1 “Ini Masimbawose basingabige zwibaka zwe kusumikilisa kene,
ini ibabo banobaziba basingatongobona zhuba le ndulamo kene?
2 Bathu banofulusa migathu,
bakatapa zwithuwo ngono bakazwifudza.
3 Banotapa madonki e siyang'wa
bakatola ngabe ye tjilikadzi bakaibigilidza.
4 Banopinganyidza bashayi mu zila
basheti be shango bose banobgwata.
5 Bonani banonga madonki e shango ali mu tjilambanyika,
banoyenda yenda beshinga, beshaka tjingajiwa,
mu shango beshakila bana zojiwa.
6 Banovuna mu minda dzisi dzabo
banotjela mu minda dze zhambi dze babiibi.
7 Banoizela basakasungila abana zwiambalo,
abana naiyo ngubo yabangafuka akupota.
8 Banonigwa nge vula dze matombo,
ngono bakatizhila hwunde ye shongwe kusina pabangatizhila.
9 Banodzamula siyang'wa dzitjamwa muna bomayi,
bakatola shabana dze bashayi kulipa zwikoloto.
10 Banoyenda yenda basina zwiambalo
bana zhala, besenga zwiyako zwe mathunde.
11 Banokuna mafuta mu mitjelo ye mitoba ne nkumbi mu zhambi,
koga ibo be bulawa nge nyota.
12 Kugomela kwe banofa kohwika mu nzi nkulu
ne be mimoyo yakafubala banolila bekumbila bhatsho
koga nenguba kwakajalo Ndzimu autobateedza.
13 “Bathu ibaba ndibo banofupatila tjedza,
abatozibisisa zila dzatjo kene kuli kutjitobela.
14 Mabamba kuyedza mbulayi unomilika,
kanobulaya ndziyili ne nsheti,
mu busiku kabhuda se mbava.
15 Zhisho le phombgwe lomilila kuti kubhate,
ibe izwidwa iti, ‘Akuna unondibona,’
ngono ikazwifukidza buso nge jila.
16 Mulima mbava dzopkhwanya ng'umba
akuyedza dzozwizhalilila mu ng'umba,
adzitoshaka tjedza pa dzili.
17 Zhalima lakati zwii mangwanana ku bali bose,
ngobe bazwalani be zwinotjisa zwe zhalima.
18 “Unoti, ‘Mbimbi unosengwa nge nkubila,
gobe le shango iye lakalongwa bhiso,
kuti ndizo kushaye unoyenda ku minda dzabo dze mizhambi.
19 Zhuba ne pisa konyawusa kapuku
ndizo bugalo gwe bafi gothamila ibabo bakatjinya saikoku.
20 Mme be ntjinyi ngaban'kangang'we,
ngaazipile hwonyana,
babi basitongotjakumbugwa ndodwa.
Bubi gowokolomogwa se nti watemiwa!’
21 “Banovima balumbila,
bakasilakidze lubu ku tjilikadzi.
22 Koga Ndzimu unowatsha butjilo gwe bakasima nge simba lawo,
banomilika bakasima ha bapelegwa mu butjilo.
23 Unobapa mbakililiko bakakulumbidziwa,
wakabiga zhisho zila dzabo nge njele.
24 Banokudziwa kwe tjibaka tjitukununu, kudwapo abatjipo,
koga banowoyisiwa pasi bakanga mmwe ne mmwe,
bakabuna se zwiyako zwe mathunde.
25 Akuzojalo kene? Ndiani unganyanyaidza kene?
Kalakidza ha matama angu asitjimwe kene?”
1 Why doesn't God set a time for judging,
a day of justice for those who serve him?
2 People move property lines to get more land;
they steal sheep and put them with their own flocks.
3 They take donkeys that belong to orphans,
and keep a widow's ox till she pays her debts.
4 They prevent the poor from getting their rights
and force the needy to run and hide.
5 So the poor, like wild donkeys,
search for food in the dry wilderness;
nowhere else can they find food for their children.
6 They have to harvest fields they don't own,
and gather grapes in vineyards of the wicked.
7 At night they sleep with nothing to cover them,
nothing to keep them from the cold.
8 They are drenched by the rain that falls on the mountains,
and they huddle beside the rocks for shelter.
9 Evil people make slaves of fatherless infants
and take the children of the poor in payment for debts.
10 But the poor must go out with no clothes to protect them;
they must go hungry while harvesting wheat.
11 They press olives for oil, and grapes for wine,
but they themselves are thirsty.
12 In the cities the wounded and dying cry out,
but God ignores their prayers.
13 There are those who reject the light;
they don't understand it or go where it leads.
14 At dawn the murderer gets up
and goes out to kill the poor,
and at night he steals.
15 The adulterer waits for twilight to come;
he covers his face so that no one can see him.
16 At night thieves break into houses,
but by day they hide and avoid the light.
17 They fear the light of day,
but darkness holds no terror for them.
[Zophar]
18 The wicked are swept away by floods,
and the land they own is under God's curse;
they no longer go to work in their vineyards.
19 As snow vanishes in heat and drought,
so sinners vanish from the land of the living.
20 Not even their mothers remember them now;
they are eaten by worms and destroyed like fallen trees.
21 That happens because they mistreated widows
and showed no kindness to childless women.
22 God, in his strength, destroys the mighty;
God acts—and the wicked die.
23 God may let them live secure,
but keeps an eye on them all the time.
24 For a while the wicked prosper,
but then they wither like weeds,
like stalks of grain that have been cut down.
25 Can anyone deny that this is so?
Can anyone prove that my words are not true?