Banzembo 74
1 Nzembo ya Azafi. Oh Nzambe, mpo na nini kosundola biso mpo na tango nyonso? Mpo na nini kongalisa kanda na Yo likolo ya etonga oyo oleisaka?
A maskil of Asaph. Why, O God, have you spurned us forever? Why smokes your wrath against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Kanisa lisusu lisanga ya bato na Yo, oyo osikola wuta kala, libota oyo okomisa libula na Yo. Kanisa ngomba Siona epai wapi ovandaka.
Remember the community you purchased of old to become by redemption the tribe of your heritage, Zion, the mountain you made your home.
3 Tika ete matambe na Yo ekoma kino na bisika oyo ebebi nye! Kati na Esika na Yo ya bule, monguna abebisi nyonso;
Rouse yourself, visit its ruins complete. In the temple the foe has made havoc of all things.
4 bayini na Yo bagangi lokola nkosi, ata kati na esika oyo okutanaka na biso, batelemisi bendele na bango lokola elembo.
Like lions your enemies roared through your house, replacing our symbols by signs of their own,
5 Bazali lokola bato oyo basimbi bipasola mpe bazali kokata banzete kati na zamba.
hacking, like woodsmen who lift axes on thickets of trees,
6 Babuki-buki bililingi nyonso oyo batobola na mabaya, na nzela ya bipasola mpe bamarto na bango;
smashing with hatchets and hammers all of its carved work together.
7 batumbi Esika na Yo ya bule, bakweyisi mpe bakomisi mbindo esika oyo Kombo na Yo evandaka.
They have set your temple on fire, to the very ground they have outraged the place where lives your name.
8 Bazalaki komilobela: « Tokopanza yango nyonso! » Kati na mokili, bazikisi esika nyonso epai wapi bagumbamelaka Nzambe.
They have said in their heart, ‘Let us utterly crush them.’ They have burned all the houses of God in the land.
9 Tozali lisusu komona te bilembo na biso, basakoli bazali lisusu te; mpe moko te kati na biso ayebi tango boni makambo oyo ekowumela.
No symbol of ours do we see any more: no prophet is there any more, none is with us who knows how long.
10 Oh Nzambe, kino tango nini monguna akofinga Yo? Boni, akokoba tango nyonso kotiola Kombo na Yo?
How long, O God, is the foe to insult? Shall the enemy spurn your name forever?
11 Mpo na nini ozongisi loboko na Yo na sima, loboko na Yo ya mobali? Mpo na nini okangi maboko na Yo?
Why, O Lord, do you hold back your hand, why keep your right hand in the folds of your robe?
12 Nzokande, Yo Nzambe, ozali Mokonzi na ngai wuta kala; Yo nde omemaka lobiko kati na mokili.
Yet God is our king from the ancient days, in the midst of the earth working deeds of salvation.
13 Yo nde opasolaki ebale na nguya na Yo, opanzaki mito ya bilima ya mayi;
It was you who did cleave the sea by your might, and shatter the heads of the ocean monsters.
14 Yo nde opanzaki mito ya Leviatani mpe opesaki yango lokola bilei epai ya banyama ya esobe;
It was you who did crush many-headed Leviathan, and give him as food to the beasts of the wilderness.
15 Yo nde osalaki ete bitima ya mayi mpe miluka etiola, mpe okawusaki bibale mpo na libela.
It was you who did cleave the fountains and torrents; it was you who did dry the perennial streams.
16 Moyi ezali ya Yo, butu mpe ezali ya Yo; Yo nde osalaki sanza mpe moyi.
Yours is the day; yours, too, is the night, it was you who did establish the sun and the star.
17 Ezali Yo nde otiaki bandelo nyonso ya mokili, Yo nde osalaki tango ya malili mpe tango ya moyi.
It was you who did fix all the borders of earth: summer and winter it’s you who have made them.
18 Yawe, kobosana te ete monguna afingi Yo, ete bato bazanga tina batioli Kombo na Yo!
Yet, for all this, the foe has insulted you, Lord, and a nation of fools has reviled your name.
19 Kokaba te bomoi ya ebenga na Yo na monoko ya nyama oyo ezali na nzala, kobosana te mpo na libela bomoi ya babola oyo bazali bato na Yo!
Do not give your dove to the beasts, do not forget your afflicted forever.
20 Tala lisusu Boyokani na Yo! Pamba te, kati na mokili, bisika ya molili ekomi ebele, etondi na makambo na kanza.
Look to the sleek ones – how full they are: the dark places of earth are the dwellings of violence.
21 Sala ete moto oyo bazali konyokola azwa lisusu lokumu! Sala ete mobola mpe moto akelela bakumisa Kombo na Yo.
O let not the downtrodden turn back ashamed: let the poor and the needy sing praise to your name.
22 Oh Nzambe, telema mpe lobela Kombo na Yo! Kanisa lisusu ndenge nini bazoba bafingaka Yo mikolo nyonso!
Arise, God, and defend your cause: remember how fools all the day insult you.
23 Kobosana te makelele ya bayini na Yo, mangungu ya banguna na Yo, oyo ezali kaka komata se komata!
Do not forget the uproar of your enemies, the din of your foes that ascends evermore.
