Omberero kovapristeri mai tjivisiwa
1 Muhona Omunamasaaehe ma tja nai kovapristeri: “Indi ondi ri erakiza ku eṋe: 2 Tji mu hi nokuvanga okuzuva nu tji mu hi nokurikenda momutima okuraisa ondjozikiro kena randje, ami me eta osengiro kombanda yeṋu nu e rundurura ondaya yeṋu i rire osengiro. Ii, tjiri, mba tjita nai rukuru, tjinga ape ha ri umwe weṋu ngwa twara ko ombango komambo wandje. 3 Tareye nambano, ami me yandeke ozondekurona zeṋu nu me hu otjandja momirungu vyeṋu, ihi otjandja tjovinamuinyo vyozombunguhiro zomayuva womikandi vyeṋu, neṋe oveni mamu kaimbirahiwa ngo puna otjandja. 4 Neṋe otji mamu tjiwa kutja owami ngu mba hinda erakiza ndi kutja omerikutiropamwe wandje na Levi, ye zikame.
5 “Momerikutiropamwe wandje ami mbe mu kwizikira omuinyo nombwiro; imbi aviyevari ombi mbe mu pa kutja ma kare nondira ku ami; neye, tjiri, wa kara nondira ku ami na yozike ena randje. 6 Motjinyo tje mwa ri omahongero wouatjiri nu imbwi ouhasemba kawa ri ko komiṋa vye; eye wa ryanga puna ami mohange na mousemba na tjaere ovengi okutjita ouvi. 7 Orondu omupristeri ma sokuhonga ondjiviro youatjiri ya Ndjambi. Ovandu ve sokuyenda ku ye okukerihonga ombango yandje, tjinga eye e ri omuhindwa wa Muhona Omunamasaaehe.
8 “Nungwari eṋe ovapristeri mwa yepa mondjira osemba nu mwa putarisa ovengi nomahongero weṋu nu mwa teya omerikutiropamwe wandje na eṋe. 9 Ami otji me mu nyengurisa ne mu ṱiṱiparisa komurungu wotjiwaṋa atjihe, tjinga amu ha ṱakamisa ozondjira zandje namu tjita ongarera pombanguriro.”
Okuhaṱakama kwOvaisrael ku Ndjambi
10 Eṱe atuhe kaweṱe ovaihe imwe are? Ndjambi ngwe tu mema ka umwe are? Okutjavi tji matu teya omakwizikiro ngu twa tjita kumwe nokutengurura omerikutiropamwe Ndjambi nga tjitire nootate mukururume? 11 Otjiwaṋa tja Juda tja zunḓa ouṱakame natji tjiti eyayu mOisrael na mOjerusalem, tjinga atja tengurura ondjuwo ya Muhona ndja suverwa i Muhona omuini, nu tjinga atja kupa ovasuko voomukuru woposyo. 12 Muhona nga konde ngamwa auhe kotjiwaṋa tja Israel ngu ma tjiti otjiṋa hi, na wina ku imba mbe eta oviyandjewa vyozombunguhiro ku Muhona Omunamasaaehe.
13 Nu otjiṋa tjarwe tji mu tjita otjo hi: Eṋe mu vandeka otjipunguhiro tja Muhona nomahoze nomaririro nozondjemeno, eye tjinga e he tji tara notjari rukwao kozombunguhiro zeṋu ne he tji ze yakura nonyuṋe meke reṋu. 14 Nu nambano mamu pura nai: “Okutjavi eye tje he tji ze yakura?” Omena rokutja Muhona onguri omuhongonone pokati koye nomukazendu ngu wa kupa ngunda au ri omutanda, ove wa teya ouṱakame we ngunda eri omukazendu woye, ingwi omukazendu ngu wa tjitire omerikutiropamwe na ye. 15 Ndjambi kemu memene kutja mu rire onyama nomuinyo umwe are? Notjiṋa hi eye we tji tjitira tjike? Okutja eṋe mu mune ovanatje mbe ri ovandu va Ndjambi, tjiri. Nu ritjevereye oveni kutja ape ha ningi umwe weṋu ngu ma teya omakwizikiro we puna omukazendu woumutanda we. 16 Muhona Ndjambi wa Israel ma tja nai: “Ami mba tonda ohaṋikiro yorukupo; nu ngu ma tjiti otjitandi hi komukazendu we, me ri varanga nombanda youtwe. Ritjevera kutja o ha teya omakwizikiro woye wokukara omuṱakame komukazendu woye.”
Eyuva rombanguriro ya Muhona
17 Eṋe mwa urisa Muhona nomambo weṋu. Nu vari mamu pura amu tja: “Eṱe twe mu urisa na tjike?” Orondu tji mamu tja: “Auhe ngu ma tjiti ouvi onguri omuwa momeho wa Muhona, nu movandu otja imba eye ome nonyuṋe.” Poo indu tji mamu pura nai: “Ingwi Ndjambi wousemba u ri pi?”
1 The Lord Almighty says to the priests, “This command is for you: 2 You must honor me by what you do. If you will not listen to what I say, then I will bring a curse on you. I will put a curse on the things you receive for your support. In fact, I have already put a curse on them, because you do not take my command seriously. 3 I will punish your children and rub your faces in the dung of the animals you sacrifice—and you will be taken out to the dung heap. 4 Then you will know that I have given you this command, so that my covenant with the priests, the descendants of Levi, will not be broken.
5 “In my covenant I promised them life and well-being, and this is what I gave them, so that they might respect me. In those days they did respect and fear me. 6 They taught what was right, not what was wrong. They lived in harmony with me; they not only did what was right themselves, but they also helped many others to stop doing evil. 7 It is the duty of priests to teach the true knowledge of God. People should go to them to learn my will, because they are the messengers of the Lord Almighty.
8 “But now you priests have turned away from the right path. Your teaching has led many to do wrong. You have broken the covenant I made with you. 9 So I, in turn, will make the people of Israel despise you because you do not obey my will, and when you teach my people, you do not treat everyone alike.”
The People's Unfaithfulness to God
10 Don't we all have the same father? Didn't the same God create us all? Then why do we break our promises to one another, and why do we despise the covenant that God made with our ancestors? 11 The people of Judah have broken their promise to God and done a horrible thing in Jerusalem and all over the country. They have defiled the Temple which the Lord loves. Men have married women who worship foreign gods. 12 May the Lord remove from the community of Israel those who did this, and never again let them participate in the offerings our nation brings to the Lord Almighty.
13 This is another thing you do. You drown the Lord's altar with tears, weeping and wailing because he no longer accepts the offerings you bring him. 14 You ask why he no longer accepts them. It is because he knows you have broken your promise to the wife you married when you were young. She was your partner, and you have broken your promise to her, although you promised before God that you would be faithful to her. 15 Didn't God make you one body and spirit with her? What was his purpose in this? It was that you should have children who are truly God's people. So make sure that none of you breaks his promise to his wife. 16 “I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel. “I hate it when one of you does such a cruel thing to his wife. Make sure that you do not break your promise to be faithful to your wife.”
The Day of Judgment Is Near
17 You have tired the Lord out with your talk. But you ask, “How have we tired him?” By saying, “The Lord Almighty thinks all evildoers are good; in fact he likes them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God who is supposed to be just?”
