Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah
1 King Nebuchadnezzar had a large army made up of people from every kingdom in his empire. He and his army were attacking Jerusalem and all the nearby towns, when the Lord told me 2 to say to King Zedekiah:
I am the Lord, and I am going to let Nebuchadnezzar capture this city and burn it down. 3 You will be taken prisoner and brought to Nebuchadnezzar, and he will speak with you face to face. Then you will be led away to Babylonia.
4 Zedekiah, I promise that you won't die in battle. 5 You will die a peaceful death. People will mourn when you die, and they will light bonfires in your honor, just as they did for your ancestors, the kings who ruled before you.
6 I went to Zedekiah and told him what the Lord had said. 7 Meanwhile, the king of Babylonia was trying to break through the walls of Lachish, Azekah, and Jerusalem, the only three towns of Judah that had not been captured.
The People Break a Promise
8-10 King Zedekiah, his officials, and everyone else in Jerusalem made an agreement to free all Hebrew men and women who were slaves. No Jew would keep another as a slave. And so, all the Jewish slaves were given their freedom.
11 But those slave owners changed their minds and forced their former slaves back into slavery.
12 That's when the Lord told me to say to the people:
13 I am the Lord God of Israel, and I made an agreement with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, where they had been slaves. 14 As part of this agreement, you must let a Hebrew slave go free after six years of service.
Your ancestors did not obey me, 15-16 but you decided to obey me and do the right thing by setting your Hebrew slaves completely free. You even went to my temple, and in my name you made an agreement to set them free. But you have abused my name, because you broke that agreement and forced your former slaves back into slavery.
17 You have disobeyed me by not giving your slaves their freedom. So I will give you freedom—the freedom to die in battle or from disease or hunger. I will make you disgusting to all other nations on earth.
18 You asked me to be a witness when you made the agreement to set your slaves free. And as part of the ceremony you cut a calf into two parts, then walked between the parts. But you people of Jerusalem have broken that agreement as well as my agreement with Israel. So I will do to you what you did to that calf. 19-20 I will let your enemies take all of you prisoner, including the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the royal officials, the priests, and everyone else who walked between the two parts of the calf. These enemies will kill you and leave your bodies lying on the ground as food for birds and wild animals.
21-22 These enemies are King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army. They have stopped attacking Jerusalem, but they want to kill King Zedekiah and his high officials. So I will command them to return and attack again. This time they will conquer the city and burn it down, and they will capture Zedekiah and his officials. I will also let them destroy the towns of Judah, so that no one can live there any longer.
Jenjedzo kuna Zedekiya
1 Dama lakazha kuna Jeremiya lidwa kuna Yahwe, tjibaka Nebukadineza mambo we Bhabhiloni ne ngwa iye yose ne mibuso yose mu shango yakabe ili pasi kukwe ne bathu bose bakabe begwa ne Jerusalema ne mizi yayo yose lakazha liti, 2 “Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela bakati yenda unolebeleka na Zedekiya mambo we Juda uti, Yahwe banolebeleka bakati, ‘Bona ndolonga nzi nkulu iwoyu mu luboko gwe mambo we Bhabhiloni ngono unowoupisa nge moto. 3 Autosiya mu luboko gugwe nge malebeswa unowotapiwa ukalongwa mu luboko gugwe, unowobona mambo we Bhabhiloni makalingisana ku mesho ngono unowotolegwa ku Bhabhiloni.’ 4 Koga ihwa dama la Yahwe iwe Zedekiya mambo we Juda! Yahwe bakati nge kuko, ‘Autobulawa nge thumo! 5 Unowofa lubuya. Koga sekwa zwipayisi zwakapisigwa bobatategulu babo, bomambo bekutanga bakazha mbeli kuko ne bathu banowokupisilabo zwipayisi bakakulila beti, “Yee mme wee imwi tetshi!” Ngoti ndaleba dama ilele,’ kojalo Yahwe.”
6 Ipapo Jeremiya nlebesambeli kaleba matama wose iyawa kuna Zedekiya mambo we Juda mu Jerusalema, 7 tjibaka ngwa ya mambo we Bhabhiloni yakabe ibhayana ne Jerusalema nenge mizi yose ye Juda yakabeyasala, mizi ye Lakhishi ne Azeka, ngoti ndiyo mizi koga ye matizhilo e Juda yakabeyasala.
Kusunungugwa kwe balanda
8 Dama lakazha kuna Jeremiya lidwa kuna Yahwe, Zedekiya asinothama tjidumano ne bathu bose mu Jerusalema kuti kulebgwe kuti kusunungugwe balanda, 9 kuti mmwe ne mmwe asunungule nlada uwe we Nhebheru ali we tjilume kene we tjikadzi kuti kushete walonga hama iye ye N'juta mu busungwa. 10 Ndizo makulukota wose ne bathu bakadumana nge tjidumano itjetji bakaduma kuti banowosunungula balume ne bakadzi be balanda bakasitjibalonge mu busungwa, bakaduma ngono bakabasunungula. 11 Ngono ngwenu kukati shule bakashanduka bakatola balanda be tjilume ne tjikadzi babakabe basunungula ngono bakabathama basungwa kakale.
12 Ipapo dama la Yahwe likazha kuna Jeremiya lidwa kuna Yahwe liti, 13 “Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela bakati, ‘Ndakathama tjidumano na bobatategulu babo tjibaka tjandakabadusa mu shango ye Egipiti mu ng'umba ye busungwa nditi, 14 “Mu gole limwe ne limwe le butendeka mmwe ne mmwe wenyu wakafanila sunungula Nhebheru naye waakatengesegwa ngono akakushingila bulanda makole ali matathatu, wakafanila kuti unsunungule mu kukushingila kukwe.” ’ Koga bobatategulu benyu abazonditeedza kene kuli kundibhulutana. 15 Ngono imwi mabe mashanduka mathama tjakalulwama mbeli kwangu ngoleba kuti kusunungugwe balanda, mmwe ne mmwe kuna wa kanyi kwabo. Makathama tjidumano mbeli kwangu mu ng'umba inodang'wa nge zina langu. 16 Koga kudwapo mube mupituka muzhadza shambgwa zina langu tjibaka mmwe ne mmwe wenyu awotjitola balanda babe be tjilume ne be tjikadzi bamakabe masunungulila kuyenda kwa banoshaka. Makabakombeledza kuti babe balanda kakale.”
17 Ndizo Yahwe bakati, “Amuzondibhulutana, amuzoleba sununguko ku hama dzenyu. Ndizoke ngwenu ndoleba sununguko. Sununguko ye kuti mupiwe thumo ne bugwele ne bhamba kojalo Yahwe. Ndowokuthama tjithu tjinopalusa moyo ku mibuso yose ye shango. 18 Balume bakatjinya tjidumano tjangu bakasilondolodze milawana ye tjidumano tjabakathama mbeli kwangu, ndowothama se phulu yabakathubukanya kabili ngono bakayenda pakati kwe makwamu atjo mabili. 19 Batungamili be Juda ne Jerusalema ne bashingi be misha ne bapirisiti ne bathu bose mu shango banoyenda bakapalama pakati kwe phulu, 20 ndowobalonga mu luboko gwe zwita zwabo izo zwinoshaka kubabulaya. Zwitumbu zwabo zowobe zojiwa zwe nyuni dze phepo ne phuka dze shango.
21 “Ndowolonga Zedekiya mambo we Juda ne makulukota awe mu luboko gwe tjita tjabo ne mu maboko aibabo banoshaka kubabulaya ne mu luboko gwe ngwa ya mambo we Bhabhiloni iyo yakazwilulwamisa ngono bakamuletja. 22 Bonani ndowodusa ndaulo kojalo Yahwe ngono ndowobabgwiliza mu nzi nkulu iwoyu. Banowogwa nawo bakautola bakaupisa nge moto. Ndowothama mizi mikulu ye Juda kuti ibe matongo asina n'gali.”