1Send lambs as tribute
to the ruler of the land,
from Sela, across the desert,
to the mount of Daughter Zion.
2Like fluttering birds
pushed from the nest,
so are the women of Moab
at the fords of the Arnon.
3‘Make up your mind,’ Moab says.
‘Render a decision.
Make your shadow like night –
at high noon.
Hide the fugitives,
do not betray the refugees.
4Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;
be their shelter from the destroyer.’
The oppressor will come to an end,
and destruction will cease;
the aggressor will vanish from the land.
5In love a throne will be established;
in faithfulness a man will sit on it –
one from the house16:5 Hebrew tent of David –
one who in judging seeks justice
and speeds the cause of righteousness.
6We have heard of Moab’s pride –
how great is her arrogance! –
of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;
but her boasts are empty.
7Therefore the Moabites wail,
they wail together for Moab.
Lament and grieve
for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.
8The fields of Heshbon wither,
the vines of Sibmah also.
The rulers of the nations
have trampled down the choicest vines,
which once reached Jazer
and spread towards the desert.
Their shoots spread out
and went as far as the sea.16:8 Probably the Dead Sea
9So I weep, as Jazer weeps,
for the vines of Sibmah.
Heshbon and Elealeh,
I drench you with tears!
The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit
and over your harvests have been stilled.
10Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards;
no-one sings or shouts in the vineyards;
no-one treads out wine at the presses,
for I have put an end to the shouting.
11My heart laments for Moab like a harp,
my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.
12When Moab appears at her high place,
she only wears herself out;
when she goes to her shrine to pray,
it is to no avail.
13This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14But now the Lord says: ‘Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendour and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.’
1Anthu a ku Mowabu
atumiza mphatso za ana ankhosa onenepa,
kuchokera ku Sela kudutsa chipululu
mpaka kukafika ku phiri la Ziyoni.
2Monga momwe mbalame zimawulukira uku ndi uku
akazimwaza mʼchisa,
momwemonso akazi a ku Mowabu
akuyendayenda ku madooko a Arinoni.
3Amowabu aja anawuza a ku Yuda kuti,
“Tiwuzeni chochita, gamulani zoti tichite.
Inu mutiteteze kwa adani anthu.
Mukhale ngati mthunzi wathu dzuwa lili pa liwombo.
Mutibise,
musatipereke ife othawa nkhondo kwa adani athu.
4Lolani kuti anthu othawa nkhondo a ku Mowabu azikhala pakati panu;
mukhale populumukira pawo kwa wowonongayo.”
Nthawi idzafika ndipo wozunzayo sadzakhalaponso,
kuwononga kudzaleka;
waukaliyo adzachoka mʼdzikomo.
5Mpando waufumu udzakhazikitsidwa mwachikondi;
mmodzi mwa zidzukulu za Davide adzakhalapo mokhulupirika.
Iyeyo poweruza adzatsata chilungamo
ndipo adzalimbikitsa kuchita zachilungamo.
6Tinamva kuti Mowabu anadzikuza kwambiri.
Kunyada kwawo
ndi kunyogodola kwawo ndi kudzitama kwawo,
zonse ndi zopanda phindu.
7Nʼchifukwa chake Amowabu akulira kwambiri;
iwo akulirira dziko lawo.
Akubuma momvetsa chisoni
chifukwa cha makeke a mphesa a ku Kiri Hareseti.
8Minda ya ku Hesiboni yauma,
minda ya mpesa ya ku Sibina yaguga.
Atsogoleri a mitundu ina anapondaponda
minda ya mpesa wabwino,
imene nthambi zake zinakafika ku Yazeri,
mpaka kutambalalira ku chipululu.
Mizu yake inakafika
mpaka ku tsidya la nyanja.
9Kotero Ine ndikulira, monga mmene akulirira anthu a ku Yazeri,
chifukwa cha minda ya mpesa ya ku Sibima.
Inu anthu a ku Hesiboni, inu anthu a ku Eleali,
ndikukunyowetsani ndi misozi!
Mwalephera kupeza zokolola,
chifukwa cha nkhondo imene inawononga zokolola zonse.
10Chimwemwe ndi chisangalalo zalekeka ku minda yanu ya zipatso;
palibe amene akuyimba kapena kufuwula mʼminda ya mpesa;
palibe amene akupsinya vinyo ku malo opsinyira mphesa,
pakuti ndathetsa kufuwula.
11Chifukwa chake moyo wanga ukulira ngati pangwe kulirira Mowabu,
mtima wanga ukubuwula chifukwa cha Kiri Hareseti.
12Ngakhale anthu a ku Mowabu
apite ku malo awo achipembedzo
koma amangodzitopetsa ndi kutaya nthawi chabe
chifukwa sizidzatheka.
13Awa ndi mawu amene Yehova wayankhula kale zokhudza Mowabu. 14Koma tsopano Yehova akuti, “Zisanathe zaka zitatu, potsata mʼmene munthu waganyu amawerengera, ulemerero wa Mowabu udzakhala utatheratu ndipo anthu ake ambiri adzakhala atawonongeka, ndipo opulumuka ake adzakhala ochepa ndi ofowoka.”
