Kung'ong'ola kwa Jeremiya
1 Imwi Yahwe mogala makalulwama,
ha nding'ong'ola ku muli.
Koga ndoshakabhuzwa ngekwe ndebo yangu nditi,
Ini babiibi bebhudilila kene?
Ini basina bugalimoyo bali gele bakashalanduka?
2 Makabadzwala bakamela midzi,
banokula bakazwala mitjelo.
Mogala muli pa milomo yabo,
koga muli kule ne mimoyo yabo.
3 Koga mundiziba imi Yahwe,
mondibona mukalika mikumbulo yangu nge kwenyu.
Mubakwebele kutjena se pkhwizi inonobhayiwa.
Mubabigile ntome mubabigila zhuba le kubhayiwa.
4 Kowotola tjibaka tjingapani shango ili mu tjililo,
ne bushwa gwe shango yose gubuna kene?
Ngoti ibabo banogala muili babiibi,
phuka ne nyuni dzakafa.
Ngoti bathu banoti, “Aatobona bhelelo ledu.”
5 “Ha wakatongo phikidzana ngo labuka ne bathu,
bakamusiya mungaphikidzana ne mbizi tjini wali?
Ha mu shango yakabakililika musakadzikama,
mungatubula tjini mu ishaka tje Jorodani wali?
6 Nanga hama dzenyu iyo ng'umba ya tate benyu,
bakamuthamila bupitipiti,
banolila nge kwenyu,
musitongo bagalabgwe,
nenguba bangamuleba bubuya.
7 “Ndakafupatila ng'umba yangu.
Ndakalasha thaka yangu.
Ndakalonga tjido tje moyo wangu,
mu maboko e zwita zwizwe.
8 Thaka yangu yatjindishandukila,
yonga shumba mu ishaka,
inondibombela,
ndizo ndotjibenga.
9 Apa thaka yangu yotjinga phele kundili,
apa nyuni dzakagupoteleka kugunginilila kene?
Yendani munokubunganya phuka dze shango,
mudzizhise kuti dzowoja.
10 Balisi banjinji bakakolomola nnda wangu we mizhambi,
bakakanyangila pasi gobe langu,
bakathama gobe langu lakanaka
tjilambanyika tjakathukudzika.
11 Bakalithama likathukudzika kwakabangalala,
lolilila kundili.
Shango yose yakathukudzika,
ngono nthu aana hanya nge kwako.
12 Pezhugwi kwe matuthu asina miti mu tjilambanyika,
bakolomoli bazha,
ngoti thumo la Yahwe loja,
akuna nthu wakabakililika.
13 Banowodzwala korong ngono bakavuna mmihwa,
banozwinyadzila suli ngono bakasivune tjimwe.
Banowobhakhwa nge shoni ngekwe zwawavuna,
ngekwe kugwadzamoyo kukulu kwa Yahwe.”
14 Yahwe banoleba ngekwe babakidzani bangu babiibi, ibo banobhatabhata thaka yandakapa bathu bangu Iziraela kuti ibe yabo beti, “Bonani, ndowobadzikunula mu shango yabo ne ng'umba ye Juda ndowoidzikunula pakati kwabo. 15 Ndowoti ndisinokubadzikunula ndowoti kakale abahwila ngoni, abgwiliza mmwe ne mmwe ku thaka iye ne mmwe ne mmwe ku shango iye. 16 Ngono banowoti bezwidiya zila dze bathu bangu, betuna nge zina langu beti, ‘Nge malebeswa Yahwe banotjila,’ sekwa bakadiya bathu bangu kutuna na Bhaale ipapo banowodzikamisiwa pakati kwe bathu bangu. 17 Koga ha itjaba tjimwe tjisingandihwilile ipapo ndowotjidzikunula tjoselele atjikolomodza, kojalo Yahwe.”
Jeremiah Questions the Lord
1 “Lord, if I argued my case with you,
you would prove to be right.
Yet I must question you about matters of justice.
Why are the wicked so prosperous?
Why do dishonest people succeed?
2 You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and bear fruit.
They always speak well of you,
yet they do not really care about you.
3 But, Lord, you know me;
you see what I do
and how I love you.
Drag these evil people away like sheep to be butchered;
guard them until it is time for them to be slaughtered.
4 How long will our land be dry,
and the grass in every field be withered?
Animals and birds are dying
because of the wickedness of our people,
people who say, ‘God doesn't see what we are doing.’”
5 The Lord said,
“Jeremiah, if you get tired racing against people,
how can you race against horses?
If you can't even stand up in open country,
how will you manage in the jungle by the Jordan?
6 Even your relatives, members of your own family, have betrayed you;
they join in the attacks against you.
Do not trust them, even though they speak friendly words.”
The Lord's Sorrow because of His People
7 The Lord says,
“I have abandoned Israel;
I have rejected my chosen nation.
I have given the people I love
into the power of their enemies.
8 My chosen people have turned against me;
like a lion in the forest
they have roared at me,
and so I hate them.
9 My chosen people are like a bird
attacked from all sides by hawks.
Call the wild animals
to come and join in the feast!
10 Many foreign rulers have destroyed my vineyard;
they have trampled down my fields;
they have turned my lovely land into a desert.
11 They have made it a wasteland;
it lies desolate before me.
The whole land has become a desert,
and no one cares.
12 Across all the desert highlands
people have come to plunder.
I have sent war to destroy the entire land;
no one can live in peace.
13 My people planted wheat, but gathered weeds;
they have worked hard, but got nothing for it.
Because of my fierce anger
their crops have failed.”
The Lord's Promise to Israel's Neighbors
14 The Lord says, “I have something to say about Israel's neighbors who have ruined the land I gave to my people Israel. I will take those wicked people away from their countries like an uprooted plant, and I will rescue Judah from them. 15 But after I have taken them away, I will have mercy on them; I will bring each nation back to its own land and to its own country. 16 If with all their hearts they will accept the religion of my people and will swear, ‘As the Lord lives’—as they once taught my people to swear by Baal—then they will also be a part of my people and will prosper. 17 But if any nation will not obey, then I will completely uproot it and destroy it. I, the Lord, have spoken.”