Isaiah 44
1 Ka sal Jakob neh ka coelh Israel loh hnatun laeh.
But now, you people of Israel whom Yahweh has chosen to serve him, listen to me.
2 Hekah nang aka saii Yahovah long ni a thui. Te dongah bungko khuiah nang aka hlinsai loh nang m'bom ni. Ka sal Jakob nang rhih boeh, Jeshurun amah te khaw ka coelh coeng.
Yahweh, the one who created you and helps you, says this: “You dear people of Israel whom I have chosen, you who serve me, do not be afraid.
3 Tuihalh te tui neh, laiphuei te tuisih neh ka suep ni. Na tiingan te ka Mueihla neh, na cadil te ka yoethennah neh ka lun thil ni.
I will pour water on your dry land and cause streams to flow. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants and greatly bless them.
4 Te vaengah rhahlawn tui taengkah tuirhi bangla sulrham lakli ah daih ni.
They will grow up like [SIM] grass grows along the water, like [SIM] willow/poplar [trees] grow well along a riverbank.
5 He long khaw, 'Kai tah BOEIPA ham ni, ' a ti vetih, ke long khaw Jakob ming neh a khue ni. He kah loh a kut neh BOEIPA kawng a daek vetih Israel ming neh a mingkhaep ni.
Some of them will say, ‘I belong to Yahweh,’ and others will say, ‘We are descendants of Jacob,’ and others will write on their hands, ‘We belong to Yahweh,’ and others will say, ‘We are Israelis.’”
6 Israel manghai Yahovah neh anih aka tlan caempuei BOEIPA loh, “Lamhma khaw kamah, lamhnuk khaw kamah coeng tih kai pawt atah Pathen tloe a om moenih.
Yahweh, the King of Israel, the one who saves us, the Commander of the armies of angels, says this: “I am the one who begins everything and who ends everything; there is no other God.
7 Te dongah kamah bangla aka om te unim? Khue saeh lamtah doek lah saeh. Khosuen kah pilnam ka khueh parhi te ka hmaiah tael lah saeh. Aka thoeng tih aka thoeng ham te khaw a taengah puen uh.
If there is anyone like me [RHQ], he should proclaim it! He should speak and tell me [now]! He should tell what has happened since I caused my people [of Israel] to become a nation long ago, and he should also tell what things will happen; he should predict what will happen in the future.
8 Rhih boeh, tangyah khueh boeh. Nang kan yaak sak tih ka puen dangrhae moenih a? Nangmih tah kamah kah laipai rhoek ni. Kai pawt atah Pathen tloe om a? Lungpang khaw a om moenih, ka ming khaw ka ming moenih.
[My people], do not be afraid. Long ago I told you things that would happen [RHQ]; I predicted them, and you can testify that I did that. There certainly is not [RHQ] any other God. There is no other God who is able to protect you [MET]; I know that there is no other God!”
9 Amih mueithuk aka hlinsai khaw boeih hinghong. A sanaep nen khaw a hoeikhang uh moenih. Amih loh amamih kah laipai rhoek khaw hmu uh pawt tih a ming uh pawt dongah yah a pohuh.
All those who make idols are foolish, and the idols that they (think highly of/greatly respect) are worthless. And the people who worship those idols— [it is as though] they are blind, and they will be ashamed [for having worshiped those idols].
10 Unim pathen aka picai tih a hoeikhang pawt ham mueithuk aka hloe?
Only [foolish people] [RHQ] would make idols in a mold, idols that would never help them at all.
11 Anih hui rhoek tah boeih yak uh pawn ni ke. Amih kah kutthai rhoek te hlang boeiloeih ni. Amih te boeih coi uh thae saeh lamtah pai uh saeh. A rhih uh vetih rhenten yak uh ni.
Those who make idols and those who worship them will be ashamed. Those who make idols are only human beings, [but they claim that they are making gods]! They should stand in front of God in a court, and [when they hear what he says], they will be terrified, and they will all be disgraced.
12 Kutthai loh thi tubael te hmaisa-aek neh a saii. Thilung neh a hlinsai tih a thadueng ban neh a saii. A lamlum vaengah thadueng bawt tih tui a ok pawt dongah tawnba.
Metalworkers stand in front of hot coals in order to make idols. They pound them strongly with hammers, and shape them. Because they work very hard, they become hungry and weak; they become very thirsty and feel exhausted.
13 Kutthai loh thing te a rhi a nueh tih thisum neh a rhuen. Suet neh a yael tih cumkai neh a hiil. Te phoeiah im ah hol hamla hlang kah a muei la, hlang kah a boeimang la a saii.
Then a woodcarver takes a big block/piece of wood and he measures it; then he marks it to show where he will cut it. He uses a chisel and other tools to carve it to resemble a human. He causes it to become a very beautiful [idol], and then he puts it in a shrine.
14 Te ham te lamphai khaw a saii tih yongmai neh thingnu khaw a loh. Te ham te duup kah thing caang neh rhumrhet thing khaw a phung tih khonal neh a rhoeng sak.
[Before he carves an idol from that block of wood], he has cut down a cedar tree, or he has selected a cypress tree or an oak tree and allowed it to grow tall in the forest. Or, he has planted a pine/evergreen tree and the rain has watered it [and caused it to grow tall].
15 Hlang kah a toih ham khaw a om pah. Amah te a loh bal tih pahoi a om. A cum bal tih buh a thong nah. Pathen la nunan a saii tih a saii mueithuk te a bawk tih a buluk thil.
[And after he uses part of the tree to make an idol], he uses the other part of the tree to make a fire, either to warm himself or to bake bread. But he uses [part of the same tree] to make for himself an idol to worship! He makes an idol and then he bows down to worship it.
16 A ngancawn te hmai dongah a hoeh, a ngancawn dongah maeh a hai tih a caak. Maehkaeh te a hah vaengah kaeng uh tih, “Ahuei, hmaipuei ka hmuh tih ka om,” a ti.
He burns part of the wood of the tree to cook his meat and eats the meat and his stomach becomes full, and he burns part of the wood to warm his body, and he says, “I feel warm while I am watching the flames in the fire.”
17 A meet te pathen la, a mueithuk la a saii. Te te a buluk, a buluk thil tih a bawk. A taengah thangthui tih, “Kai kah pathen namah loh kai n'huul lah,” a ti nah.
Then he takes the rest of the wood and makes an idol which is his god. He bows down to it and worships it, and prays to it and says, “You are my god, so save me!”
18 A mik loh a hmuh tih a lungbuei loh a cangbam ham khaw malh a bol coeng dongah ming uh pawt tih yakming pawh.
Those people are very stupid and ignorant [SAR]. [It is as though] they are blind and cannot see, and their minds are closed and they cannot think well.
19 A lungbuei khaw a taengla mael pah pawh. Mingnah khueh pawt tih a lungcuei khaw om pawh. “A ngancawn te hmai dongah ka hoeh tih a alh dongah buh ka thong. Maeh ka hai tih ka caak. A coih te khaw tueilaehkoi la ka saii saeh lamtah thingkung thinglong taengah ka buluk eh?,” a ti.
They do not think about what they are doing, that they are taking a block of wood and burning half of it to warm themselves and using some of the rest to bake bread and roast some meat! [They do not say to themselves], “It is stupid [RHQ] to take the rest of the wood to make a detestable idol! It does not make sense to bow down to a block of wood!”
20 Hmaiphu kah aka luem rhoek loh a lungbuei omsaa tih amah a phaelh sak. A hinglu te a huul thai pawt dongah, “Ka bantang ah aka om he a honghi moenih a?” a ti tloel.
They are very stupid to [worship something that if you burn it, it becomes] ashes! They trust in something that cannot save them; they do not admit, “In my hand I hold something that is not really a god! [RHQ]”
21 He rhoek he Jakob neh Israel loh thoelh saeh. Nang tah kai kah sal ni. Nang te kamah taengah sal la ka hlinsai coeng. Nang Israel loh kai nan hnilh voel mahpawh.
[Yahweh says, “You descendants of] [MTY] Jacob, you people of Israel who should be serving me, I created you, and I will not forget you.
22 Na boekoek te khomai bangla, na tholh cingmai bangla ka huih sak. Nang te kan tlan coeng dongah kamah taengla ha mael laeh.
I have gotten rid of your sins like [SIM] [the wind blows away] a cloud. [It is as though] your transgressions were a morning mist [SIM] that I have blown away. Return to me because I have rescued you.”
23 BOEIPA loh a saii coeng dongah vaan rhoek te tamhoe laeh. Diklai laedil rhoek khaw yuhui uh laeh. Tlang rhoek loh duup puei tamlung neh a khuikah thing rhoek boeih te rhong puei saeh. BOEIPA loh Jakob a tlan tih Israel soah khaw kohang coeng.
[The sun and moon and stars] in the sky should sing, and all the things that are beneath the ground should shout joyfully! All the mountains and forests, and all you trees, should sing loudly, because Yahweh has rescued [the descendants of] [MTY] Jacob; [the people of] Israel will praise/honor him.
24 Nang aka tlan tih bungko khuiah nang aka hlinsai BOEIPA loh, “Kai Yahovah tah vaan aka aih uh ke boeih ka saii. Kamah bueng loh diklai tui ka nulh vaengah kai taengah aka om te unim.
Yahweh, who saved you and created you, says this: “I am Yahweh, the one who created everything. I am the only one who stretched out the sky. There was [RHQ] no one who (was with/helped) me when I created the earth.
25 Olsai kah miknoek te aka phae tih, aka hma kah a yan te a balkhong sak. Aka cueih rhoek te a namnah dongah, amamih kah mingnah loh a pavai sak.
I show that the false prophets are liars, and I show that those who perform rituals to predict the future are fools. Some people who [falsely think that they] are [IRO] wise [say that they] know a lot, but I show that they are foolish.
26 A sal kah ol a thoh tih a puencawn kah cilsuep te a thuung. Jerusalem kah aka thui te kho a sak sak saeh lamtah Judah khopuei rhoek te khoeng uh saeh. Te vaengah a imrhong te ka thoh bitni.
But I always cause to happen what my prophets predict [DOU]. [I tell them to] say to [the people of] [MTY] Jerusalem, ‘[Some day] people will live here again.’ [And I tell them to] say to [the people in other] towns in Judah [that Yahweh says], ‘Your towns will be rebuilt; I will cause the places that are only ruins to be rebuilt.’
27 Tuidung te, “Kak laeh,” aka ti loh tuiva nang khaw kang haang sak ni.
When I say to the rivers, ‘Dry up!’, they will become dry.
28 Cyrus te kamah kah boiva aka dawn ni ka ti. Ka hue ngaih boeih khaw han thuung ni. Jerusalem te khoeng saeh lamtah bawkim khaw suen saeh ka ti.
When I say about King Cyrus, ‘He will [take care of my people like] [MET] a shepherd [takes care of his sheep], he will do what I want him to do,’ he will say about Jerusalem, ‘We must rebuild it!’, and he will also say, ‘We must rebuild the temple!’”
