Israel ta kumaidwa e lidilulule
1 “Okwa tiwa, omulumenhu ngeenge ta henge po omukainhu waye, ndele ta di po puye, ndele omukainhu ta hombolwa komulumenhu umwe, omulumenhu ota dulu tuu okushuna vali kuye? Oshilongo itashi nyatekwa mbela koshinima shi fike apa? Ndele oove, nande wa haelwa kookaume voye vahapu, alukila kwaame, Omwene osho ta ti! 2 Lyaamena koikulundudu ove u tale. Openi ino nangalelwa ko? Owe va kalela omutumba peendjila ngaashi Omuarabi mombuwa, noshilongo osha nyatekwa koipala nokoulunde woye. 3 Nodula oya kelelwa ko, nodula yokulombo inai uya, ndele ove owa li u nomesho ombwada, ove ino hala okufya ohoni. 4 Ndele nande ngaha, ove oto ifana nge paife ndele to ti: ‘Tate! Oove kaume kounyasha wange! 5 Alushe tuu ye ota ka kala nokuhandukila nge? Ta diinine ehandu laye fiyo fiyo?’ Tala, osho wa popya, ndele ho kala nokulonga owii, heeno, wa nyonauna shili.” 6 Ndele Omwene okwa lombwela nge pomafiku ohamba Josia: “Ove ou wete ko tuu, omuliteeki Israel nhumbi a ninga? Okwa londa keemhunda adishe dile nokwa ya koshi yomiti adishe ditalala nokwa nangalwa naye kwinya. 7 Ndele oinima ei aishe eshi e i ninga, Ame onda tya: ‘Aluka u uye kwaame!’ Ndelenee ye ina aluka. Nomumwaina Juda, ou e liteeka nge okwa mona okunyona kwaye. 8 Nonda koneka, nande nda henga Israel omolwoluhaelo laye noku mu pa ombapila yehengo, omumwaina Juda, ou e liteeka nge, ina tila, ndelenee okwa ya ndele ta haelwa ngaashi winya. 9 Noshilongo okwe shi nyatekifa kokuhaelwa kwaye itaku kwafa sha, a haelwa nokemanya nokoshiti. 10 Ndele nande opa li ngaha, omumwaina Juda, ou e liteeka nge, ina aluka e uye kwaame nomutima waye aushe, ndelenee okwa li e noipupulu yaye. Omwene osho ta ti.”
Omwene okwa hala okuxupifa Israel
11 Opo nee Omwene okwa lombwela nge: “Omwenyo womuliteeki Israel ou nouyuki u dule wanakuliteeka nge Juda. 12 Eendjovo edi inda u ke di ingidile lwokoumbangalanhu ove u tye:
‘Aluka! Akutu oove nakuliteeka nge, Israel, Omwene ta ti;
Ame itandi ke mu didivala vali,
osheshi Aame omunanghenda, Omwene osho ta ti;
Ame itandi ka kala nda handuka fiyo alushe.
13 Shimwe ashike, kala wa koneka oulunde woye
nokutya, ove owe liteeka Omwene Kalunga koye,
ndele wa lotokela kombinga nombinga kovanailongo,
koshi yomiti adishe ditalala,
ndelenee ino pwilikina ondaka yange, Omwene osho ta ti.
14 “ ‘Alukeni! Akutu nye, ovana oonakuliteeka nge, Omwene osho ta ti, osheshi Ame nde mu tambula. Ndele Ame ohandi mu ile umwe moshilando shimwe noovavali mepata limwe, nohandi ke mu twala kuSion. 15 Ndele Ame ohandi mu pe ovafita, ngaashi omutima wange wa hala, vo ve ke mu life neendunge nounongo. 16 Ndele otapa ningwa, nge mwa hapupala notamu kala mu noludalo moshilongo opomafiku enya, Omwene ta ti, opo nee itapa tiwa vali: “Oshikefa shehangano lOmwene.” Nokape na ou te shi diladila vali momutima waye, nongaashi itamu shi dimbulukwa vali noitamu shi pula vali noitashi hongululwa vali. 17 Mefimbo linya Jerusalem otashi lukwa olukalwapangelo lOmwene. Noiwana aishe otai ka ongala kusho omolwedina lOmwene. Ndele vo itava ka kala vali nokushikula oukukutu womitima davo dii. 18 Pomafiku enya eumbo laJuda otali ende neumbo laIsrael, taa di pamwe kedu lokoumbangalanhu, tae uya kedu nde li pa ooxekulu yavo efyuululo.
19 “ ‘Ame onda li nda diladila: “Akutu, onda hala oku ku nangeka mokati koludalo lange, ndi ku pe edu liwa linyenye li ninge efyuululo la wapala, li dule oilongo aishe mokati koiwana aishe.” Ndele onda diladila yo: “Oto kala nokwiifana nge: Tate! Ndele ito ka efa okushikula nge.” 20 Ndelenee ngaashi omukainhu ohombo te liteeka komulumenhu waye, akutu, osho nanye Ovaisraeli mwa ninga moipupulu yeni, Omwene ta ti.’ ”
21 Okoikulundudu yomamanya onakuhadiinina okwa udika ekweno neilikano lovana vaIsrael, osheshi ova puka mondjila yavo ndele va dimbwa Omwene Kalunga kavo: 22 “Alukeni, akutu nye ounona oonakuliteeka nge, Ame ohandi velula okuliteeka kweni.”
Ndele nye tamu ti: “Tala, ohatu uya kwoove, osheshi Oove Omwene Kalunga ketu. 23 Oshili, elilaano lokeemhunda la udika, olo oipupulu. Oshili, mOmwene, Kalunga ketu omu nexupifo laIsrael. 24 Ndelenee oshikalunga shohoni osha lya po eliko lootatekulu nghee twa dja mounyasha wetu, eedi neehove davo, ovamati noukadona. 25 Natu nangaleni mohoni yetu, nodino yetu nai tu tuvikile. Osheshi otwa nyona kOmwene Kalunga ketu, fye nootatekulu, nghee twa dja mounyasha wetu fiyo onena eli, nongaashi inatu dulika kondaka yOmwene Kalunga ketu.”
Unfaithful Israel
1 The Lord says, “If a man divorces his wife, and she leaves him and becomes another man's wife, he cannot take her back again. This would completely defile the land. But, Israel, you have had many lovers, and now you want to return to me! 2 Look up at the hilltops. Is there any place where you have not acted like a prostitute? You waited for lovers along the roadside, as an Arab waits for victims in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution. 3 That is why the rains were held back, and the spring showers did not come. You even look like a prostitute; you have no shame.
4 “And now you say to me, ‘You are my father, and you have loved me ever since I was a child. 5 You won't always be angry; you won't be mad at me forever.’ Israel, that is what you said, but you did all the evil you could.”
Israel and Judah Must Repent
6 When Josiah was king, the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what Israel, that unfaithful woman, has done? She has turned away from me, and on every high hill and under every green tree she has acted like a prostitute. 7 I thought that after she had done all this, she would surely return to me. But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it all. 8 Judah also saw that I divorced Israel and sent her away because she had turned from me and had become a prostitute. But Judah, Israel's unfaithful sister, was not afraid. She too became a prostitute 9 and was not at all ashamed. She defiled the land, and she committed adultery by worshiping stones and trees. 10 And after all this, Judah, Israel's unfaithful sister, only pretended to return to me; she was not sincere. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
11 Then the Lord told me that, even though Israel had turned away from him, she had proved to be better than unfaithful Judah. 12 He told me to go and say to Israel, “Unfaithful Israel, come back to me. I am merciful and will not be angry; I will not be angry with you forever. 13 Only admit that you are guilty and that you have rebelled against the Lord, your God. Confess that under every green tree you have given your love to foreign gods and that you have not obeyed my commands. I, the Lord, have spoken.
14 “Unfaithful people, come back; you belong to me. I will take one of you from each town and two from each clan, and I will bring you back to Mount Zion. 15 I will give you rulers who obey me, and they will rule you with wisdom and understanding. 16 Then when you have become numerous in that land, people will no longer talk about my Covenant Box. They will no longer think about it or remember it; they will not even need it, nor will they make another one. 17 When that time comes, Jerusalem will be called ‘The Throne of the Lord,’ and all nations will gather there to worship me. They will no longer do what their stubborn and evil hearts tell them. 18 Israel will join with Judah, and together they will come from exile in the country in the north and will return to the land that I gave your ancestors as a permanent possession.”
The Idolatry of God's People
19 The Lord says,
“Israel, I wanted to accept you as my child
and give you a delightful land,
the most beautiful land in all the world.
I wanted you to call me father
and never again turn away from me.
20 But like an unfaithful wife,
you have not been faithful to me.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
21 A noise is heard on the hilltops:
it is the people of Israel crying and pleading
because they have lived sinful lives
and have forgotten the Lord their God.
22 Return, all of you who have turned away from the Lord;
he will heal you and make you faithful.
You say, “Yes, we are coming to the Lord because he is our God. 23 We were not helped at all by our pagan worship on the hilltops. Help for Israel comes only from the Lord our God. 24 But the worship of Baal, the god of shame, has made us lose flocks and herds, sons and daughters—everything that our ancestors have worked for since ancient times. 25 We should lie down in shame and let our disgrace cover us. We and our ancestors have always sinned against the Lord our God; we have never obeyed his commands.”
