota popi ta ti:
“Aantu yandje otaa ningi nayi aluhe, yo inaa tseya ndje.”
4 Shaa ngoka ni iyageke kuume ke,
nokape na ngoka ti inekele mumwayina.
Oshoka omumwayina kehe omunamakoto a fa Jakob,
nokehe ngoka ota lundile ookuume ke.
5 Kuume ta kotokele kuume,
nokaku na ngoka ta popi oshili.
Oya longo omalaka gawo okufundja;
ohaa ivulitha muulunde.
6 Oye li mokati komakoto;
momakoto gawo otaa tindi okutseya ndje.
7 Molwaashika Omuwa Omunankondoawike ota ti:
“Otandi ka yelitha aantu yandje ngashika iiwengendje
notandi ke ya yeleka.
Aantu yandje ya ningi nayi —
otandi ya ningi ishewe shike?
8 Omalaka gawo ogo iikuti hayi lyana;
aluhe taa fundju.
Shaa ngoka ota popi oohapu oontalala komushiinda gwe,
ihe ote mu tegele etavu.
9 Itandi ke ya geelela andola iihuna mbika?
Itandi ka galulila andola oshigwana uuwinayi wa fa mbuka?
Ongame Omuwa nda popi.”
10 “Otandi lilile oondundu
notandi takumine omaunapelo.
Oshoka oga kukuta po,
nokape na ngoka te ende mokati kago.
Ekololoko lyoongombe itali uvika we;
oondhila niithitukuti oya yi ontuku.
11 “Jerusalem otandi shi ningi ondumba yomakulukuma,
otandi shi ningi ehala lyokukala oombandje;
iilando yomuJuda otayi ka mbugala,
ehala itaali kalwa nando okulye.”
12 Onda pula nda ti: “Omuwa, omolwashike oshilongo sha hanagulwa po nosha kukuta sha fa ombuga, nokaku na nando oongoka te yi tokola? Olye e na oondunge e shi uve ko? Owe shi fatululile lye, opo a vule okulombwela yalwe?”
13 Omuwa okwa yamukula a ti: “Osha ningwa, oshoka aantu yandje oye etha elongo ndyoka nde li ya pele. Inaa vulika kungame nenge ya ninge, ngaashi nde ya lombwele. 14 Oya kala ya tangalala noya longele iimenka yaBaal, ngaashi ya longwa koohekulu, ye shi ninge. 15 Onkee ano pulakeneni shoka ngame, Omuwa Omunankondoawike, Kalunga kaIsrael, tandi ti: Otandi ka pa aantu yandje oshigwanga oshilulu ya lye, notandi ya nwetha omeya guuzigo. 16 Otandi ke ya halakanithila mokati kiigwana mbyoka noohekulu nayo wo inaaye yi kundana nale, notandi ka tuma iita yi ya kondjithe, sigo nde ya yono po naanaa.”
Aajerusalem taa kugile ekwatho
17 Omuwa Omunankondoawike ota ti:
“Shi kuthii mo nduno!
Hiyeni aakiintu ye shi kulila,
tumeni koonkulungu dhokulila oosa.”
18 Oshigwana osha ti:
“Ya lombweleni, ya matuke ye tu lilile ko oosa,
sigo omeho getu taga udha omahodhi,
noombafu dhetu dha hipa kokulila.”
19 Oshihomo shoondila otashi uvika muSion:
“Otwa hanagulwa po ngiini!
Ohoni yetu onene ngiini!
Otatu thigi po oshilongo shetu,
oshoka omagumbo getu oga kumunwa po.”
20 Onda ti:
“Ne aakiintu, pulakeneni oohapu dhOmuwa,
mu ndhindhilike shoka ta popi.
Longeni aana yeni aakadhona okulila,
nookuume keni uunkulungu wokulila oosa.
21 Eso olye ya lya pitile momakende getu
nolya ningine moombala dhetu.
Momapandaanda olya kanyata aanona,
naagundjuka opomahala guundingosho.
22 Omidhimba odha langathana akuhe,
odha fa oondumba dhuuhoho momapya,
odha fa iilya ya teywa ya thigwa po kaateyi,
iilya mbyoka itaayi gongelwa.
Shika osho shoka Omuwa a lombwele ndje, ndi shi popye.”
23 Omuwa ota ti:
“Omunandunge ke na okwiitangela uunongo we,
omunankondo iti itangele oonkondo dhe,
nomuyamba iti itangele uuyamba we.
24 Ngoka ti itanga,
ni itangele okuuva ko nokutseya ndje,
oshoka ohole yandje kayi na ondjele,
nohandi longo shoka oshiwanawa noshu uka.
Iinima mbika otayi opalele ndje.
Ongame Omuwa nda popi.”
25-26 Omuwa ota ti: “Esiku otali ya, uuna tandi ka pangula Aayegipiti, Aajuda, Aaedom, Aayammoni, Aamoabi naantu yomombuga mboka haa ikulula omapalu. Aantu mbaka ayehe oya pita etanda, ihe inaa dhiginina ehangano; oye na owala endhindhiliko lyalyo. Kaku na nando ogumwe gwomaantu mbaka nomAaisraeli a dhiginina ehangano lyandje.”
