Woe to the Obstinate Nation
1“Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
3But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4Though they have officials in Zoan
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5everyone will be put to shame
because of a people useless to them,
who bring neither help nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.”
6A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev:
Through a land of hardship and distress,
of lions and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs,
their treasures on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
7to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.
Therefore I call her
Rahab the Do-Nothing.
8Go now, write it on a tablet for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.
9For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
10They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
11Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!”
12Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message,
relied on oppression
and depended on deceit,
13this sin will become for you
like a high wall, cracked and bulging,
that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
14It will break in pieces like pottery,
shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
for taking coals from a hearth
or scooping water out of a cistern.”
15This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
16You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17A thousand will flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of five
you will all flee away,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill.”
18Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
19People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”
23He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.
27See, the Name of the Lord comes from afar,
with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke;
his lips are full of wrath,
and his tongue is a consuming fire.
28His breath is like a rushing torrent,
rising up to the neck.
He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction;
he places in the jaws of the peoples
a bit that leads them astray.
29And you will sing
as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;
your hearts will rejoice
as when people playing pipes go up
to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.
30The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice
and will make them see his arm coming down
with raging anger and consuming fire,
with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.
31The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;
with his rod he will strike them down.
32Every stroke the Lord lays on them
with his punishing club
will be to the music of timbrels and harps,
as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.
33Topheth has long been prepared;
it has been made ready for the king.
Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,
with an abundance of fire and wood;
the breath of the Lord,
like a stream of burning sulfur,
sets it ablaze.
Tsoka kwa Mtundu Wopanduka
1Yehova akuti, “Tsoka kwa ana ondipandukira
amene amachita zowakomera iwo okha osati Ine,
nachita mgwirizano wawowawo
koma osati motsogozedwa ndi Ine.
Choncho amanka nachimwirachimwira.
2Amapita ku Igupto kukapempha thandizo
koma osandifunsa;
amathawira kwa Farao kuti awateteze,
ku Igupto amafuna malo opulumulira.
3Koma chitetezo cha Farao chidzakhala manyazi anu,
malo a mthunzi a ku Igupto mudzachita nawo manyazi.
4Ngakhale kuti nduna zawo zili ku Zowani,
ndipo akazembe awo afika kale ku Hanesi,
5aliyense wa ku Yuda adzachita manyazi
chifukwa cha anthu opanda nawo phindu,
amene sabweretsa thandizo kapena phindu,
koma manyazi ndi mnyozo.”
6Uthenga wonena za nyama za ku Negevi:
Akazembe akuyenda mʼdziko lovuta ndi losautsa,
mʼmene muli mikango yayimuna ndi yayikazi,
mphiri ndi njoka zaululu.
Iwo amasenzetsa abulu ndi ngamira chuma chawo,
kupita nazo kwa mtundu wa anthu
umene sungawathandize.
7Amapita ku Igupto amene thandizo lake ndi lachabechabe.
Nʼchifukwa chake dzikolo ndalitcha
Rahabe chirombo cholobodoka.
8Yehova anandiwuza kuti, “Tsopano pita,
ukalembe zimenezi mʼbuku iwo akuona
ndipo lidzakhala ngati umboni wosatha
masiku a mʼtsogolo.
9Amenewa ndi anthu owukira, onama ndi
osafuna kumvera malangizo a Yehova.
10Iwo amawuza alosi kuti,
‘Musationerenso masomphenya!’
Ndipo amanena kwa mneneri kuti,
‘Musatinenerenso zoona,’
mutiwuze zotikomera,
munenere za mʼmutu mwanu.
11Patukani pa njira ya Yehova,
lekani kutsata njira ya Yehova;
ndipo tisamvenso mawu
a Woyerayo uja wa Israeli!”
12Nʼchifukwa chake Woyerayo wa Israeli akunena kuti,
“Popeza inu mwakana uthenga uwu,
mumakhulupirira zopondereza anzanu
ndipo mumadalira kuchita zoyipa,
13choncho tchimo linalo lidzakhala ngati mingʼalu
pa khoma lalitali ndi lopendama
limene linagwa mwadzidzidzi ndi mwamsangamsanga.
14Lidzaphwanyika ngati mbiya
imene yanyenyekeratu,
mwakuti pakati pake sipadzapezeka phale ngakhale
lopalira moto mʼngʼanjo
kapena lotungira madzi mʼchitsime.”
15Zimene Ambuye Yehova, Woyerayo wa Israeli ananena ndi izi:
“Ngati mubwerera ndi kupuma mudzapulumuka,
ngati mukhala chete ndi kukhulupirira mudzakhala amphamvu,
koma inu munakana zimenezi.
16Inu mukuti, ‘Ayi ife tidzathawa,
tidzakwera pa akavalo aliwiro.’
Zoonadi kuti mudzakwera pa akavalo aliwiro,
koma okuthamangitsani adzakhalanso aliwiro.
17Anthu 1,000 mwa inu adzathawa
poona mdani mmodzi;
poona adani asanu okha
nonsenu mudzathawa.
Otsala anu
adzakhala ngati mbendera pa phiri,
ndi ngati chizindikiro cha pa chulu.”
18Komatu Yehova akufunitsitsa kuti akukomereni mtima,
iye ali wokonzeka kuti akuchitireni chifundo.
Pakuti Yehova ndi Mulungu wachilungamo.
Ndi odala onse amene amakhulupirira Iye!
19Inu anthu a ku Ziyoni, amene mukhala mu Yerusalemu simudzaliranso. Mulungu adzakukomerani mtima pamene adzamva kulira kwanu kopempha thandizo! Ndipo akadzamva, adzakuyankhani. 20Ngakhale Ambuye adzakulowetseni mʼmasautso, aphunzitsi anu sadzakhala kakasi; inu mudzawaona ndi maso anuwo. 21Ngati mudzapatukira kumanja kapena kumanzere, mudzamva mawu kumbuyo kwanu woti, “Njira ndi iyi; yendani mʼmenemo.” 22Pamenepo mudzawononga mafano anu okutidwa ndi siliva ndiponso zifanizo zanu zokutidwa ndi golide; mudzawataya ngati zinthu zonyansa ndipo mudzati, “Zichoke zonsezi!”
23Yehova adzakugwetseraninso mvula pa mbewu zanu zimene mukadzale mʼnthaka, ndipo chakudya chimene mudzakolole chidzakhala chabwino ndi chochuluka. Tsiku limenelo ngʼombe zanu zidzadya msipu wochuluka. 24Ngʼombe ndi abulu amene amalima mʼmunda adzadya chakudya chamchere, chopetedwa ndi foloko ndi fosholo. 25Pa tsiku limene adani anu adzaphedwa ndi nsanja zawo kugwa, mitsinje ya madzi idzayenda pa phiri lililonse lalikulu ndi pa phiri lililonse lalingʼono. 26Mwezi udzawala ngati dzuwa, ndipo kuwala kwa dzuwa kudzawonjezereka kasanu nʼkawiri, ngati kuwala kwa tsiku limodzi. Yehova adzamanga mabala a anthu ake ndi kupoletsa zilonda zimene Iye anachititsa polanga anthu ake.
27Taonani, Yehova akubwera kuchokera kutali,
ndipo mkwiyo wake ndiwonyeka ndi chiweruzo chake chidzakhala chopweteka.
Iye wayankhula mwaukali kwambiri,
ndipo mawu ake ali ngati moto wonyeka.
28Mpweya wake uli ngati mtsinje wosefukira,
wa madzi ofika mʼkhosi.
Iye adzasefa anthu a mitundu ina ndi sefa wosakaza;
Iye akuyika zitsulo mʼkamwa mwa anthu a mitundu ina ngati akavalo,
kuti ziwasocheretse.
29Ndipo inu mudzayimba
mokondwa monga mumachitira usiku pa chikondwerero chopatulika.
Mudzasangalala
ngati anthu oyimba zitoliro
popita ku phiri la Yehova,
thanthwe la Israeli.
30Anthu adzamva liwu la ulemerero la Yehova
ndipo adzaona dzanja lake likutsika pa iwo
ndi mkwiyo woopsa, pamodzi ndi moto wonyeketsa,
mphenzi, namondwe ndi matalala.
31Asiriya adzaopa liwu la Yehova,
ndipo Iye adzawakantha ndi ndodo.
32Yehova akamadzalanga adani ake ndi ndodo,
anthu ake adzakhala akuvina nyimbo
zoyimbira matambolini ndi azeze,
Yehova ndiye ati adzamenyane ndi Asiriyawo.
33Malo otenthera zinthu akonzedwa kale;
anakonzera mfumu ya ku Asiriya.
Dzenje la motolo ndi lozama ndi lalikulu,
ndipo muli nkhuni zambiri;
mpweya wa Yehova,
wangati mtsinje wa sulufule,
udzayatsa motowo pa nkhunizo.