The Lord Blesses Those Who Turn Away From Sin
1Israel, return to the Lord your God.
Your sins have destroyed you!
2Tell the Lord you are turning away from your sins.
Return to him.
Say to him,
“Forgive us for all our sins.
Please be kind to us.
Welcome us back to you.
Then our lips will offer you our praise.
3Assyria can’t save us.
We won’t trust in our war horses.
Our own hands have made statues of gods.
But we will never call them our gods again.
We are like children whose fathers have died.
But you show us your tender love.”
4Then the Lord will answer,
“My people always wander away from me.
But I will put an end to that.
My anger has turned away from them.
Now I will love them freely.
5I will be like the dew to Israel.
They will bloom like a lily.
They will send their roots down deep
like a cedar tree in Lebanon.
6They will spread out like new branches.
They will be as beautiful as an olive tree.
They will smell as sweet as the cedar trees in Lebanon.
7Once again my people will live
in the safety of my shade.
They will grow like grain.
They will bloom like vines.
And Israel will be as famous
as wine from Lebanon.
8Ephraim will have nothing more to do with other gods.
I will answer the prayers of my people.
I will take good care of them.
I will be like a healthy juniper tree to them.
All the fruit they bear will come from me.”
9If someone is wise, they will realize
that what I’ve said is true.
If they have understanding,
they will know what it means.
The ways of the Lord are right.
People who are right with God live the way he wants them to.
But those who refuse to obey him trip and fall.
Kulapa Kubweretsa Madalitso
1Iwe Israeli bwerera kwa Yehova Mulungu wako.
Machimo anu ndi amene akugwetsani!
2Bweretsani zopempha zanu
ndipo bwererani kwa Yehova.
Munene kwa Iye kuti,
“Tikhululukireni machimo athu onse
ndi kutilandira mokoma mtima,
kuti tithe kukuyamikani ndi mawu a pakamwa pathu.
3Asiriya sangatipulumutse;
ife sitidzakwera pa akavalo ankhondo,
sitidzanenanso kuti, ‘Milungu yathu’
kwa zimene manja athu omwe anazipanga,
pakuti ndinu amene mumachitira chifundo ana amasiye.”
4Ine ndidzachiza kusakhulupirika kwawo
ndipo ndidzawakonda mwaufulu
pakuti ndaleka kuwakwiyira.
5Ndidzakhala ngati mame kwa Israeli
Ndipo iye adzachita maluwa ngati kakombo.
Adzazika mizu yake pansi
ngati mkungudza wa ku Lebanoni;
6mphukira zake zidzakula.
Kukongola kwake kudzakhala ngati mtengo wa olivi,
kununkhira kwake ngati mkungudza wa ku Lebanoni.
7Anthu adzakhalanso mu mthunzi wake.
Iye adzakula bwino ngati tirigu.
Adzachita maluwa ngati mphesa
ndipo kutchuka kwake kudzakhala ngati vinyo wochokera ku Lebanoni.
8Efereimu adzati, “Ndidzachita nawonso chiyani mafano?
Ine ndidzamuyankha ndi kumusamalira.
Ine ndili ngati mtengo wa payini wobiriwira;
zipatso zako zimachokera kwa Ine.”
9Ndani ali ndi nzeru? Adzazindikire zinthu izi.
Ndani amene amamvetsa zinthu? Adzamvetse izi.
Njira za Yehova ndi zolungama;
anthu olungama amayenda mʼmenemo,
koma anthu owukira amapunthwamo.
