Shandukilani ku Ndzimu
1 Ihwani matama awa andinoleba nge kwenyu, Baiziraela, ndimulilila.
2 Wanyalala mwanadi Iziraela,
aangatjalebeleke kakale!
Ulele mu shango iye akalashiwa.
Akuna ungammusa.
3 Etji nditjo tjinolebgwa ndi She Yahwe beti, “Nzi wadusa babhayani bali tjiwulu (1 000) mu Iziraela, kunobhayana unowosaligwa nge bali zana (100) ling'ompela, wadusa bali zana unosaligwa nge bali gumi koga.”
4 Etji nditjo tjinolebgwa ndi Yahwe ku Baiziraela beti, “Izhani kundili mutjile. 5 Musiyende ku Bhetele, musingine mu Giligala, kene kuli ku Bheerisheba, ngoti Giligala unowotapiwa, Bhetele unowolobesiwa.” 6 Izhani kuna Yahwe mutjile, kusajalo banowozha bepisa pisa Iziraela se bhuba le moto, moto iwoyo unowopisabo Bhetele ngono akuna unowoudzima. 7 Imwi munoshandula lebeswa likababa, mukalashila ndulamo kutjena.
8 Ibo bakathama nyenyedzi dze Tjiyendan'gwi ne dze Ngulube,
banoshandula zhalima lakatizwititi likabe mangwanana,
bakashandula masikati bakaathama busiku.
Ibo banodana vula dze gungwa bakadzitebulila mu shango.
Yahwe ndilo zina labo,
9 ibo banolobesa bakasima,
bakakolomodza matizhilo akasima.
10 Imwi munobenga iye unotjemela pa lubazhe, mukashima banoleba malebeswa, 11 se mutshamba bashayi mukabatolela mathunde, kene makabaka ng'umba dze mamo nge mabgwe akabezhiwa, amutowogala mudzili. Kene mukalima minda ye mizhambi yakanaka, amutowong'wa nkumbi yayo. 12 Ngoti ndoziba kuti matjinyo enyu mangana ne kuti zwibi zwenyu zwingapani. Imwi munodziyidza balulwami, mukatengwa, mukalambila bashayi lebeswa lakabalingisana mu mabazhe. 13 Ipapo ntjenjedu unowonyalala mu tjibaka itjetjo, ngoti tjibaka tjakabipa.
14 Shingani ndulamo, musithame mbipo, ndizo mutjile. Ipapo Yahwe Ndzimu Masimbawose banowobe namwi sekwa munoleba. 15 Bengani mbipo, mude ndulamo, mulondolodze lebeswa mu mabazhe, pamwe Yahwe Ndzimu Masimbawose banowohwila ngoni malimbelimbe e Iziraela.
16 Ndizo She Ndzimu Masimbawose, Yahwe bakati, “Kowobe ne guwo mu zila dzose ne zwililo zwinogwadza mu mashanganilo. Balimi banowodanigwa kulila, ne nyambi dze balili mu njifu dzikadanigwa kukuwa guwo. 17 Kowobe ne guwo mu minda yose ye mizhambi ngoti ndowomuloba shamu.” Koleba Yahwe. 18 Yee mme wee! Mapalala imwi munoshuba zhuba la Yahwe! Molishubilani zhuba la Yahwe kene? Zhuba ilelo lowobe zhalima, alitowobe tjedza. 19 Kowonga nthu unotizha shumba, ebe eshangana ne nyati, kene se nthu wangina mu ng'umba ebe enayila guma nge luboko nyoka ibe in'luma. 20 Apa zhuba la Yahwe alitowobe zhalima lisina tjedza, lakati zwititi lisina njemu kene?
21 Ndobenga mizano yenyu ye kunamata, ndoyilingila pasi, andingamilane ne mishangano yenyu. 22 Kene mungandipa zwibhayilo zwinopisiwa, nenge zwe mathunde, andingazwiamutjile. Kene mungazhisa zwibhayilo zwe phuka dzenyu dzakakodziwa, zwe mbakiso andingazwiyele njele. 23 Nyaladzani zhoba ye njimbo dzenyu pandili, andingahwilile milidzo ye zwilidzo zwenyu. 24 Koga lebeswa ngaliwunge se vula, ndulamo iwunge se gwizi gusingapinde.
25 Apa makandipa zwibhayilo ne zwipo mu makole ali makumi manna, muli mu tjilambanyika kene, imwi Baiziraela? 26 Makasenga Sakuti mambo wenyu na Kaiwani ndzimwana wenyu we nyenyedzi, zwifano zwamakazwithamigwa. 27 Ndizo ndowothama kuti mutapigwe ndiyeno kwe Damasiko. Koleba Yahwe we zina linoyi Ndzimu Masimbawose.
A Call to Repentance
1 Listen, people of Israel, to this funeral song which I sing over you:
2 Virgin Israel has fallen,
Never to rise again!
She lies abandoned on the ground,
And no one helps her up.
3 The Sovereign Lord says, “A city in Israel sends out a thousand soldiers, but only a hundred return; another city sends out a hundred, but only ten come back.”
4 The Lord says to the people of Israel, “Come to me, and you will live. 5 Do not go to Beersheba to worship. Do not try to find me at Bethel—Bethel will come to nothing. Do not go to Gilgal—her people are doomed to exile.”
6 Go to the Lord, and you will live. If you do not go, he will sweep down like fire on the people of Israel. The fire will burn up the people of Bethel, and no one will be able to put it out. 7 You are doomed, you that twist justice and cheat people out of their rights!
8 The Lord made the stars,
the Pleiades and Orion.
He turns darkness into daylight
and day into night.
He calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out on the earth.
His name is the Lord.
9 He brings destruction on the mighty and their strongholds.
10 You people hate anyone who challenges injustice and speaks the whole truth in court. 11 You have oppressed the poor and robbed them of their grain. And so you will not live in the fine stone houses you build or drink wine from the beautiful vineyards you plant. 12 I know how terrible your sins are and how many crimes you have committed. You persecute good people, take bribes, and prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts. 13 And so, keeping quiet in such evil times is the smart thing to do!
14 Make it your aim to do what is right, not what is evil, so that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty really will be with you, as you claim he is. 15 Hate what is evil, love what is right, and see that justice prevails in the courts. Perhaps the Lord will be merciful to the people of this nation who are still left alive.
16 And so the Sovereign Lord Almighty says, “There will be wailing and cries of sorrow in the city streets. Even farmers will be called to mourn the dead along with those who are paid to mourn. 17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards. All this will take place because I am coming to punish you.” The Lord has spoken.
18 How terrible it will be for you who long for the day of the Lord! What good will that day do you? For you it will be a day of darkness and not of light. 19 It will be like someone who runs from a lion and meets a bear! Or like someone who comes home and puts his hand on the wall—only to be bitten by a snake! 20 The day of the Lord will bring darkness and not light; it will be a day of gloom, without any brightness.
21 The Lord says, “I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.
25 “People of Israel, I did not demand sacrifices and offerings during those forty years that I led you through the desert. 26 But now, because you have worshiped images of Sakkuth, your king god, and of Kaiwan, your star god, you will have to carry those images 27 when I take you into exile in a land beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is Almighty God.