Shandukilani matjinyo
1 “Ha mungashanduka imwi Iziraela,
mungashandukila ku ndili,
kojalo Yahwe,
ha mudusila kutjena midzimu yenyu inoshimisa mbeli kwangu,
mube musingatjalashike,
2 ha mutuna muti, ‘Yahwe tjose banotjila,’
mu malebeswa ne mu ndulamo ne kutambunuka,
ipapo zwitjaba zose zowozwikombolela nge kwabo,
ngono mu bali zwowozwikudza.”
3 Ngoti ku bathu be Juda ne ku bagali be Jerusalema Yahwe bakati,
“Palulani shango yenyu ye gombo,
musidzwale pakati kwe mimihwa.
4 Thumbilani Yahwe,
dusani ganda le mimoyo yenyu,
imwi bathu be Juda ne bagali be Jerusalema,
kusakajalo bushongola gwangu gungatebuka gukapisa se moto,
upisa kusina ungaudzima,
ngekwe bubi gwe mishingo yenyu.”
5 Zibisa mu Juda, ulebeleke mu Jerusalema uti,
“Lidzani lunyanga shango yose,
lililani pezhugwi ngono muti,”
“Kubunganani, ngatitizhileni ku mizi ye matizhilo!
6 Milidzani tjilakidzo kuti bathu batizhile ku Ziyoni.
Tizhani musinonoke!
Ngoti ndowozhisa mbipo kudwa ku bunandzwa,
ne kukolomola kukulu kwazo.
7 Shumba yabhuda mu ishaka tjayo,
nkolomodzi we zwitjaba wamilika mu magalo awe
kuthama kuti shango yenyu ithukudzike,
mizi yenyu mikulu inowobe matongo
ikasala isina bagali.
8 Nge kwa ikoku ambalani jila le saka,
lilani mubokolele,
ngekwe kugwadza moyo kukulu kwa Yahwe
kwakashandukila pezhugwi kwedu.”
9 “Mu zhuba ilelo, kojalo Yahwe, bomambo ne makulukota banowopelegwa nge simba, bapirisiti banowotjenama ne balebesambeli bakasala bakakaabala.” 10 Ipapo ndakati, “Awo She Yahwe, nge malebeswa makatjengela bathu ibaba dumbu kose nenge Jerusalema muti, ‘Mowobe ne mbakiso,’ ngono dumbu thumo latjitola matjilo edu.”
11 Mu tjibaka itjetjo kowodwiwa bathu ibaba ne Jerusalema kuyi, “Phepo inopisa inodwa ku matombo asina tjimwe amu tjilambanyika izha ku nkololokadzi we bathu bangu, isi inowulusa kene kupepa, 12 phepo yakasima kwazo kupinda mishingo iyeyo inowodwa ku ndili. Ngwenu ndodusa sumikiliso nge kwabo.”
13 “Bonani unozha se makole,
koloyi dzidze dze ngwa dzonga tjampupudze,
mbizi dzidze dzomadzuka se madzu.
Yee mme wee! Tapalala ngobe towokolomogwa.
14 Iwe Jerusalema, suka moyo uwo mu bubi
kuti ndizo utjidziwe.
Apa kuwodzina kukabe tjibaka tjingapani
njalakang'wa dzidzo dzakabipa dzigala mu kuli kene?
15 Ngoti hwi lohwika kudwa ku Dani
loleba mbipo inodwa ku Dombo le Ifureimi.
16 Tjenjedzani zwitjaba kuti waswika,
budzani Jerusalema muti,
‘Bakumbi banodwa ku shango ikulekule,
bakalonga mima ngekwe mizi mikulu ye Juda.
17 Se balindi be nnda bakaipoteleka,
ngoti bakandipandukila,’
kojalo Yahwe.
18 “Mipanga yenyu ne zwiyito zwenyu,
zwazhisa ikoku pezhugwi kwenyu.
Ikoku i shamu yenyu ngono inogwadza,
yamubhaya pa moyo.”
19 Zogwadza zwangu, zogwadza zwangu, ndotshinda ndili mu kugwadzika!
Moyo wangu unopaluka na pakati,
moyo wangu unolobela pezhugwi kwazo,
ngokong'wa nge kunyalala,
ngoti ndahwa nsindo we lunyanga,
gunotjenjedza kuti ngwa yaswika.
20 Mbatsha dzotobela mbatsha,
shango yose yatjithukudzika.
Tjinyolotjo mishasha yangu yakolomogwa,
zwisitilo zwangu nge tjibakana tjifupi.
21 Ndowobona tjilakidzo
ne kuhwa nsindo we lunyanga kuswika lini?
22 “Ngoti bathu bangu bazwilengwe,
abato ndiziba,
bana basakatjenjela
abana hwisiso
Banyambi dze kuthama bubi,
koga abatoziba kuthama bubuya.”
23 Ndakalinga mu shango, bonani ndakawana yakashangashangana isina mbumbiko,
ku zhuzhugwi kusina tjedza.
24 Ndakalinga matombo, bonani akabe ezunguzika,
ne matuthu wose akabe eyenda yeno na yeno.
25 Ndakalinga bonani, kukabe kuna kusina nthu,
ne nyuni dzose dzinowuluka dzakabe dzawuluka.
26 Ndakalinga bonani, shango yakakola yakabe yabe tjilambanyika,
ne mizi mikulu yose yawo yatjibe matongo
mbeli kwa Yahwe, ngekwe kugwadzika kwawo kukulu.
27 Ngoti Yahwe bakati, “Shango yose inowothukudzika koga ne kwakajalo andinga ikolomodze tjose.
28 Nge kwaikoku shango inowolila,
zhuzhugwi pezhugwi kowobe kutema,
Ngoti imi ndaleba, ndashingikadza,
ndapedzisa andingatja bgwilile shule.”
29 Nzi wose wakatizha zhoba ye bataswi be mbizi ne baposi be matati,
banobgwata mu ishaka, betatha mu mabgwe,
akuna nthu unogala muili.
30 Koga iwe, iwe wakathukudzika,
unodwani nge kuambala jila le mbala we bushaba gwakabondelela
uzwinakisa ne zwinakiso zwe golide kene?
Uzutula mesho awo nge ntapkhwi kene?
Unozwinakisila suli.
Zwamba zwizo zokuling'ila pasi,
tjabanoshaka butjilo gugo.
31 Ngoti ndakahwa tjililo tjinonga tje nkadzi ali mu zwibhayo zwe kutshibama,
zogwadza se nkadzi etshibama mwana we kutanga,
tjililo tje nkololokadzi we Ziyoni, wakadzipikana,
aka senga maboko mu nsholo eti,
“Yee mme wee! Ndotimbama mbeli kwe babulayi.”
A Call to Repentance
1 The Lord says, “People of Israel, if you want to turn, then turn back to me. If you are faithful to me and remove the idols I hate, 2 it will be right for you to swear by my name. Then all the nations will ask me to bless them, and they will praise me.”
3 The Lord says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, “Plow up your unplowed fields; do not plant your seeds among thorns. 4 Keep your covenant with me, your Lord, and dedicate yourselves to me, you people of Judah and Jerusalem. If you don't, my anger will burn like fire because of the evil things you have done. It will burn, and there will be no one to put it out.”
Judah Is Threatened with Invasion
5 Blow the trumpet throughout the land!
Shout loud and clear!
Tell the people of Judah and Jerusalem
to run to the fortified cities.
6 Point the way to Zion!
Run for safety! Don't delay!
The Lord is bringing disaster
and great destruction from the north.
7 Like a lion coming from its hiding place,
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He is coming to destroy Judah.
The cities of Judah will be left in ruins,
and no one will live in them.
8 So put on sackcloth, and weep and wail
because the fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned away from Judah.
9 The Lord said, “On that day kings and officials will lose their courage; priests will be shocked and prophets will be astonished.”
10 Then I said, “Sovereign Lord, you have completely deceived the people of Jerusalem! You have said there would be peace, but a sword is at their throats.”
11 The time is coming when the people of Jerusalem will be told that a scorching wind is blowing in from the desert toward them. It will not be a gentle wind that only blows away the chaff— 12 the wind that comes at the Lord's command will be much stronger than that! It is the Lord himself who is pronouncing judgment on his people.
Judah Is Surrounded by Enemies
13 Look, the enemy is coming like clouds. Their war chariots are like a whirlwind, and their horses are faster than eagles. We are lost! We are doomed!
14 Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart, so that you may be saved. How long will you go on thinking sinful thoughts?
15 Messengers from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim announce the bad news. 16 They have come to warn the nations and to tell Jerusalem that enemies are coming from a country far away. These enemies will shout against the cities of Judah 17 and will surround Jerusalem like men guarding a field, because her people have rebelled against the Lord. The Lord has spoken.
18 Judah, you have brought this on yourself by the way you have lived and by the things you have done. Your sin has caused this suffering; it has stabbed you through the heart.
Jeremiah's Sorrow for His People
19 The pain! I can't bear the pain!
My heart! My heart is beating wildly!
I can't keep quiet;
I hear the trumpets
and the shouts of battle.
20 One disaster follows another;
the whole country is left in ruins.
Suddenly our tents are destroyed;
their curtains are torn to pieces.
21 How long must I see the battle raging
and hear the blasts of trumpets?
22 The Lord says, “My people are stupid;
they don't know me.
They are like foolish children;
they have no understanding.
They are experts at doing what is evil,
but failures at doing what is good.”
Jeremiah's Vision of the Coming Destruction
23 I looked at the earth—it was a barren waste;
at the sky—there was no light.
24 I looked at the mountains—they were shaking,
and the hills were rocking back and forth.
25 I saw that there were no people;
even the birds had flown away.
26 The fertile land had become a desert;
its cities were in ruins
because of the Lord's fierce anger.
( 27 The Lord has said that the whole earth will become a wasteland, but that he will not completely destroy it.)
28 The earth will mourn;
the sky will grow dark.
The Lord has spoken
and will not change his mind.
He has made his decision
and will not turn back.
29 At the noise of the cavalry and archers
everyone will run away.
Some will run to the forest;
others will climb up among the rocks.
Every town will be left empty,
and no one will live in them again.
30 Jerusalem, you are doomed!
Why do you dress in scarlet?
Why do you put on jewelry and paint your eyes?
You are making yourself beautiful for nothing!
Your lovers have rejected you
and want to kill you.
31 I heard a cry, like a woman in labor,
a scream like a woman bearing her first child.
It was the cry of Jerusalem gasping for breath,
stretching out her hand and saying,
“I am doomed!
They are coming to kill me!”