Zhala ne bhamba ne thumo
1 Dama la Yahwe lakazha kuna Jeremiya ngekwe zhala liti,
2 “Juda inolila,
mikoba yayo yakawomelela,
inolilila shango,
tjililo tjohwika kudwa mu Jerusalema.
3 Banokudziwa banotuma balanda babo kunotjela vula,
banoswika ku matshime ngono bakashaya vula,
banobgwilila ne hali dzabo dzisina tjimwe,
bakaswaba bakabhapkhwa nge shoni,
bakazwifukidza misholo yabo.
4 Ngoti shango yakakwakwalala,
ngoti kusina vula mu shango,
balimi banobhakhwa nge shoni,
bakazwifukidza misholo yabo.
5 Nanga phala mu shango inofupatila bana bayo,
ngoti kusina bushwa.
6 Madonki e shango amile mu matuthu asina miti,
anofema phepo akalembedza lulimi se phungubgwe,
mesho awo aatjabonesesa,
ngoti akuna fulo.
7 “Nenguba matjinyo edu epa butendeki nge kwedu,
bhatshani kaa Yahwe ngekwe zina lenyu,
ngoti kuyenda tiwa kwedu ku njinji
takamutjinyila.
8 Imwi kugalabgwe kwe Iziraela,
ntjidzi wayo mu tjibaka tje mang'oni,
ini mungabe se ntaya mu shango,
se mwezi unolala gwe hwope koga kene?
9 Ini munga nthu wapelegwa nge nkumbulo,
se mbhayani wakasima usingake kabhatsha wali?
Koga imwi Yahwe mupakati kwedu,
kakale todang'wa nge zina lenyu,
musitifupatile.”
10 Yahwe bakati ngekwe bathu ibaba,
“Bakada kudziyidzika sa ikoko,
abazodziba makumbo abo,
ndizo Yahwe abatobaamutjila,
ngwenu banowokumbula matjinyo abo,
ngono banowobaloba shamu ngekwe zwibi zwabo.”
11 Yahwe bakandidwa bakati, “Usitongotembezelela mamuko e bathu ibaba. 12 Kene bakazwinyima zojiwa, anditohwa tjililo tjabo kene bakadusa tjibhayilo tjinopisiwa ne tjibhayilo tje tjipo andingazwiamutjile koga ndowozwikolomodza nge thumo nenge bhamba ne bugwele.”
13 Ipapo ndakati, “Awo, She Yahwe, bonani balebesambeli banobadwa beti, ‘Amutowobona thumo kene mukabe mu bhamba, koga ndowomupa kunyalala kwakapelela mu magalo iyawa.’ ” 14 Yahwe bakandidwa bakati, “Balebesambeli banolebeselambeli manyepkhwa nge zina langu, andizobatuma kene kuli kubadwa tjimwe kene kuti balebeleke nabo. Banolebesambeli kukuli mbono ye manyepkhwa ne bung'anga ne butjebeli gwe mikumbulo yabo. 15 Ndizo Yahwe bakati ngekwe balebesambeli banolebesambeli mu zina langu nenguba ndisakabatuma beti, ‘Thumo ne bhamba azwitowozha mu shango iyeyi,’ nge thumo ne bhamba balebesambeli ibabo banowoloba. 16 Ngono ku bathu babanolebesela mbeli banowoposegwa mu dzizila dze Jerusalema zwitumbu zwafa zwibulawa nge bhamba ne thumo ngono kusina ungababiganya, bakadzi babo ne bakololo babo be bakololokadzi babo. Ndowotebulila bubi gwabo pezhugwi kwabo. Ngono ubabudze dama yeli,
17 “Mesho angu ngaaunge mishodzi siku ne sikati,
‘Ngono ngaisitongoma,
ngoti mwanadi tjianadi tje bathu bangu tjabe ne banga lisishoma,
walobgwa kukulukulu kwazo.
18 Ha ndibhudila ku shango,
bonani ndowana bakalobgwa nge thumo!
Ha ndingina mu nzi nkulu,
bonani, njigwele dzinozhisiwa ne bhamba!
Ngoti nlebesambeli ne mpirisiti banozwithamila zwithu zwabo,
mu shango basina hwisiso yakwako.’ ”
19 Apa makalasha Juda tjoselele?
Apa molingila pasi nzi nkulu we Ziyoni kene?
Apa matilobelani nge masimba mangapa
kudzina kushaya bhodzo mutili kene?
Takashaka kunyalala koga akuzozha,
nge tjibaka tje bhodzo bonani mang'oni woga.
20 Toamutjila bubiibi gwedu imwi Yahwe,
ne matjinyo abo bobatategulu bedu,
ngoti takamuthamila tjibi.
21 Musitongotilingila pasi ngekwe zina lenyu,
musitongolengudza tjigalo tjenyu tjakanaka,
kumbulani musitjuluke tjidumano tjenyu tjamakathama naswi.
22 Apa kuna mmwe we midzimu isina nshingo ye shango inganisa vula kene?
Kene zhuzhugwi kunganisa vula ngekwako kene?
Aa, ndimwi koga, imwi Yahwe Ndzimu wedu.
Takabiga kugalabgwe kwedu mu muli,
ngoti ndimwi munothama zwithu zose.
The Terrible Drought
1 The Lord said to me concerning the drought,
2 “Judah is in mourning;
its cities are dying,
its people lie on the ground in sorrow,
and Jerusalem cries out for help.
3 The rich people send their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns,
but find no water;
they come back with their jars empty.
Discouraged and confused,
they hide their faces.
4 Because there is no rain
and the ground is dried up,
the farmers are sick at heart;
they hide their faces.
5 In the field the mother deer
abandons her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 The wild donkeys stand on the hilltops
and pant for breath like jackals;
their eyesight fails them
because they have no food.
7 My people cry out to me,
‘Even though our sins accuse us,
help us, Lord, as you have promised.
We have turned away from you many times;
we have sinned against you.
8 You are Israel's only hope;
you are the one who saves us from disaster.
Why are you like a stranger in our land,
like a traveler who stays for only one night?
9 Why are you like someone taken by surprise,
like a soldier powerless to help?
Surely, Lord, you are with us!
We are your people;
do not abandon us.’”
10 The Lord says about these people, “They love to run away from me, and they will not control themselves. So I am not pleased with them. I will remember the wrongs they have done and punish them because of their sins.”
11 The Lord said to me, “Do not ask me to help these people. 12 Even if they fast, I will not listen to their cry for help; and even if they offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not be pleased with them. Instead, I will kill them in war and by starvation and disease.”
13 Then I said, “Sovereign Lord, you know that the prophets are telling the people that there will be no war or starvation, because you have promised, they say, that there will be only peace in our land.”
14 But the Lord replied, “The prophets are telling lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I give them any orders or speak one word to them. The visions they talk about have not come from me; their predictions are worthless things that they have imagined. 15 I, the Lord, tell you what I am going to do to those prophets whom I did not send but who speak in my name and say war and starvation will not strike this land—I will kill them in war and by starvation. 16 The people to whom they have said these things will be killed in the same way. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to all of them—including their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will make them pay for their wickedness.”
17 The Lord commanded me to tell the people about my sorrow and to say:
“May my eyes flow with tears day and night,
may I never stop weeping,
for my people are deeply wounded
and are badly hurt.
18 When I go out in the fields,
I see the bodies of men killed in war;
when I go into the towns,
I see people starving to death.
Prophets and priests carry on their work,
but they don't know what they are doing.”
The People Plead with the Lord
19 Lord, have you completely rejected Judah?
Do you hate the people of Zion?
Why have you hurt us so badly
that we cannot be healed?
We looked for peace, but nothing good happened;
we hoped for healing, but terror came instead.
20 We have sinned against you, Lord;
we confess our own sins
and the sins of our ancestors.
21 Remember your promises and do not despise us;
do not bring disgrace on Jerusalem,
the place of your glorious throne.
Do not break the covenant you made with us.
22 None of the idols of the nations can send rain;
the sky by itself cannot make showers fall.
We have put our hope in you, O Lord our God,
because you are the one who does these things.