Jeremiya mu ng'umba ye busungwa
1 Zedekiya nkololo wa Josiya wakathamwa mambo ndi Nebukadineza mambo we Bhabhiloni ngono kabusa mu bumo gwa Koniya nkololo wa Jehoyakimu. 2 Koga iye ne balanda babe kene bathu be shango bakateedza matama a Yahwe abakalebeleka nge Nlebesambeli Jeremiya.
3 Mambo Zedekiya wakatuma Jehukali nkololo wa Shelemiya na Zefaniya we mpirisiti, nkololo wa Maaseya kuna Jeremiya nlebesambeli kunoti, “Utitembezelele kuna Yahwe Ndzimu wedu.”
4 Ipapo Jeremiya wakabe atjakasununguka kuzha ne kuyenda yenda pakati kwe bathu ngoti wakabe asathu kalongwa mu ng'umba ye busungwa. 5 Babhayani ba Faro bakabhuda mu Egipiti, kukati Bakhaladiya bakabe bakakomba Jerusalema behwa mbiko nge kwabo bakabhuda mu Jerusalema.
6 Ipapo dama la Yahwe likazha kuna Jeremiya nlebesambeli liti, 7 “Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela bakati: Budzani mambo we Juda iye wamutuma kuwondibhuzwa muti, ‘Babhayani ba Faro bazha kowomubhatsha banowobgwilila ku shango yabo, ku Egipiti. 8 Ipapo Bakhaladiya banowoshanduka bakanginilila nzi nkulu iwoyu, banowotola bakaupisa.’ 9 Yahwe bakati, ‘Musizwitjebele muti, “Nge malebeswa Bakhaladiya banowogala kule naswi,” abangake. 10 Nenguba mungabe mungakunda babhayani bose be Bakhaladiya banogwa namwi kukasala balume koga bakakubala mmwe ne mmwe unobhuda mu nshasha uwe kawopisa nzi nkulu iwoyu nge moto.’ ”
11 Ipapo kukati babhayani be Bakhaladiya basinobhuda mu Jerusalema ngekwe babhayani ba Faro, 12 Jeremiya kabhuda mu Jerusalema kayenda ku shango ye Bhenjamini kunotola gobe lile le thundu mu bathu ikoku. 13 Koga wakati eswika pa Nkoba we Bhenjamini ntungamili we balindi wakabe edang'wa Irija nkololo wa Shelemiya, nkololo wa Hananiya bakansunga bakabe beti, “Unoshakathobela ku Bakhaladiya.” 14 Ngono Jeremiya kabe eti, “Ate malebeswa, anditopandukila ku Bakhaladiya.” Koga Irija kasinteedze kabhata Jeremiya kan'yisa ku makulukota. 15 Makulukota kagwadzila moyo Jeremiya ngono bakanloba bakanlonga mu ng'umba ye busungwa, mu ng'umba ya Jonathani nkwalili, ngoti yakabe yathamwa ng'umba ye busungwa.
16 Kukati Jeremiya asinongina mu ng'umba ye busungwa ikusi kusi, kagala ikoko mazhuba manjinji. 17 Ipapo Mambo Zedekiya kati an'danigwe ngono kan'amutjila. Mambo kan'bhuzwisisa mu kwakasumbikala mu ng'umba iye kati, “Apa kuna dama linodwa kuna Yahwe kene?” Jeremiya kashandula eti, “Ee, liyapo.” Ipapo kabe eti, “Mowolongwa mu luboko gwe mambo we Bhabhiloni.” 18 Jeremiya kakale kabe eti kuna Mambo Zedekiya, “Ndakamutjinyilani imwi ne balanda benyu kene bathu ibaba kunoyita kuti mundilonge mu ng'umba ye busungwa kene? 19 Bangayi balebesambeli benyu bakamulebesela mbeli beti, ‘Mambo we Bhabhiloni aatobhayana namwi nenge shango iyeyi kene’? 20 Koga ngwenu, tetshi wangu mambo, ndomukumbila nge kuzwiyisa pasi mbeli kwenyu, musindibgwilize ku ng'umba ya Jonathani nkwalili, pamwe swiyo ndingadwa ndinofila ko.”
21 Mambo Zedekiya kadusa ndaulo kuti Jeremiya alongwe mu nsha we balindi kakale apiwe tjiwunga tjing'ompela ne zhuba tjinozha ne batengesi be zila kuswikila tjiwunga mu nzi nkulu tjapela. Ndizo Jeremiya kagala mu nsha we balindi.
Zedekiah's Request to Jeremiah
1 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia made Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah in the place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2 But neither Zedekiah nor his officials nor the people obeyed the message which the Lord had given me.
3 King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to ask me to pray to the Lord our God on behalf of our nation. 4 I had not yet been put in prison and was still moving about freely among the people. 5 The Babylonian army had been besieging Jerusalem, but when they heard that the Egyptian army had crossed the Egyptian border, they retreated.
6 Then the Lord, the God of Israel, told me 7 to say to Zedekiah, “The Egyptian army is on its way to help you, but it will return home. 8 Then the Babylonians will come back, attack the city, capture it, and burn it down. 9 I, the Lord, warn you not to deceive yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians will not come back, because they will. 10 Even if you defeat the whole Babylonian army, so that only wounded men are left, lying in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city to the ground.”
Jeremiah Is Arrested and Imprisoned
11 The Babylonian army retreated from Jerusalem because the Egyptian army was approaching. 12 So I started to leave Jerusalem and go to the territory of Benjamin to take possession of my share of the family property. 13 But when I reached the Benjamin Gate, the officer in charge of the soldiers on duty there, a man by the name of Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah, stopped me and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”
14 I answered, “That's not so! I'm not deserting.” But Irijah would not listen to me. Instead, he arrested me and took me to the officials. 15 They were furious with me and had me beaten and locked up in the house of Jonathan, the court secretary, whose house had been made into a prison. 16 I was put in an underground cell and kept there a long time.
17 Later on King Zedekiah sent for me, and there in the palace he asked me privately, “Is there any message from the Lord?”
“There is,” I answered, and added, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylonia.” 18 Then I asked, “What crime have I committed against you or your officials or this people, to make you put me in prison? 19 What happened to your prophets who told you that the king of Babylonia would not attack you or the country? 20 And now, Your Majesty, I beg you to listen to me and do what I ask. Please do not send me back to the prison in Jonathan's house. If you do, I will surely die there.”
21 So King Zedekiah ordered me to be locked up in the palace courtyard. I stayed there, and each day I was given a loaf of bread from the bakeries until all the bread in the city was gone.