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!”
Egeelo, eitedhululo netegameno
1 Ngame omuntu nda talithwa omalwa
koshivugati shondjahi ye.
2 Ondu undagulwa nda thiminikilwa momilema
pwaa na uuyelele washa.
3 Esiku alihe ota pilukile ndje
noshikaha she, a kondjithe ndje.
4 Okwa yugu ndje oshipa
e ta kunya onyama yandje komasipa e ga teya.
5 Okwa hongele ndje ondjoko,
a kondeke ndje nuudhigu nuuwehame.
6 Okwa thiminike ndje, ndi pukile momilema
pamwe noonakusa yonalenale.
7 Okwa tungile ndje ekondeka,
ite vulu okuhunuka mo.
A tula ndje momalyenge ga kola.
8 Nando otandi kugagana tandi igidha,
ita pulakene omagalikano gandje.
9 Okwa thitike ondjila yandje nomamanya,
omapola gandje okwe ga golipaleke.
10 Okwa langele ndje a fa emwanka,
a fa onime tayi tegelele ndje moshiholameno shayo.
11 Okwa tidha ndje mo mondjila yandje nokwa tuulagula ndje;
okwa thigi ndje po.
12 Okwa lukile uutati we
e ta shoneke ndje niikuti ye.
13 Okwa ndjike iikuti ye molutu lwandje.
14 Onda ningi ondjolwi yoshigwana shandje ashihe,
otaa sheke ndje miiyimbo yawo aluhe.
15 Okwa kolitha ndje kuululu wonyango.
16 Omayego gandje okwe ga teyagulitha omawe
nokwa tsu oshipala shandje mevi.
17 Omwenyo gwandje okwe gu yugu ombili;
onda dhimbwa elago nenyanyu.
18 Ngashingeyi otandi ti: “Oonkondo dhandje odha pwine,
kandi na we etegameno lyasha tali zi kOmuwa.”
19 Dhimbulukwa omalwa gandje nokwaalaala kwandje,
onyango ondulundulu.
20 Otandi yi dhimbulukwa nawa,
omwenyo gwandje ogwa thindililwa mo nayo.
21 Shimwe otandi shi lombwele omwenyo gwandje,
note mono etegameno.
22 Okesilohenda lyOmuwa, sho inaatu yonwa po thilu,
ontalanteni ye inayi hula po.
23 Esilohenda lye olyo epe kehe ongula;
uudhiginini we kau na ondjele.
24 Omwenyo gwandje otagu ti: “Omuwa oye oshitendelwa shandje;
ongame nonde mu inekela.”
25 Omuwa oye omwaanawa kwaamboka ye mu inekela,
komwenyo ngoka tagu mu kongo.
26 Osho opala okutegelela ehupitho lyOmuwa meimweneneno.
27 Osho opala omulumentu a humbate ondjoko
okuza kuugundjuka we.
28 Na kuutumbe muuwike nokumwena,
uuna Omuwa te yi mu tsike.
29 Na lale montsi —
pamwe oku na natango etegameno.
30 Na gandje olupanda kungoka te mu dhenge,
na mone omasheko ga gwana.
31 Oshoka Omuwa ite ekelehi omuntu sigo aluhe.
32 Ngele ota geye, oku na ohenda,
esilohenda lye enenenene.
33 Nokuli iha nyanyukilwa okuhepeka aana yaantu
nenge oku ya nikitha oluhodhi.
34 Oonkwatwa adhihe moshilongo uuna tadhi vunyagulwa
notadhi lyatagulwa noompadhi,
35 uuna uuthemba womuntu tau thininikwa
koshipala shaanguka gwokombandambanda,
36 uuna omuntu ta kuthwa uuyuuki —
Omuwa ke shi wete?
37 Olye a popi, iinima noye ya po?
Olye e shi ningi, ngele ke shi Omuwa?
38 Openi nduno, ngele kamu shi mokana kwaanguka gwokombandambanda,
hamu zi uuwinayi nuuwanawa?
39 Omuntu oshike ta tamananene?
Oshipu okukala ta keme moluulunde we.
40 Tu konakoneni oondjila dhetu,
tu dhi simonone, tu galukile kOmuwa.
41 Tu yelutheni oomwenyo nomaako getu
kuKalunga megulu tu tye:
42 Otwa yono notwa kolokosha,
ongoye noino tu dhimina po.
43 Ongoye wi idhingile ondjahi nowe tu tidhagana,
owe tu dhipaga waa na ohenda.
44 Owi idhingile moshikogo itamu piti omagalikano.
45 Owe tu ningi etutu niifakufaku mokati kiigwana.
46 Aatondi yetu ye tu makulile omakana,
taye tu nyana miiyimbo.
47 Omahalutho nomakolombongo ogo oshitopolelwa shetu,
ekano nehanagulo.
48 Omeho gandje oga togala momulonga gwomahodhi
okulila ehanagulo lya adha oshigwana shandje.
49 Omeho gandje otaga lili gaa na evululuko,
50 sigo Omuwa to ontamene pevi,
e tu taalele megulu.
51 Omeho gandje oga pushuka iilalo
kokulila aakadhona ayehe yomoshilando shandje.
52 Oya yewe ndje, ya tidha ndje ngondhila,
oyo mboka ye tonde ndje owala.
53 Oyu undulile omwenyo gwandje monyombo,
noyu umbile mo omamanya.
54 Omeya oga pitilile omutse gwandje;
onda ti: “Nda kana.”
55 Omuwa, onde ku ithana muuleelee wonyombo.
56 Ou uvite onkugo yandje tayi ti: “Ino thitika okutsi kwoye,
kwaa uve omagalikano gandje.”
57 Owa hedha popepi, uuna ndoka nde ku ithana;
owa ti: “Ino tila.”
58 Ongoye, Omuwa, owa popile ndje miihokolola,
owa hupitha omwenyo gwandje.
59 Omuwa, ou wete omathiminiko tandi ga thiminikwa.
Uthila ndje.
60 Owa mono omafudhagano gawo agehe,
iineya yawo ayihe taa dhiladhilile ndje.
61 Omuwa, owu uvu okusheka kwawo,
niiponga ayihe taye yi dhiladhilile ndje.
62 Aatondi yandje otaa piyaganeke ndje
nomanongono gawo omasiku agehe.
63 Nando oya kuutumbe nenge ya thikame,
tala, ongame oshiimbo shawo.
64 Omuwa, shi ya futila, ngaashi ye shi ilongele.
65 Kukutika oomwenyo dhawo,
etulomutima lyoye nali ya lambele.
66 Ya tidha mondjahi,
ya nakula mo kohi yegulu lyoye.
