God Will Punish Babylon
1 This is a message about Babylon, which Isaiah son of Amoz received from God.
2 On the top of a barren hill raise the battle flag! Shout to the soldiers and raise your arm as the signal for them to attack the gates of the proud city. 3 The Lord has called out his proud and confident soldiers to fight a holy war and punish those he is angry with.
4 Listen to the noise on the mountains—the sound of a great crowd of people, the sound of nations and kingdoms gathering. The Lord of Armies is preparing his troops for battle. 5 They are coming from far-off countries at the ends of the earth. In his anger the Lord is coming to devastate the whole country.
6 Howl in pain! The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. 7 Everyone's hands will hang limp, and everyone's courage will fail. 8 They will all be terrified and overcome with pain, like the pain of a woman in labor. They will look at each other in fear, and their faces will burn with shame. 9 The day of the Lord is coming—that cruel day of his fierce anger and fury. The earth will be made a wilderness, and every sinner will be destroyed. 10 Every star and every constellation will stop shining, the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will give no light.
11 The Lord says, “I will bring disaster on the earth and punish all wicked people for their sins. I will humble everyone who is proud and punish everyone who is arrogant and cruel. 12 Those who survive will be scarcer than gold. 13 I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place on that day when I, the Lord Almighty, show my anger.
14 “The foreigners living in Babylon will run away to their homelands, scattering like deer escaping from hunters, like sheep without a shepherd. 15 Anyone who is caught will be stabbed to death. 16 While they look on helplessly, their babies will be battered to death, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be raped.”
17 The Lord says, “I am stirring up the Medes to attack Babylon. They care nothing for silver and are not tempted by gold. 18 With their bows and arrows they will kill the young men. They will show no mercy to babies and take no pity on children. 19 Babylonia is the most beautiful kingdom of all; it is the pride of its people. But I, the Lord, will overthrow Babylon as I did Sodom and Gomorrah! 20 No one will ever live there again. No wandering Arab will ever pitch a tent there, and no shepherd will ever pasture a flock there. 21 It will be a place where desert animals live and where owls build their nests. Ostriches will live there, and wild goats will prance through the ruins. 22 The towers and palaces will echo with the cries of hyenas and jackals. Babylon's time has come! Her days are almost over.”
Ndzimu banowoloba Bhabhiloni
1 Mbono yakabongwa ndi Isaya nkololo wa Amozi ngekwe Bhabhiloni.
2 Milidza tjilakidzo pezhugwi kwe dombo lakaambuka,
ubamimilile kwazo;
ubawebe nge tjiazha kuti bangine
nge mikoba ye banokudziwa.
3 Imi nge kwangu ndadwa bakayengemala bangu,
ndadana babhayani bangu bakasima kuti bashingikadze kugwadzamoyo kwangu,
banozwikudza nge kwangu.
4 Teedza, zhoba pezhugwi kwe matombo,
inonga zhoba ye mbunga usinshoma!
Teedza phipiti ye mibuso,
inonga ye njudzi dzikubungana!
Yahwe Masimbawose banolulwamisila babhayani ngwa.
5 Banozha bedwa ku shango ikule,
banodwa ku phelelo dze kudzimu,
Yahwe ne zwibhayano zwe kugwadzamoyo kwabo,
kukolomodza shango yose.
6 Bokolelani ngoti zhuba la Yahwe labe pejo,
lozha se golomodzo linodwa kuna Masimbawose.
7 Ndizo wali maboko wose anowoteduka,
nthu mmwe ne mmwe unowotemeka mafupa,
8 ngono banowonyala moyo.
Zogwadza ne shungu zowobawila,
banowomanukigwa se nkadzi umu thumbgwa.
Banowolingana bakakaabala,
njiso dzabo dzitukutila ngotja.
9 Bonani zhuba la Yahwe lozha,
nge bushongola ne kugwadzamoyo kunotjisa,
kuthukudza shango
ne kulobesa batjinyi muili.
10 Ngoti nyenyedzi dze zhuzhugwi ne majinjitshi adzo
adzitowopenyesa tjedza tjadzo,
zhuba lowotizwititi pakubhuda kwalo
ne mwedzi awutowopenyesa tjedza tjawo.
11 Ndowolobela shango bubi gwayo,
ne babiibi zwibi zwabo.
Ndowopedzisa kuzwida kwe banozwikudza,
ndowoyisa pasi kuzwimilidza kwe basina ngoni.
12 Ndowothama kuti bathu basiwanike se golide mbuya,
ludzi gwe nthu gowosheteka kupinda kusheteka kwe golide ye Ofira.
13 Ndizo ndowothama kuti kudzimu kuteteme,
ne shango itsheduke mu magalo ayo
nge bushongola gwa Yahwe Masimbawose
mu zhuba le kugwadzamoyo kwabo kukulu.
14 Kufanana ne phala inovimiwa
kene pkhwizi dzisina ungadzikubunganya,
mmwe ne mmwe unowobgwilila kuna bakanyi kwabo,
ngono mmwe ne mmwe unowotizhila ku shango ya kanyi kwabo.
15 Iye unowowang'wa unowobhayiwa,
iye wabhakhwa unobulawa nge thumo.
16 Bana babo banowopkhwanyigwa
mu mesho abo,
ng'umba dzabo dzowotapigwa
ne bakadzi babo bakadzugwa.
17 Bonani, ndodzonga Mediya kugwa nabo,
bathu basina hanya ne siliva
basingashathile golide.
18 Matati abo anowobulaya bazhuzha,
abatowobe ne ngoni mu ntjelo we tjibumbilo,
abatowohwila zogwadza bana.
19 Ngono Bhabhiloni, gudzo le mibuso,
bubuya ne kuzwikudza kwe Bakhaladiya
kowofanana ne Sodoma ne Gomora
tjibaka Ndzimu tjawakabalobesa.
20 Autowofa wagagwa
kene kuli kubakwa muuli kuyenda nge zwizekugwana zose,
akuna N'arabu unowobaka nshasha uwe ikoko,
akuna nlisi unganyalulusa pkhwizi dzidzeko.
21 Koga phuka dze shango dzowolala ikoko,
ne ng'umba dzawo dzowozhala phungubgwe,
ne mafukumudzi anowogala ikoko,
ne meya mibi ye midzimu ye mbudzi dze shango inowozana ikoko.
22 Phele dzowolila mu matizhilo awo,
phungubgwe dzowolila mu ng'umba dzawo dze bushe.
Tjibaka tjawo tjabe pejo,
mazhuba awo aatjowodwilidziwa.