Jeremiya unotshusidzigwa kubulawa
1 Mukutangisa kwe kubusa kwa Jehoyakimu nkololo wa Josiya, mambo we Juda, dama ileli lakadwa kuna Yahwe liti, 2 “Yahwe bakati, ‘Yenda ume mu nsha we Ng'umba ya Yahwe ngono usumikile ku mizi mikulu yose ye Juda inozha kuwonamata mu Ng'umba ya Yahwe matama andinokudwa kuti ualebe, usitongo siya ndodwa ne dama ling'ompela. 3 Pamwe swiyo bangateedza mmwe ne mmwe wabo kashandukila zila iye mbiimbi. Ipapo abuza moyo asizhise mbatsha dzandabe ndakalongolosa ngekwe mishingo yabo mibiibi yabakathama.’
4 “Ubadwe uti, ‘Yahwe bakati: Amusinga nditeedze, mukatobela nlayo wangu wandakabiga mbeli kwenyu, 5 kakale amusingateedze matama e balanda bangu balebesambeli ibo bandakatumila kumuli ndipaphulula nenguba musakabateedza, 6 ipapo ndowothama ng'umba iyeyi ikanga Shilo, ndowothama nzi nkulu iwoyu bhiso mu zwitjaba zose zwe shango.’ ” 7 Bapirisiti ne balebesambeli ne bathu bose bakahwa Jeremiya elebeleka matama iyawa mu Ng'umba ya Yahwe. 8 Ngono Jeremiya wakati apedza lebeleka kose kwaadwiwa ndi Yahwe kuti akubudze bathu, bapirisiti ne balebesambeli ne bathu bose bakambhata bakati, “Wakafanila kufa! 9 Ini usumikila nge zina la Yahwe uti, ‘Ng'umba iyeyi inowonga Shilo ne nzi nkulu iwoyu unowobe dongo usina bagali muuli kene?’ ” Ipapo bathu bose bakakomba Jeremiya mu Ng'umba ya Yahwe.
10 Kwakati makulukota e Juda behwa ngekwe zwithu izwezwi, bakazha bedwa ku ng'umba ya mambo bezha ku Ng'umba ya Yahwe bakagala pa nkoba we Nkoba ntshwa we Ng'umba ya Yahwe. 11 Ipapo bapirisiti ne balebesambeli bakabe bedwa makulukota ne bathu bose beti, “Nlume iwoyu wakafanila kusumikilisigwa lufu ngoti wasumikila ebhayana ne nzi nkulu iwoyu koga sekwa mazwihwigwa nge zibe dzenyu.”
12 Ipapo Jeremiya kalebeleka ne makulukota ne bathu bose eti, “Yahwe bandituma kuti ndisumikile ngekwe ng'umba ne nzi nkulu iwoyu matama wose amahwa. 13 Ndizo ke, lulwamisani zila dzenyu ne mishingo yenyu mubhulutana hwi la Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu ngono Yahwe banowobuza moyo mu mbatsha dzabamulingisanya. 14 Koga nge kwangu, bonani, ndi mu maboko enyu. Thamani nge kwangu tjamunobona tjakamunakila kakale tjakamululwamila. 15 Koga makafanila zibani nge lebeswa kuti amundibulaya, mozwitilika nlandu we lopa lisina nlandu imwi ne nzi nkulu ne bagali bawo, ngoti nge malebeswa Yahwe bakandituma ku muli kuti ndilebeleke matama wose iyawa mu zebe dzenyu.”
16 Ipapo makulukota ne bathu bose bakadwa bapirisiti ne balebesambeli beti, “Nlume iwoyu aazofanila kusumikiligwa lufu ngoti walebeleka naswi nge zina la Yahwe Ndzimu wedu.” 17 Sholotjena dzimwe dze shango dzikamilika dzikalebeleka ne gubungano lose le bathu dziti, 18 “Mika we Moresheti wakalebesambeli mu mazhuba a Hezekiya mambo we Juda, edwa bathu bose be Juda eti,
“ ‘Yahwe Masimbawose bakati:
Ziyoni inowoligwa se nnda,
Jerusalema inowobe duluthulu le magwada,
Dombo le Ng'umba ye Ndzimu lowobe ishaka.’
19 “Apa Hezekiya mambo we Juda ne Juda yose bakambulaya kene? Apa aazotja Yahwe kakumbila mahwilongoni muna Yahwe, ngono Yahwe bakabuza moyo mukuthama mbhatsha dzabakabe babalingisanya kene? Koga iswi toshaka kuzwizhisila mbatsha dzingapa kene!”
20 Kwakabe kuna nlume wakabe elebesambeli nge zina la Yahwe edang'wa Uriya nkololo wa Shemaya kudwa ku Kiriatijarimu. Wakalebesambeli ngekwe nzi nkulu iwoyu ne ngekwe shango iyeyi nge matama anonga a Jeremiya. 21 Ngono kwakati Mambo Jehoyakimu ne babhayani babe bose ne makulukota wose behwa matama awe wose, mambo kashaka kumbulaya, kukati Uriya ehwa nge kwako katja ngono katizha katizhila ku Egipiti. 22 Ipapo Mambo Jehoyakimu katuma balume bo Elinathani nkololo wa Akibori ne bamwe ku Egipiti, 23 bakanotola Uriya ku Egipiti bakan'zhisa kuna Mambo Jehoyakimu, iye kambulaya ne thumo kalashila itumbu tjitje ku makomba e bathu koga.
24 Koga Ahikamu nkololo wa Shafani kama na Jeremiya, ndizo kasilongwe mu maboko e bathu kuti abulawe.
Jeremiah's Message in the Temple
(Jeremiah 7.1-15)1 Soon after Jehoiakim became king of Judah, the Lord said:
2 Jeremiah, I have a message for everyone who comes from the towns of Judah to worship in my temple. Go to the temple courtyard and speak every word that I tell you. 3 Maybe the people will listen this time. And if they stop doing wrong, I will change my mind and not punish them for their sins. 4 Tell them that I have said:
You have refused to listen to me and to obey my laws and teachings. 5 Again and again I have sent my servants the prophets to preach to you, but you ignored them as well. Now I am warning you that if you don't start obeying me at once, 6 I will destroy this temple, just as I destroyed the town of Shiloh. Then everyone on earth will use the name “Jerusalem” as a curse word.
Jeremiah on Trial
7 The priests, the prophets, and everyone else in the temple heard what I said, 8-9 and as soon as I finished, they all crowded around me and started shouting, “Why did you preach that the Lord will destroy this temple, just as he destroyed Shiloh? Why did you say that Jerusalem will be empty and lie in ruins? You ought to be put to death for saying such things in the Lord's name!” Then they had me arrested.
10 The royal officers heard what had happened, and they came from the palace to the new gate of the temple to be the judges at my trial. 11 While they listened, the priests and the prophets said to the crowd, “All of you have heard Jeremiah prophesy that Jerusalem will be destroyed. He deserves the death penalty.”
12-13 Then I told the judges and everyone else:
The Lord himself sent me to tell you about the terrible things he will do to you, to Jerusalem, and to the temple. But if you change your ways and start obeying the Lord, he will change his mind.
14 You must decide what to do with me. Just do whatever you think is right. 15 But if you put me to death, you and everyone else in Jerusalem will be guilty of murdering an innocent man, because everything I preached came from the Lord.
16 The judges and the other people told the priests and prophets, “Since Jeremiah only told us what the Lord our God had said, we don't think he deserves to die.”
17 Then some of the leaders from other towns stepped forward. They told the crowd that 18 years ago when Hezekiah was king of Judah, a prophet named Micah from the town of Moresheth had said:
“I, the Lord All-Powerful, say
Jerusalem will be plowed under
and left in ruins.
Thorns will cover the mountain
where the temple
now stands.”
19 Then the leaders continued:
No one put Micah to death for saying that. Instead, King Hezekiah prayed to the Lord with fear and trembling and asked him to have mercy. Then the Lord decided not to destroy Jerusalem, even though he had already said he would.
People of Judah, if Jeremiah is killed, we will bring a terrible disaster on ourselves.
20-24 After these leaders finished speaking, an important man named Ahikam son of Shaphan spoke up for me as well. And so, I wasn't handed over to the crowd to be killed.
Uriah the Prophet
While Jehoiakim was still king of Judah, a man named Uriah son of Shemaiah left his hometown of Kiriath-Jearim and came to Jerusalem. Uriah was one of the Lord's prophets, and he was saying the same things about Judah and Jerusalem that I had been saying. And when Jehoiakim and his officials and military officers heard what Uriah said, they tried to arrest him, but he escaped to Egypt. So Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Achbor and some other men after Uriah, and they brought him back. Then Jehoiakim had Uriah killed and his body dumped in a common burial pit.