1 Omuwa Omunankondoawike ota yamukula: “Otandi ka tuma omutumwa gwandje okulongekidhila ndje ondjila. Nena Omuwa ngoka tamu mu kongo, ote ke ya ohaluka kotempeli ye. Omutumwa ngoka mwa yuulukwa, ote ke ya nota popi ehangano lyandje.”
2 Ihe olye ta vulu okwiidhidhimikila esiku ndyoka te ya? Olye ta vulu okukala ko, uuna ta holoka? Ota ka kala a fa othewa yekoha, a fa omulilo tagu hemuna uutale. 3 Ote ke ya okupangula a fa omuhemuni ta yelitha oshisiliveli noshingoli. Osho omutumwa gwOmuwa ta ka yogola aayambi, opo ye etele Omuwa omayambo gu uka. 4 Nena omayambo ngoka oshigwana shaJuda naJerusalem taa etele Omuwa, otage mu opalele, ngaashi ga li pomathimbo gonale.
5 Omuwa Omunankondoawike ota ti: “Otii ka holoka mokati keni okupangula. Otii ka tompa mbala mboka haa anekele, haa hondele, haa gandja uumbangi wiifundja, haa kotokelele aaniilonga oondjambi dhawo naamboka haa nyokoma aaselekadhi, oothigwa naakwiilongo — nokuthikamena ayehe mboka ihaa simaneke ndje.”
Okugandja iitimulongo
6 “Ongame Omuwa, itandi lunduluka. Nane, oluvalo lwaJakob, otamu kala ko natango. 7 Ne omwa fa oohokulu ye mu tetekela, omwa pilamene iipango yandje noinamu yi dhiginina. Galukileni kungame, nangame tandi galukile kune. Ihe ne otamu pula: ‘Otatu galukile ko ngiini kungoye?’ 8 Otandi mu pula: ‘Omuntu ota vulu tuu okukotokela Kalunga? Aawe, ndishi, ihe osho hamu ningi.’ Otamu pula: ‘Otatu ku kotokele ngiini?’ Okombinga yiitimulongo nomayambo. 9 Ne amuhe aathingwa, oshoka oshigwana ashihe ohashi kotokele ndje. 10 Eteni iitimulongo ya gwana po kotempeli, opo mongulu yandje mu kale iikulya ya gwana. Yelekii ndje, notamu ka mona, sho tandi egulula oombende dhokegulu, ndi mu lokithile eloolo lyomaliko guuyamba owindji. 11 Itandi ka eta okapuka, ka lye po ompagona yeni, nomahila gomiviinu dheni otaga ka kanyata omandjembele. 12 Nena iigwana yilwe otayi ke ku ithana omunelago, oshoka evi lyeni otali ka kala ehala lyo opala okukala.”
Omauvaneko gaKalunga gesilohenda
13 Omuwa ota ti: “Omwa popi ndje nayi, ihe otamu pula: ‘Otwa ti ngiini?’ 14 Omwa ti: ‘Okulongela Kalunga itaku kwatha sha. Otashi kwatha shike okuvulika kuye nenge okuulukila Omuwa Omunankondoawike kutya otwa sa oluhodhi molwiilonga yetu? 15 Ngaashi tu wete, aanuuntsa oyo aanelago. Aakolokoshi ohaa likola nohaa makele Kalunga mokwiidhidhimikila kwe iilonga yawo iiwinayi yo itaa geelwa.’ ”
16 Nena oonakutila Omuwa oya kundathana, nOmuwa okwe ya pulakene nokuuva ko shoka ya ti. Membo omwa nyolwa montaneho ye iilonga yaamboka haa tila Omuwa nohaye mu simaneke. 17 Omuwa Omunankondoawike ota ti: “Otaa ka kala aantu yandje. Mesiku ndyoka, sho tii ka ninga sha, otaa ka kala yandje mwene. Otandi ke ya sila ohenda, ngashika ohe ta sile omwana ohenda ngoka he mu longele. 18 Aantu yandje otaa ka koneka ishewe eyooloko pokati komuyuuki nomukolokoshi, pokati komuntu ngoka ta longele ndje naangoka itee shi ningi.”
1 The Lord Almighty answers, “I will send my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger you long to see will come and proclaim my covenant.”
2 But who will be able to endure the day when he comes? Who will be able to survive when he appears? He will be like strong soap, like a fire that refines metal. 3 He will come to judge like one who refines and purifies silver. As a metalworker refines silver and gold, so the Lord's messenger will purify the priests, so that they will bring to the Lord the right kind of offerings. 4 Then the offerings which the people of Judah and Jerusalem bring to the Lord will be pleasing to him, as they used to be in the past.
5 The Lord Almighty says, “I will appear among you to judge, and I will testify at once against those who practice magic, against adulterers, against those who give false testimony, those who cheat employees out of their wages, and those who take advantage of widows, orphans, and foreigners—against all who do not respect me.
The Payment of Tithes
6 “I am the Lord, and I do not change. And so you, the descendants of Jacob, are not yet completely lost. 7 You, like your ancestors before you, have turned away from my laws and have not kept them. Turn back to me, and I will turn to you. But you ask, ‘What must we do to turn back to you?’ 8 I ask you, is it right for a person to cheat God? Of course not, yet you are cheating me. ‘How?’ you ask. In the matter of tithes and offerings. 9 A curse is on all of you because the whole nation is cheating me. 10 Bring the full amount of your tithes to the Temple, so that there will be plenty of food there. Put me to the test and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven and pour out on you in abundance all kinds of good things. 11 I will not let insects destroy your crops, and your grapevines will be loaded with grapes. 12 Then the people of all nations will call you happy, because your land will be a good place to live.
God's Promise of Mercy
13 “You have said terrible things about me,” says the Lord. “But you ask, ‘What have we said about you?’ 14 You have said, ‘It's useless to serve God. What's the use of doing what he says or of trying to show the Lord Almighty that we are sorry for what we have done? 15 As we see it, proud people are the ones who are happy. Evil people not only prosper, but they test God's patience with their evil deeds and get away with it.’”
16 Then the people who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard what they said. In his presence, there was written down in a book a record of those who feared the Lord and respected him. 17 “They will be my people,” says the Lord Almighty. “On the day when I act, they will be my very own. I will be merciful to them as parents are merciful to the children who serve them. 18 Once again my people will see the difference between what happens to the righteous and to the wicked, to the person who serves me and the one who does not.”
