The Lord Promises Deliverance
1 Ask the Lord for rain in the spring of the year. It is the Lord who sends rain clouds and showers, making the fields green for everyone. 2 People consult idols and fortunetellers, but the answers they get are lies and nonsense. Some interpret dreams, but only mislead you; the comfort they give is useless. So the people wander about like lost sheep. They are in trouble because they have no leader.
3 The Lord says, “I am angry with those foreigners who rule my people, and I am going to punish them. The people of Judah are mine, and I, the Lord Almighty, will take care of them. They will be my powerful war-horses. 4 From among them will come rulers, leaders, and commanders to govern my people. 5 The people of Judah will be victorious like soldiers who trample their enemies in the mud of the streets. They will fight because the Lord is with them, and they will defeat even the enemy cavalry.
6 “I will make the people of Judah strong;
I will rescue the people of Israel.
I will have compassion on them
and bring them all back home.
They will be as though I had never rejected them.
I am the Lord their God; I will answer their prayers.
7 The people of Israel will be strong like soldiers,
happy like those who have been drinking wine.
Their descendants will remember this victory
and be glad because of what the Lord has done.
8 “I will call my people
and gather them together.
I will rescue them
and make them as numerous as they used to be.
9 Though I have scattered them among the nations,
yet in far-off places they will remember me.
They and their children will survive
and return home together.
10 From Egypt and Assyria I will bring them home
and settle them in their own country.
I will settle them in Gilead and Lebanon also;
the whole land will be filled with people.
11 When they pass through their sea of trouble,
I, the Lord, will strike the waves,
and the depths of the Nile will go dry.
Proud Assyria will be humbled,
and mighty Egypt will lose her power.
12 I will make my people strong;
they will worship and obey me.”
The Lord has spoken.
Iziraela unogadziwabgwe
1 Kumbilani vula muna Yahwe
mu tjibaka tje vula ye ntovudzo,
ndibo Yahwe banothama lupenyo gwe vula,
ndibo banonisila bathu vula,
bakapa mmwe ne mmwe fulo mu shango.
2 Ngoti midzimu inoleba zwisina wakabona koga,
bakandili banoleba manyepkhwa koga,
banoleba hwope dzisidza tjimwe,
nyaladzo yabo i phepo koga.
Ndizo bathu bedzimila se pkhwizi,
betshambilidziwa ngoti besheta nlisi.
3 Bushongola gwangu gumu balisi,
kakale ndowoloba shamu batungamili,
ngoti Yahwe Masimbawose banowotjengeta pkhwizi dzabo,
iyo ng'umba ye Juda,
unowobathama bakanga mbizi inobilima mu ngwa.
4 Mu Juda kowobhuda bgwe linotambunudza
munli kowobhuda lubambo gwe nshasha,
munli kowobhuda nsebe we ngwa,
munli kowobhuda mbusi mmwe ne mmwe.
5 Bose banowonga balume be babhayani
betshamba bakasima bali mu zijana dze ngwa
ngoti Yahwe banabo,
banowogwa bakakunda bataswi be mbizi dze ngwa.
6 Ndowosimisa ng'umba ya Juda,
kakale ndowotjidza ng'umba ya Josefa.
Ndowobabgwiliza kanyi
ngobe ndina ngoni mu bali.
Banowonga ungati andizotongobasiya
ngobe ndimi Yahwe Ndzimu wabo
kakale ndowobadabila.
7 Baifureimi banowonga balume be ngwa,
ngono mu mimoyo yabo banowoshatha se bakalaladza,
Bana babo banowobona ngono banowobe ne kushatha,
banowoshatha muna Yahwe.
8 Ndowodana bathu bangu,
ngono abakubunganya,
ngono ndowobadzutunula,
abawatsha sekwa bakabe bali iko kutanga.
9 Nenguba ndakabe ndabapaladzila kuna be zwitjaba,
nekwakajalo ku magalo akulekule banowondikumbula.
Ibo ne bana babo banowotjila,
ngono banowobgwilila kanyi.
10 Ndowobadusa mu Egipiti
abakubunganya kudwa mu Asiriya.
Ndowobazhisa ku Giliyadi ne Lebanoni
ngono akutowobe ne magalo anobakwana.
11 Banowotjuluka gungwa gwe mang'oni,
ngono mapundu e gungwa anowotebamisiwa
ne makangina kwazo kwe gwizi gwe Naili kowopkhwa.
Kuzwikudza kwe Asiriya kowopela,
ne simba le Egipiti lowopela.
12 Ndowosimisa bathu bangu muna Yahwe,
ngono nge zina labo banobatobela, koleba Yahwe.