1 “Tsî nēsi nēs ge mîmās sago pristergo ta ra māsa. 2 ǃGâ ǂgao tama go ga i tsî ti ǀonsa ǃgôasiba mās ai ǂâisa ǂnûi tama i, tib ge ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixaba ra mî, o ta ge ǀâxareba sago ǂama nî sî. Tita ge sago ǀkhaega nî ǀâxarexū, ā tita ge ǁîga ǀnai ǀâxarexū hâ, sago ge ǁîs ai ǂâisa ǂnûi tama i amaga. 3 Tita ge sago ôananôaguba ǁkhōse nî ǁkhara. Tsî ta ge ǂhauba sago aidi ai nî ǂkhau, ǂhaub sago kaitsēdi ǁguibadi diba tsî go ge ǁîb ǀkha nî tanibēhe. 4 O go ge nî ǂan tita go nē mîmāsa sago sîbasa, ti ǃgaeǀhaos Levib ǀkha ta ge dīs nî hâhâse,”
tib ge ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixaba ra mî. 5 “Ti ǃgaeǀhaos ǁîb ǀkha ta ge dīs ge ûib tsî ǂkhîb tsîkha di ge i, tsî ta ge ǁîkha ge mā bi. Tsîb ge ǁîba tita ǃaoǃgâb ǀkha ǃoaba tsî ti ǀonsa ǃgôasiba ge ūba hâ i. 6 Ama ǁkhāǁkhās ge ǁîb ams ǃnâ ge hâ i tsî ǂkhawa-i xare-i ge ǁîb amǁgaukha ai ge hōhe tama hâ i. ǁÎb ge tita ǀkha ǂkhîb tsî ǂhauǃnâsib ǃnâ ge hâ i tsî ǂguina ǂhanuoǃnâsiba xu ge ūdabasen kai. 7 Pristeri amǁgaukha ge amaba nî ǃûiǃgâ, tsîn ge khoena ams âba xu ǁkhāǁkhāsa nî ôa, ǁîb a ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixab di sîsabe xui-ao.
8 “Xawe go ge sago ǂhanu daoba ge ǁnāxū; ǂguina go ge sago ǁkhāǁkhās ǀkha ge ǁnā kai. Ti ǃgaeǀhaos Levib ǀkha ta ge dīsa go ge ge ǁgaoǁgao,”
tib ge ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixaba ra mî.9 “ǁNā-amaga ta ge tita sago ǁaes mûǁae go ǃharaxūsa tsî ǃgôaǁnâsa xū kai, ti daoga go ge sao tama i tsî go ge ǀgoraǃgâs âgo ǂhanu tamase ge dī xui-ao.”
Khoen di îǂhôaoǃnâsib
10 Hoada ǀgui ǁgûb ǀguiba ūhâ tama hâ? Hoada ǀgui Elob ǀguib xa kuruhe tama? Tarexa-i nē-e nau-i ǃoagu ǁnātikōse îǂhôaoǃnâ tsî Elob ge sada aboxagu ǀkha dī ǃgaeǀhaosa ra ǀuriǀuri? 11 Judab ge ge îǂhôaoǃnâ i, ui-uisa xū-i ge Israeli ǃnâ tsî Jerusalems ǃnâ ge dīhe. Judab aogu ge ǃKhūb a ǀnam ǃanusiba ge ǃanuoǃnâ kai, tsî gu ge ǃhao elogu di ôadi ǀkha ge ǃgame. 12 Ab ǃKhūba ǁnāsa ra dī aob hoaba Jakob di omde xu ūbē, nēsib ga ǁîba ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixaba ǁguibade hā-ūba xawes tsîna.
13 ǀNî xū-i ge ǁkhāti hâ sadu ra dī-e. Sadu ge ǃKhūb di altarsa ǁgamrogu tsî āb tsî ǃgaes ǀkha ra ǀoaǀoa, ǁîb sadu di ǁguibade ǃaruǀî ūǃoa ǂgao tama ǃkhais ǃaroma. 14 O du ge sado ra dî: “Tare xū-i ǃaromasa?” Nēs ǃaromas ge: ǃKhūb ge ge ǀhûǀguitimî-ao-i sats tsî sa ǂkhamsis di taras tsîro ǁaegu. Sats ge ǁîs ǀkha ǂgomǂgomsase hâ tama ge i, ǁîs a sa horesa tsî ǃgaeǀhaos di tara xawe. 15 Eloba saro ǀgui soros tsî gagase kuru tama hâ? Tare-i ǃaromasa ǁnāsa? Eloǃaoǃgâxa surib nî hâgas komo. ǁNā-amaga ǃûisen, îb mâb hoaba tā ǂkhamsis âb di taras ǀkha ǂgomǂgomsa tamase ûi. 16 “Tita ge ǃgameǀgorasa ǁkhan hâ” tib ra ǃKhūb Israeli di Eloba mî. “Tsî ta ge ǁkhāti ǁnā ǁgaisi ǂkhabadīb taras ǃoagu ra dīheb tsîna ǁkhan hâ” tib ge ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixaba ra mî. “ǃÛisen î tā sa taras ǃoagu ǂgomǂgomsaoǃnâ.”
ǀGoraǃgâtsēs ge a ǀgū
17 Sadu ge ǃKhūba mîdi âdu ǀkha ge tsau kai, xawe du ge “Mâ xū-i ǀkha da ge ǁîba tsau kai” ti ra mî. ǁNāsa du ge ge dī, nēti du ge mîo: “ǂKhabadī ra-i hoa-i ge ǃKhūb mûǁae a ǃgâi, ǁîb ge ǁnāti īn xa a ǃgâibahe.” Tamas ka io “Mâpab Elob ǂhanu-aisib diba hâ?” ti du ge dîs ǀkha.
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?”
