1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment? 2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones; 3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron. 4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
5 ¶ Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him. 6 Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. 7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
8 ¶ But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. 10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. 11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. 12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
Mika unokayikanya batungamili be Iziraela
1 Ngono ndakati,
“Ihwani woku imwi batungamili ba Jakubo,
imwi babusi be bathu be Iziraela.
Apa ate kulikwenyu kuziba kutambunuka kene?
2 Imwi munobenga tjakanaka ngono mukada tjakabipa,
imwi muno mwawula ganda le bathu bangu,
ne nyama muyimwawula mu mafupa abo,
3 imwi munoja nyama ye bathu bangu
muviya ganda labo mulisundula mubali,
muvunilila mafupa abo ebe zwitibhutibhu
mubatemelela semunoti i nyama inolongwa mu ikajana,
se nyama inolongwa mu hali.”
4 Ngono ipapo banowolilila Yahwe
koga abatowobadabila.
Banowobasumbikila buso gwabo mu tjibaka itjetjo
ngekwe bubi gwabakashinga.
5 Yahwe bakati ngekwe balebesambeli banotungamilila bathu bangu ntome, belebeleka
beti, “Kunyalala,”
bedwa wabapa tjinojiwa,
koga usabapa tjinojiwa
bebe belulwamisila kugwa naye.
6 Ndizo wali kowobe busiku kumuli gusina mbono,
zhalima lowobe mu muli lisina ndakidzo.
Zhuba lowomilila balebesambeli,
ngono masikati anowobatundubalila balebesambeli.
7 Baboni banowolengudzika,
bakandili banowobhakhwa nge shoni,
bose koga banowozwimba njiso dzabo
ngoti kusina dabilo kudwa ku Ndzimu.
8 Koga imi ndizhele simba,
nge Meya ya Yahwe
ne kutambunuka ne masimba
kubudza Jakubo bupanduki gugwe,
kubudza Iziraela tjibi tjitje.
9 “Ihwani woku imwi batungamili be nsha wa Jakubo,
imwi babusi be bathu be Iziraela
banoshima kutambunuka,
mube muleyanya kose kwakatambunuka,
10 imwi munobaka Ziyoni ngotebula malopa,
mubaka Jerusalema nge mbipo.
11 Babusi bayo banosumikilisila tjizwimba nlomo,
bapirisiti banodiyila themba,
ne balebesambeli bayo banokandila bebona mari.
Koga benayila Yahwe bebe beti,
‘Apa Yahwe abateli pakati kwedu kene?
Akuna mbatsha dzingatiwila.’
12 Ndizo wali nge kwenyu
Ziyoni inowolimiwa se nnda,
Jerusalema inowobe duluthulu le malala
duthu le ng'umba ye Ndzimu likabe datha lakamela ishakana.”