Jeremiah's Letter to the People of Judah in Babylonia
1-2 I had been left in Jerusalem when King Nebuchadnezzar took many of the people of Jerusalem and Judah to Babylonia as prisoners, including King Jehoiachin, his mother, his officials, and the metal workers and others in Jerusalem who were skilled in making things. So I wrote a letter to the priests, the prophets, the leaders, and the rest of our people in Babylonia. 3 I gave the letter to Elasah and Gemariah, two men that King Zedekiah of Judah was sending to Babylon to talk with Nebuchadnezzar. In the letter, I wrote 4 that the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said:
I had you taken from Jerusalem to Babylonia. Now I tell you 5 to settle there and build houses. Plant gardens and eat what you grow in them. 6 Get married and have children, then help your sons find wives and help your daughters find husbands, so they can have children as well. I want your numbers to grow, not to get smaller.
7 Pray for peace in Babylonia and work hard to make it prosperous. The more successful that nation is, the better off you will be.
8-9 Some of your people there in Babylonia are fortunetellers, and you have asked them to tell you what will happen in the future. But they will only lead you astray with their dreams. And don't let the prophets fool you, either. They speak in my name, but they are liars. I have not spoken to them.
10 After Babylonia has been the strongest nation for 70 years, I will be kind and bring you back to Jerusalem, just as I have promised. 11 I will bless you with a future filled with hope—a future of success, not of suffering. 12 You will turn back to me and ask for help, and I will answer your prayers. 13 You will worship me with all your heart, and I will be with you 14 and accept your worship. Then I will gather you from all the nations where I scattered you, and you will return to Jerusalem.
15 You feel secure, because you think I have sent prophets to speak for me in Babylonia.
16-19 But I have been sending prophets to the people of Judah for a long time, and the king from David's family and the people who are left in Jerusalem and Judah still don't obey me. So I, the Lord All-Powerful, will keep attacking them with war and hunger and disease, until they are as useless as rotten figs. I will force them to leave the land, and all nations will be disgusted and shocked at what happens to them. The nations will sneer and make fun of them and use the names “Judah” and “Jerusalem” as curse words.
And you have not obeyed me, even though 20 I had you taken from Jerusalem to Babylonia. But you had better listen to me now. 21-23 You think Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah are prophets because they claim to speak for me. But they are lying! I haven't told them anything. They are also committing other horrible sins in your community, such as sleeping with the wives of their friends. So I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar, who will put them to death while the rest of you watch. And in the future, when you want to put a curse on someone, you will say, “I pray that the Lord will kill you in the same way the king of Babylonia burned Zedekiah and Ahab to death!”
A Message for Shemaiah
24-25 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, told me what would happen to Shemaiah, who was one of our people in Babylonia. After my letter reached Babylonia, Shemaiah wrote letters to the people of Jerusalem, including the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and the other priests. The letter to Zephaniah said:
26 After the death of Jehoiada the priest, the Lord chose you to be the priest in charge of the temple security force. You know that anyone who acts crazy and pretends to be a prophet should be arrested and put in chains and iron collars. 27 Jeremiah from the town of Anathoth is pretending to be a prophet there in Jerusalem, so why haven't you punished him? 28 He even wrote a letter to the people here in Babylonia, saying we would be here a long time. He told us to build homes and to plant gardens and grow our own food.
29 When Zephaniah received Shemaiah's letter, he read it to me. 30 Then the Lord told me what to write in a second letter 31 to the people of Judah who had been taken to Babylonia. In this letter, I wrote that the Lord had said:
I, the Lord, have not chosen Shemaiah to be one of my prophets, and he has misled you by telling lies in my name. 32 He has even talked you into disobeying me. So I will punish Shemaiah. He and his descendants won't live to see the good things I will do for my people. I, the Lord, have spoken.
Lukwalo kuna bakatapiwa
1 Awa matama e lukwalo gwa Jeremiya nlebesambeli gwaakatumilila sholotjena dzakatapiwa ne bapirisiti ne balebesambeli ne bathu bose bakabe batapiwa ndi Nebukadineza mu Jerusalema ebayisa ku Bhabhiloni. 2 Ikoku kwakabe kuli shule kwa Mambo Jekoniya na mme ba mambo ne ngomwa ne makulukota e Juda ne Jerusalema ne babezhi ne bathuli be butale basinotapiwa mu Jerusalema. 3 Lukwalo gwakayisiwa nge luboko ndi Eliyasa nkololo wa Shafani na Gemariya nkololo wa Hilikiya ibo Zedekiya mambo we Juda baakabe abatumila ku Bhabhiloni kuna Mambo Nebukadineza guti, 4 “Yahwe Masimbawose Ndzimu we Iziraela bakati ku batapiwa bose babakatapa mu Jerusalema bebatapila ku Bhabhiloni, 5 ‘Bakani ng'umba mugale mu dzili, limani minda muje zwavung'wa muili. 6 Lobolani mube ne bakololo ne bakololokadzi, lobolelani bakololo benyu, lobodzani bakololokadzi benyu kuti ndizo bazwale bakololo ne bakololokadzi, wandani ikoko musitapudzike. 7 Shakani kunyalala mu nzi nkulu wandakamutapila ku uli, muutembezelele kuna Yahwe ngoti aubhudilila namwi mowobhudilila.’ 8 Ngoti Yahwe Masimbawose Ndzimu we Iziraela bakati, ‘Musiletje balebesambeli benyu ne bakandili bapakati kwenyu bakamutjebela. Musidume mawoloto amunobakulumbidza kuti babe nawo. 9 Banomulebelambeli manyepkhwa nge zina langu, andizobatuma,’ kojalo Yahwe.
10 “Ngoti Yahwe bakati, ‘Kowoti makole ali makumi ali kutenda (70) asinopinda e Bhabhiloni, ndowomukumba ngono amushingikadzila kugalabgwe kwangu amubgwiliza mu bugalo igogu. 11 Ngoti ndoziba ndongoloso yandinayo nge kwenyu, ndongoloso yekumuthama kuti mubhudilile kusi kumuthamila tjakabipa, ndongoloso ye kumugadzabgwe ne kube ne bumangwana,’ kojalo Yahwe. 12 ‘Ipapo mowondidana mukazha mukawonditembezela ngono ndowomuteedza. 13 Mowondishaka ngono mowondibona, amundishaka nge mimoyo yenyu yose, 14 ndowobong'wa ndimwi,’ koleba Yahwe. ‘Ndowoshandula kutapiwa kwenyu, ndowomukubunganya kudwa mu zwitjaba zose ne magalo wose andakamutatila kuali,’ koleba Yahwe. ‘Ndowomubgwiliza mu bugalo gwandakamudusa ndimuyisa mu kutapiwa.’
15 “Amuti, ‘Yahwe bakatimusila balebesambeli mu Bhabhiloni,’ 16 koga etji nditjo tjinolebgwa ndi Yahwe ngekwe mambo ugele mu tjigalo tje bumambo tja Dafite ne ngekwe bathu bose bakasala mu nzi iwoyo nkulu, hama dzenyu dzisakayenda namwi mu kutapiwa, 17 ee Yahwe Masimbawose bakati, ‘Bonani, ndobatumilila thumo ne bhamba ne bugwele, ndowobathama kuti bange phaya dzakabola dzisingake dzikajiwa. 18 Ndowobatatamila nge thumo ne bhamba ne bugwele ngono ndowobathama tjithu tjinopalusa ku mibuso yose ye shango, kuti babe bhiso, ne kudziyidzika ne madado ne kulengudzika pakati kwe zwitjaba zwandinobatatila ku zwili. 19 Ngoti abazohwa matama angu,’ koleba Yahwe, ‘matama andakatumila ndipaphulula nge balebesambeli balanda bangu, koga bakasiteedze,’ koleba Yahwe.
20 “Ndizo ke, ihwani dama la Yahwe, imwi batapiwa bandakadusa mu Jerusalema ndibayisa ku Bhabhiloni. 21 Tjinolebgwa ndi Yahwe Masimbawose Ndzimu we Iziraela ngekwa Ahabu nkololo wa Kolaya na Zedekiya nkololo wa Maseya ibo bakalebesambeli manyepkhwa ku muli nge zina langu ndiyetji, ‘Bonani, ndowobalonga mu luboko gwa Nebukadineza mambo we Bhabhiloni ngono unobabulaya mbeli kwenyu. 22 Ngoti nge kwabo batapiwa bose be Juda baku Bhabhiloni banowoshingisa bhiso ileli beti, “Yahwe ngabathame sekwa bakathama na Zedekiya na Ahabu ibo mambo we Bhabhiloni babakapisila mu moto.” 23 Ngoti bakathama mabhatisa shoni mu Iziraela, bakathama bupongwe ne bakadzi be babakidzani babo, kakale bakaleba nge zina langu matama e manyepkhwa andisakabadwa. Ndimi ndinoziba kakale ndimi ntendeki nge kwako,’ kojalo Yahwe.”
Lukwalo gunoyenda kuna Shemaya
24 Shemaya we Nehelamu iye un'dwe uti, 25 “Yahwe Masimbawose Ndzimu we Iziraela bakati, unotumila hwalo nge zina lilo ku bathu bose mu Jerusalema ne kuna Zefaniya nkololo wa Maasiya we mpirisiti ne ku bamwe bapirisiti uti, 26 ‘Yahwe bakubiga mpirisiti mu bumo gwa Jehoyada we mpirisiti, kuti ndizo ube ntungamili mu Ng'umba ya Yahwe kuti utungamile nlume mmwe ne mmwe unopenga unozwithama nlebesambeli kuti unkwebele mu bhangwana ne mu ketani dze ntshibha. 27 Ini ngono usatjemela Jeremiya we Anatoti wakalebesambeli kukuli? 28 Wakatumila ndayidzo iyeyi kutili ku Bhabhiloni eti, “Kutapiwa kwenyu kowotola tjibaka tjilefu, bakani ng'umba mu gale mu dzili, limani muje zojiwa zwenyu zwamavuna.” ’ ”
29 Zafaniya we mpirisiti kabala lukwalo mu zebe dza Jeremiya we nlebesambeli. 30 Ipapo dama la Yahwe likazha kuna Jeremiya liti, 31 “Tumila batapiwa bose matama anoti, ‘Yahwe bakati ngekwa Shemaya we Nehelamu, “Ngoti Shemaya wakamulebeselambeli ndisantuma, kamuthama kuti mugalabgwe manyepkhwa,” ndizo Yahwe bakati, “Bonani ndowoloba shamu Shemaya we Nehelamu ne zwizekugwana zwizwe zose, akutobe ne ng'ompela wabo unowosala pakati kwe bathu ibaba kakale aatowobona zwithu zwibuya zwandinowothamila bathu bangu, kojalo Yahwe, ngoti wakaandamisa bupanduki kubhayana nami.” ’ ” 32