The Lord Sets His People Free
1People of Israel, the Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you.
His ears aren’t too deaf to hear your cry for help.
2But your sins have separated you from your God.
They have caused him to turn his face away from you.
So he won’t listen to you.
3Your hands and fingers are stained with blood.
You are guilty of committing murder.
Your mouth has told lies.
Your tongue says evil things.
4People aren’t fair when they present cases in court.
They aren’t honest when they state their case.
They depend on weak arguments. They tell lies.
They plan to make trouble.
Then they carry it out.
5The plans they make are like the eggs of poisonous snakes.
Anyone who eats those eggs will die.
When one of them is broken, a snake comes out.
6Those people weave their evil plans together like a spider’s web.
But the webs they make can’t be used as clothes.
They can’t cover themselves with what they make.
Their acts are evil.
They do things to harm others.
7They are always in a hurry to sin.
They run quickly to murder those who aren’t guilty.
They love to think up evil plans.
They leave a trail of harmful actions.
8They don’t know how to live at peace with others.
What they do isn’t fair.
They lead twisted lives.
No one who lives like that will enjoy peace and rest.
9We aren’t being treated fairly.
We haven’t been set free yet.
The God who always does what is right
hasn’t come to help us.
We look for light, but we see nothing but darkness.
We look for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10Like blind people we feel our way along the wall.
We are like those who can’t see.
At noon we trip and fall as if the sun had already set.
Compared to those who are healthy, we are like dead people.
11All of us growl like hungry bears.
We sound like doves as we mourn.
We want the Lord to do what is fair and save us.
But he doesn’t do it.
We long for him to set us free.
But the time for that seems far away.
12That’s because we’ve done so many things he considers wrong.
Our sins prove that we are guilty.
The wrong things we’ve done are always troubling us.
We admit that we have sinned.
13We’ve refused to obey the Lord.
We’ve made evil plans against him.
We’ve turned our backs on our God.
We’ve stirred up conflict and refused to follow him.
We’ve told lies that came from our own minds.
14So people stop others from doing what is fair.
They keep them from doing what is right.
No one tells the truth in court anymore.
No one is honest there.
15In fact, truth can’t be found anywhere.
Those who refuse to do evil are attacked.
The Lord sees that people aren’t treating others fairly.
That makes him unhappy.
16He sees that there is no one who helps his people.
He is shocked that no one stands up for them.
So he will use his own powerful arm to save them.
He has the strength to do it because he is holy.
17He will put the armor of holiness on his chest.
He’ll put the helmet of salvation on his head.
He’ll pay people back for the wrong things they do.
He’ll wrap himself in anger as if it were a coat.
18He will pay his enemies back for what they have done.
He’ll pour his anger out on them.
He’ll punish those who attack him.
He’ll give the people in the islands what they have coming to them.
19People in the west will show respect for the Lord’s name.
People in the east will worship him because of his glory.
The Lord will come like a rushing river that was held back.
His breath will drive it along.
20“I set my people free. I will come to Mount Zion.
I will come to those in Jacob’s family who turn away from their sins,”
announces the Lord.
21“Here is the covenant I will make with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit is on you and will not leave you. I have put my words in your mouth. They will never leave your mouth. And they will never leave the mouths of your children or their children after them. That will be true for all time to come,” says the Lord.
Tchimo, Kuvomereza ndi Chipulumutso
1Taonani, mkono wa Yehova si waufupi kuti sungathe kupulumutsa,
kapena khutu lake kuti ndilogontha kuti sangamve.
2Koma zoyipa zanu zakulekanitsani
ndi Mulungu wanu;
ndipo wakufulatirani chifukwa cha machimo anu,
kotero Iye sadzamva.
3Pakuti manja anu ali psuu ndi magazi.
Munayipitsa zala zanu ndi zamphulupulu.
Pakamwa panu payankhula zabodza,
ndipo lilime lanu lanena zinthu zoyipa.
4Palibe amene akuyimba mnzake mlandu molungama,
palibe amene akupita ku mlandu moona mtima.
Iwo amadalira mawu opanda pake ndipo amayankhula mabodza;
amalingalira za mphulupulu ndipo amachita zoyipa.
5Iwo amayikira mazira a mamba
ndipo amaluka ukonde wakangawude.
Aliyense amene adzadya mazira awo adzafa,
ndipo ngati dzira limodzi lasweka limatulutsa mphiri.
6Ukonde wawo wa kangawude sangawuvale ngati chovala;
ndipo chimene apangacho sangachifunde.
Ntchito zawo ndi zoyipa,
ndipo amakonda kuchita zandewu ndi manja awo.
7Amathamangira kukachita zoyipa;
sachedwa kupha anthu osalakwa.
Maganizo awo ndi maganizo oyipa;
kulikonse kumene amapita amasiyako bwinja ndi chiwonongeko.
8Iwo sadziwa kuchita za mtendere;
zonse zimene amachita nʼzopanda chilungamo.
Njira zawo zonse nʼzokhotakhota;
aliyense oyenda mʼnjira zimenezo sadzapeza mtendere.
9Anthu akuti, “Chifukwa cha zimenezi chilungamo chatitalikira;
ndipo chipulumutso sichitifikira.
Timafunafuna kuwala koma timangopeza mdima okhaokha;
tinayembekezera kuyera koma timayenda mu mdima wandiweyani.
10Timapapasapapasa khoma ngati munthu wosaona,
kuyangʼanayangʼana njira ngati anthu opanda maso.
Timapunthwa dzuwa lili paliwombo ngati kuti ndi usiku;
timakhala pansi mu mdima ngati anthu akufa.
11Tonse timabangula ngati zimbalangondo:
Timalira modandaula ngati nkhunda.
Tinayembekezera kuweruza kolungama; koma sitikupeza.
Timayembekezera chipulumutso koma chimakhala nafe kutali.”
12Pakuti zolakwa zathu nʼzochuluka pamaso panu,
ndipo machimo athu akutsutsana nafe.
Zolakwa zathu zili ndi ife nthawi zonse
ndipo tikuvomereza machimo athu:
13Tawukira ndi kumukana Yehova.
Tafulatira Mulungu wathu,
pa kupondereza anzathu ndi kupandukira Yehova,
ndi pa kuyankhula mabodza amene tawaganiza mʼmitima mwathu.
14Motero kuweruza kolungama kwalekeka
ndipo choonadi chili kutali ndi ife;
kukhulupirika sikukupezekanso mʼmabwalo a milandu,
ndipo kuona mtima sikukupezekanso mʼmenemo.
15Choonadi sichikupezeka kumeneko,
ndipo wina akakana kuchita nawo zoyipa amapeza mavuto.
Yehova anaziona zimenezi ndipo zinamunyansa
kuti panalibe chiweruzo cholungama.
16Yehova anaona kuti panalibe ndi mmodzi yemwe,
Iye anadabwa kuti panalibe ndi mmodzi yemwe woti nʼkupembedzera;
Choncho mphamvu zake zomwe zinamuthandiza,
ndipo anadzilimbitsa ndi kulungama kwake;
17Iye anavala chilungamo ngati chovala chachitsulo chapachifuwa,
ndipo kumutu kwake amavala chipewa chachipulumutso;
anavala kulipsira ngati chovala
ndipo anadzikuta ndi mkwiyo ngati chofunda.
18Iye adzawabwezera chilango adani a anthu ake
molingana ndi zimene anachita,
adzaonetsa ukali kwa adani ake
ndi kubwezera chilango odana naye.
Adzalanga ngakhale okhala mayiko akutali.
19Choncho akadzabwera ngati madzi
oyendetsedwa ndi mphepo yamphamvu yamkuntho.
Anthu onse kuyambira kumadzulo mpaka kummawa
adzaopa dzina la Yehova ndi ulemerero wake.
20“Mpulumutsi adzabwera ku Ziyoni
kudzapulumutsa anthu a fuko la Yakobo amene analapa machimo awo,”
akutero Yehova.
21Yehova akuti, “Kunena za pangano lake ndi iwo, Mzimu wanga umene uli pa inu, ndiponso mawu anga amene ndayika mʼkamwa mwanu sadzachoka mʼkamwa mwanu, kapena kuchoka mʼkamwa mwa ana anu, kapena mʼkamwa mwa zidzukulu zawo kuyambira tsopano mpaka kalekale,”
akutero Yehova.
