A Prayer for Protection
1 With our own ears we have heard it, O God—
our ancestors have told us about it,
about the great things you did in their time,
in the days of long ago:
2 how you yourself drove out the heathen
and established your people in their land;
how you punished the other nations
and caused your own to prosper.
3 Your people did not conquer the land with their swords;
they did not win it by their own power;
it was by your power and your strength,
by the assurance of your presence,
which showed that you loved them.
4 You are my king and my God;
you give victory to your people,
5 and by your power we defeat our enemies.
6 I do not trust in my bow
or in my sword to save me;
7 but you have saved us from our enemies
and defeated those who hate us.
8 We will always praise you
and give thanks to you forever.
9 But now you have rejected us and let us be defeated;
you no longer march out with our armies.
10 You made us run from our enemies,
and they took for themselves what was ours.
11 You allowed us to be slaughtered like sheep;
you scattered us in foreign countries.
12 You sold your own people for a small price
as though they had little value.
13 Our neighbors see what you did to us,
and they mock us and laugh at us.
14 You have made us a joke among the nations;
they shake their heads at us in scorn.
15 I am always in disgrace;
I am covered with shame
16 from hearing the sneers and insults
of my enemies and those who hate me.
17 All this has happened to us,
even though we have not forgotten you
or broken the covenant you made with us.
18 We have not been disloyal to you;
we have not disobeyed your commands.
19 Yet you left us helpless among wild animals;
you abandoned us in deepest darkness.
20 If we had stopped worshiping our God
and prayed to a foreign god,
21 you would surely have discovered it,
because you know our secret thoughts.
22 But it is on your account that we are being killed all the time,
that we are treated like sheep to be slaughtered.
23 Wake up, Lord! Why are you asleep?
Rouse yourself! Don't reject us forever!
24 Why are you hiding from us?
Don't forget our suffering and trouble!
25 We fall crushed to the ground;
we lie defeated in the dust.
26 Come to our aid!
Because of your constant love save us!
Mätu Ŋgagaga ta
1 Äye OPI, merite bi amaro si,
zutui amaro itiyi ta
ŋgase miyebe tu ànyaro si,
tui se kyeno kai si ana tana te ämäri:
2 mbara miro si minja tu'dei te tesi
ago mi'ba lidri miro te orine 'bädri ànyaro ya;
nyeza tu'dei azaka te
ago mi'ba lidri miro te kandrakado be.
3 Lidri miro ru 'bädri kote bandoi ànyaro si;
ànya peyi ŋga kote ṛe mbara modo ànya ro rosi;
oko aṛi miro ndi mbara miro be si,
ago a'do lototi miro rosi,
tana nyulu ànya tawi.
4 Mi orivoya 'Bädri'ba maro ago Lu maro;
nya ni ŋgaopeṛe ozo lidri miro ri.
5 Mbara miro si mànja kyila'baazii amaro te.
6 Tana mayi ta ko kusu maro ya.
Ca bando maro ni ko ma opane.
7 Oko mipa ama te ni kyila'baazii amaro ri
ago mipe ànya se yana kabe oso ama lomvo te ṛe.
8 Mä̀räṛuna mi Lu 'da ondoalo
ago mòzona aro'boya 'da miri äduako.
9 Oko yauono miga ama tezo ago mi'ba ape ama te ṛe;
nyaba kote toni kyila'bai amaro be.
10 Mi'ba ama te umune ni kyila'baazii amaro ri,
ago ànya ruyi ŋgase amaro te ànyari.
11 Mi'ba ama te olone oso timele ronye;
ago nyepere ama te 'bädri atrairo yasi.
12 Migye lidri miro te lagye fereŋwa si
miti lagye ànyaro kote amba.
13 Mi'ba ama te ugune oriazii amaro ri,
ago ànya 'doloyi ama te ago 'dayi ama te.
14 Mi'ba ama te 'dolo'dolo ro tu'dei lako;
ànya ŋgyiṛiyidri ànyaro te ama lomvo ugu si.
15 Ma ondoalo tusuro;
ago driupi ro
16 ni läguugu ndi la'dalo'da kyila'baazii maro
ndi ànya se yanayi kabe oso malomvo risi.
17 Ŋgase cini ono a'dote ämäri,
mìje ta miro gica ko
ago mèpere tao'baro miro ca ko owo.
18 Mà'do kote taŋgyeako miri;
ca märi kote otai miro oroako.
19 Nyoronyo ama te koronyai vocowaro lako;
ago nye'be ama te voociekye uniro ya.
20 Ondro ka'do mä̀mätu Lu amaro kote
ago mä̀mätu te lu atra ayani,
21 inye'do Lu usuna vona ko ya?
Tana nda ni tavousu dämbidämbiro amaro te.
22 Oko ta miro ta utufu ama te tu cini si,
ago aye ama te oso timele ufuro ronye.
23 Andivo miro miŋga! Nya u'du etaya Äye OPI?
Mipi mi! Miga ama ko zo äduako.
24 Nya ugu ruda'do ni ämäri etaya?
Nya rueza amaro ndi rriti be tana ije etaya?
25 Mà'dete durufu ya;
mèlebete gyini.
26 Miŋga nyikyi ama opane!
ta ŋgalu 'duro miro rota mipa ama.