8

¹Yawmsaub has tas, “Lub swjhawm ntawd tej vaajntxwv huv Yuta tej pob txhaa, hab Yuta cov thawj tej pob txhaa, cov pov thawj tej pob txhaa hab cov xwbfwb cev Vaajtswv lug tej pob txhaa, hab cov tuabneeg huv Yeluxalee tej pob txhaa yuav raug muab rhu huv tej qhov ntxaa lug, ²hab luas yuav muab ua rw quas sua cuab nub cuab hli hab tej nub qub sau nruab ntug huvsw, yog tej kws puab nyam hab puab teev tam, yog tej kws puab moog lawv hab nrhav hab pe hawm. Yuav tsw muaj leejtwg muab tej pob txhaa hov sau ua ke lossws muab faus, yuav nyob sau npoo aav yaam le tej quav tsaj txhu. ³Tsev tuabneeg phem nuav txhua tug kws tseed tshuav nyob rua huv txhua lub chaw kws kuv lawv puab moog hov yuav nyam tuag heev dua le nyam caj sa nyob.” Yawmsaub kws muaj fwjchim luj kawg nkaus has le nuav.

Kev txhum hab kev rau txem

⁴“Koj ca le has rua puab tas,
‘Yawmsaub has le nuav tas,
Thaus leejtwg qaug nwg txawm tsw sawv lug le lov?
Yog leejtwg yuam kev lawm
nwg yuav tsw rov lug le lov?
⁵Ua le caag haiv tuabneeg nuav kws yog Yeluxalee
tswv ntawm kuv lawm tsw rov lug ib txhws le?
Puab tsw tso tej kev daag ntxag tseg,
puab tsw yeem rov qaab lug.
⁶Kuv tig ntsej ncuv noog,
tassws puab has tsw tseeb.
Tsw muaj ib tug yuav ntxeev dua sab
ntawm nwg txujkev phem es yuav has tas,
“Kuv tau ua daabtsw lawm?”
Txhua tug nyag yuam kev taug nyag txuj lawm,
ib yaam nkaus le tug neeg dha too hauv quas li rua huv tshaav rog.
⁷Txawm yog daav npoj yaa sau ntuj
los tseed paub caij paub nyoog,
txawm yog nquab taug hab luv hab us dej dawb
los tseed tuaj lawv le puab lub caij lub nyoog.
Tassws kuv haiv tuabneeg tsw paub tej kws Yawmsaub qha.

⁸“ ‘Mej yuav has tau le caag tas,
“Peb muaj tswvyim hab peb muaj Yawmsaub txuj kevcai”?
Tassws, saib maj, cov tub sau ntawv kws tsw ncaaj txhais teg
tub muab txuj kevcai sau ntxeev ua lug daag lawm.
⁹Cov tuabneeg muaj tswvyim yuav raug txaaj muag,
puab yuav poob sab nthaav
hab raug muab nteg coj moog.
Puab tsw leeg yuav Yawmsaub tej lug,
es puab muaj tug tswvyim twg?
¹⁰Vem le nuav kuv yuav muab puab tej quaspuj rua lwm tug yuav,
hab muab puab tej teb rua cov kws tuaj txeeb tau,
tsua qhov taag nrho tej nyuas miv tuabneeg
moog txug tug kws ua luj kawg
los txhua tug ua lub sab hlub
xaav tau tej kws lug ntawm kev ua tsw ncaaj,
tsw has cov xwbfwb cev Vaajtswv lug hab cov pov thawj
los txhua tug kuj daag ntxag huvsw.
¹¹Puab tau khu kuv haiv tuabneeg lub kav txhaab luj
ib qho nyuas miv miv xwb,
puab has tas, “Muaj kev thaaj yeeb, muaj kev thaaj yeeb,”
tassws tub tsw muaj hlo le.
¹²Thaus puab ua tej kws qas vuab tsuab
puab txaaj muag lov?
Puab tsw paub txaaj muag le lauj!
Tub tsw ntaiv puab lub plhu le.
Vem le ntawd puab yuav qaug
rua huv plawv cov kws tub qaug taag lawm.
Thaus kuv rau txem rua puab, puab yuav puam tsuaj.
Yawmsaub has le nuav ntaag.
¹³Yawmsaub has tas,
Thaus kuv yuav qaws puab, kuj pum tas
tsob txwv maab tsw muaj txwv
hab tsob txwv cua tsw muaj txwv.
Txawm yog cov nplooj kuj ntsws qhuav taag lawm,
hab tej kws kuv tub pub rua puab kuj pluj taag lawm.’ ”⚓

¹⁴“Ua le caag peb nyob tuabywv?
Peb ca le sau zog ua ke lug,
peb ca le moog rua huv tej moos kws muaj ntsaa loog ruaj khov,
hab puam tsuaj taag rua hov ntawd,
tsua qhov Yawmsaub kws yog peb tug Vaajtswv
tub npaaj ca rua peb puam tsuaj
hab tub muab dej muaj taug rua peb haus,
vem yog peb tau ua txhum rua Yawmsaub.
¹⁵Peb vaam quas ntsoov yuav tau kev thaaj yeeb,
tassws tsw tau ib qho zoo hlo le,
peb vaam quas ntsoov lub swjhawm kws khu kuas mob zoo,
tassws tsuas yog ntswb txujkev txhawj kev ntshai xwb.
¹⁶Nov yeeb ncuab tej neeg tshuab paa huv lub moos Ntaaj tuaj,
lub tebchaws kuj tseeg quas nkawg
vem yog nov puab tej txwv neeg lub suab hee.
Puab tuaj muab lub tebchaws
hab txhua yaam kws nyob huv noj nqog taag,
tsw has lub nroog hab tej tuabneeg
kws nyob huv huvsw.”
¹⁷“Saib maj, kuv saamswm tso ib co naab muaj taug
lug rua huv plawv mej,
yog tej naab muaj taug
kws ua khawv koob rua los tsw seej le
mas tej naab hov yuav tum mej.”
Yawmsaub has le nuav ntaag.

Yelemi quaj txug Yeluxalee hab Yuta

¹⁸Kuv txujkev quaj ntsuag luj heev khu tsw tau le,^d
kuv lub sab mob heev.
¹⁹Ca le noog kuv cov tuabneeg tug ntxhais⚓ lub suab quaj
thoob plhawv lub tebchaws txhua qhov has tas,
“Yawmsaub tsw nyob huv Xi‑oo lov?
Xi‑oo tug vaajntxwv tsw nyob rua huv lov?”
Yawmsaub teb tas, “Ua caag puab pe tej txoov daab,
hab pe lwm haiv tuabneeg tej daab zwg ua rua kuv chim?”
²⁰Puab has tas, “Tub dhau lub caij hlais
hab dhau lub caij ntuj qhua
los peb tseed tsw tau dim.”
²¹Vem kuv cov tuabneeg tug ntxhais^e muaj qhov txhaab
kuv lub sab txhad le ua kav txhaab,
kuv quaj ntsuag hab txujkev poob sab nthaav
ntsab tau kuv lawm.
²²Tsw muaj tshuaj khu mob huv Kile‑a lov?
Tsw muaj Kws tshuaj nyob hov ntawd lov?
Yog le ntawd, ua caag khu tsw tau
kuv cov tuabneeg tug ntxhais rov zoo le qub?

8

The Valley of Slaughter

¹“ ‘At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. ²They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground. ³Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the Lord Almighty.’

Sin and Punishment

⁴“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“ ‘When people fall down, do they not get up?
When someone turns away, do they not return?
⁵Why then have these people turned away?
Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;
they refuse to return.
⁶I have listened attentively,
but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent of their wickedness,
saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course
like a horse charging into battle.
⁷Even the stork in the sky
knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know
the requirements of the Lord.

⁸“ ‘How can you say, “We are wise,
for we have the law of the Lord,”
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
has handled it falsely?
⁹The wise will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed and trapped.
Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,
what kind of wisdom do they have?
¹⁰Therefore I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.
From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
¹¹They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
when there is no peace.
¹²Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when they are punished,

¹³“ ‘I will take away their harvest,

There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the tree,
and their leaves will wither.
What I have given them
will be taken from them.⚓ ’ ”

¹⁴Why are we sitting here?
Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities
and perish there!
For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
and given us poisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against him.
¹⁵We hoped for peace
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there is only terror.
¹⁶The snorting of the enemy’s horses
is heard from Dan;
at the neighing of their stallions
the whole land trembles.
They have come to devour
the land and everything in it,
the city and all who live there.

¹⁷“See, I will send venomous snakes among you,
vipers that cannot be charmed,
and they will bite you,”

¹⁸You who are my Comforter⚓ in sorrow,
my heart is faint within me.
¹⁹Listen to the cry of my people
from a land far away:
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
Is her King no longer there?”

“Why have they aroused my anger with their images,
with their worthless foreign idols?”

²⁰“The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved.”

²¹Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.
²²Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?