Mawu a Yobu
1Pamenepo Yobu anayankha kuti,
2“Mvetserani bwino mawu anga;
ichi chikhale chitonthozo changa chochokera kwa inu.
3Ndiloleni ndiyankhule
ndipo ndikatha kuyankhula munditonzetonze.
4“Kodi ine ndikudandaulira munthu?
Tsono ndilekerenji kupsa mtima?
5Ndipenyeni ndipo mudabwe;
mugwire dzanja pakamwa.
6Ndikamaganiza zimenezi ndimachita mantha kwambiri;
thupi langa limanjenjemera.
7Chifukwa chiyani anthu oyipa amakhalabe ndi moyo,
amakalamba ndi kusanduka amphamvu?
8Amaona ana awo akukhazikika pamodzi nawo,
zidzukulu zawo zikukula bwino iwo akuona.
9Mabanja awo amakhala pa mtendere ndipo sakhala ndi mantha;
mkwapulo wa Mulungu suwakhudza nʼkomwe.
10Ngʼombe zawo zazimuna sizilephera kubereketsa;
ngʼombe zawo zazikazi sizipoloza.
11Amatulutsa ana awo ngati gulu la nkhosa;
makanda awo amavinavina pabwalo.
12Amayimba nyimbo pogwiritsa ntchito matambolini ndi azeze;
amakondwa pakumva kulira kwa chitoliro.
13Zaka zawo zimatha ali mu ulemerero
ndipo amatsikira ku manda mwamtendere.
14Koma anthuwo amawuza Mulungu kuti, ‘Tichokereni!’
Ife tilibe chikhumbokhumbo chofuna kudziwa njira zanu.
15Kodi Wamphamvuzonseyo ndani kuti timutumikire?
Ife tipindula chiyani tikamapemphera kwa Iyeyo?
16Komatu ulemerero wawo suli mʼmanja mwawo,
koma ine ndimakhala patali ndi uphungu wa anthu oyipa.
17“Koma nʼkangati kamene nyale ya anthu oyipa imazimitsidwa?
Nʼkangati kamene tsoka limawagwera?
Nʼkangati kamene Mulungu amawakwiyira ndi kuwalanga?
18Nʼkangati kamene iwo amakhala ngati phesi lowuluka ndi mphepo,
ngati mungu wowuluzika ndi kamvuluvulu?
19Paja amati, ‘Mulungu amalanga ana chifukwa cha machimo abambo awo.’
Koma Mulungu amabwezera chilango munthuyo, kuti adziwe kuti Mulungu amalangadi.
20Mulole kuti adzionere yekha chilango chake,
kuti alawe ukali wa Wamphamvuzonse.
21Nanga kodi amalabadira chiyani zabanja lake limene walisiya mʼmbuyo,
pamene chiwerengero cha masiku ake chatha?
22“Kodi alipo wina amene angaphunzitse Mulungu nzeru,
poti Iye amaweruza ngakhale anthu apamwamba?
23Munthu wina amamwalira ali ndi mphamvu zonse,
ali pa mtendere ndi pa mpumulo,
24thupi lake lili lonenepa,
mafupa ake ali odzaza ndi mafuta.
25Munthu wina amamwalira ali wowawidwa mtima,
wosalawapo chinthu chabwino chilichonse.
26Olemera ndi osauka omwe amamwalira ndi kuyikidwa mʼmanda
ndipo onse amatuluka mphutsi.
27“Ndikudziwa bwino zimene mukuganiza,
ziwembu zanu zomwe mukuti mundichitire.
28Inu mukuti, ‘Kodi nyumba ya mkulu uja ili kuti,
matenti amene munkakhala anthu oyipa aja ali kuti?’
29Kodi munawafunsapo anthu amene ali pa ulendo?
Kodi munaganizirapo zimene iwo amanena?
30Zakuti munthu woyipa amasungidwa chifukwa cha tsiku la tsoka,
kuti amapulumutsidwa chifukwa cha tsiku la ukali wa Mulungu?
31Kodi ndani amadzudzula munthu wochimwayo?
Ndani amamubwezera zoyipa zimene anachita?
32Iye amanyamulidwa kupita ku manda
ndipo anthu amachezera pa manda ake.
33Dothi la ku chigwa limamukomera;
anthu onse amatsatira mtembo wake,
ndipo anthu osawerengeka amakhala patsogolo pa chitanda chakecho.
34“Nanga inu mudzanditonthoza bwanji ine ndi mawu anu opandapakewo
palibe chimene chatsala kuti muyankhe koma mabodza basi!”
Job
1Then Job replied:
2“Listen carefully to my words;
let this be the consolation you give me.
3Bear with me while I speak,
and after I have spoken, mock on.
4“Is my complaint directed to a human being?
Why should I not be impatient?
5Look at me and be appalled;
clap your hand over your mouth.
6When I think about this, I am terrified;
trembling seizes my body.
7Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?
8They see their children established around them,
their offspring before their eyes.
9Their homes are safe and free from fear;
the rod of God is not on them.
10Their bulls never fail to breed;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11They send forth their children as a flock;
their little ones dance about.
12They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;
they make merry to the sound of the pipe.
13They spend their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.21:13 Or in an instant
14Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
We have no desire to know your ways.
15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain by praying to him?’
16But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
17“Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
How often does calamity come upon them,
the fate God allots in his anger?
18How often are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff swept away by a gale?
19It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’
Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!
20Let their own eyes see their destruction;
let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.
21For what do they care about the families they leave behind
when their allotted months come to an end?
22“Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
since he judges even the highest?
23One person dies in full vigor,
completely secure and at ease,
24well nourished in body,21:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
bones rich with marrow.
25Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having enjoyed anything good.
26Side by side they lie in the dust,
and worms cover them both.
27“I know full well what you are thinking,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,
the tents where the wicked lived?’
29Have you never questioned those who travel?
Have you paid no regard to their accounts—
30that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,
that they are delivered from21:30 Or wicked are reserved for the day of calamity, / that they are brought forth to the day of wrath?
31Who denounces their conduct to their face?
Who repays them for what they have done?
32They are carried to the grave,
and watch is kept over their tombs.
33The soil in the valley is sweet to them;
everyone follows after them,
and a countless throng goes21:33 Or them, / as a countless throng went before them.
34“So how can you console me with your nonsense?
Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”
