Mbatsha ngekwe midzimu
1 Dama la Yahwe lakazha kuna Jeremiya ngekwe Bajuta bose bakabe begala mu shango ye Egipiti ku Migidolo ne ku Tahefanesi ne ku Memifisi ne mu shango ye Patirosi liti, 2 “Yahwe Masimbawose Ndzimu we Iziraela bakati, ‘Makabona mbatsha dzose dzandakazhisa mu Jerusalema ne mu mizi mikulu yose ye Juda. Bonani mu zhuba la nasi yabe matongo akuna unogala muili, 3 ngekwe bubi gwabakathama, bendigwadzisa moyo nge kupisila ne kushingila midzimu ipoga yabasingazibe ibo kene bobatategulu babo. 4 Koga ndakadwilila ndimutumila balanda bangu bose balebesambeli nditi, “Sithamani tjithu itjetji tjinoshimisa tjandinobenga!” 5 Nenguba kwakajalo abazoteedza kene kubhulutana, abazofupatila bubi gwabo ne kusapisila motsha midzimu ipoga. 6 Ndizo bushongola gwangu gwakatebugwa ne gwadzamoyo kwangu kukathuta mu mizi mikulu ye Juda ne mu dzizila dze Jerusalema dzikathukudzika kakale dzikabe matongo na nasi.’
7 “Ngono ngwenu Yahwe Masimbawose, Ndzimu we Iziraela bakati, ‘Ini muzwizhisila mbatsha dzingapa kene muzwibulaila balume ne bakadzi ne bana ne ngawana muzwisiya musina ndodwa ne limbelimbe kene? 8 Ini mundigwadzisa moyo nge mishingo ye maboko enyu, mupisila motsha midzimu ipoga mu Egipiti iko kwamakazha muwogala kene, mowozwibulaya muzwithama bhiso ne madado pakati kwe zwitjaba zose mu shango kene? 9 Apa makakangang'wa bubi gwa bobatategulu benyu ne bubi gwa bomambo be Juda ne bubi gwe bakadzi babo ne bubi gwenyu ne bubi gwe bakadzi benyu gwabakathama mu shango ye Juda ne mu dzizila dze Jerusalema kene? 10 Abazozwiyisa pasi kuswika mu zhuba ileli kene kuli kutja, kene kutobela milayo yangu yandakabiga mbeli kwenyu na mbeli kwa bobatategulu benyu.’
11 “Ndizo ngwenu Yahwe Masimbawose Ndzimu we Iziraela banolebeleka sahwoku, ‘Bonani, ndazwimisila kuzhisa mbatsha ku muli ne kukolomola Juda. 12 Ndowotola limbelimbe le Juda labelakazwimisila kuyenda ku Egipiti kunogala ko. Lowopelela lose mu Egipiti, lowobulawa nge thumo kene lowofa nge bhamba. Kudwa muna ntukunu kunoti unkulu, banowofa nge thumo kene bhamba. Lowobe bhiso ne tjithu tjinotjisa tjakalingisanyiwa ne lengudziwa. 13 Ndowoloba shamu ibabo banogala mu shango ye Egipiti, sekwa ndakaloba shamu Jerusalema nge thumo ne bhamba nenge bugwele, 14 kuti ndizo kushete limbelimbe le Juda lakazha kuwogala mu shango ye Egipiti linowosiya kene likatjila kene likabgwilila ku shango ye Juda, iko kwabanoyemula kubgwilila kunogala ko ngoti abatowobgwilila ko kuzhe kwe batizhi basiba tjimwe koga.’ ”
15 Ipapo balume bose bakabe beziba kuti bakadzi babo bakapisila midzimu ipoga motsha ne bakadzi bose bakabe balipo ne bathu bose bakabe begala mu Patirosi mu shango ye Egipiti bakadabila Jeremiya beti, 16 “Ngekwe dama lawatidwa ulileba mu zina la Yahwe, atingakuteedze. 17 Koga towothama tjimwe ne tjimwe tjatakatuna kuti towotjithama, towopisila mambokadzi we kudzimu motsha ne kundusila tjipo tje tjing'o, sekwa tagala tithama iswi na bobatategulu bedu na bomambo bedu ne makulukota edu mu mizi mikulu ye Juda ne mu dzizila dze Jerusalema. Nge tjibaka itjetjije takabe tina zojiwa zwinjinji kakale takabhudilila kusingaboneke mbatsha. 18 Koga tjinga kwatamisa kupisila mambokadzi we kudzimu motsha ne kun'dusila tjipo tje tjing'o takasheta kose tikabulawa nge thumo ne bhamba.” 19 Ipapo bakadzi bakabe beti, “Takati tipisila mambokadzi we kudzimu motsha kakale tin'dusila tjipo tje tjing'o apa balume bedu bakabe basingazibe kuti takabe tithama makhekhe amu tjifano tjitje kakale takabe tin'dusila tjipo tje tjing'o kene?”
20 Ipapo Jeremiya kadwa bathu bose balume ne bakadzi bakabe ben'dabila kati, 21 “Apa Yahwe abazokumbula kakale bakaalakana ngekwe motsha wakapisiwa mu mizi ye Juda ne mu dzizila dze Jerusalema, upisiwa ndimwi na bobatategulu benyu na bomambo benyu ne makulukota enyu ne bathu be shango kene? 22 Kwakati Yahwe basingake bakatjimililana ne mishingo yenyu mibiibi ne zwithu zwenyu zwinoshimisa zwamakathama, shango yenyu ikabe bhiso ikathukudzika isina bagali sekwa ili iko nasi. 23 Ngoti makapisa motsha kakale makatjinyila Yahwe kakale amuzobatobela kene kuli kutobela nlayo wabo kene ndayo dzabo mbatsha idzedzi dzamuwila sekwa kuli iko na nasi.”
24 Ipapo Jeremiya kadwa bathu bose kose ne bakadzi kati, “Ihwani dama la Yahwe imwi bathu bose be Juda mu Egipiti. 25 Etji nditjo tjinolebgwa ndi Yahwe Masimbawose Ndzimu we Iziraela bakati: Imwi ne bakadzi benyu malakidza nge zwiyito zwenyu tjamakagadzabgwe muti, ‘Nge malebeswa towoshingikadza kutuna kwatakathama kuti towopisila mambokadzi we kudzimu motsha ne kun'dusila tjipo tje tjing'o.’ Dwililani muthame tjamakagadzabgwe! Shingikadzani kutuna kwenyu! 26 Koga ihwani dama la Yahwe imwi Bajuta bose banogala mu Egipiti, ‘Ndotuna nge zina langu, kojalo Yahwe, akutjowofa kwabe ne N'juta mu shango yose ye Egipiti unonowodana zina langu nge nlomo uwe eti, “Ha She Yahwe batjatjila!” 27 Bonani ndakabatjengetela mbatsha kusi bubuya, Bajuta bamu Egipiti banowonopeleledziwa nge thumo ne bhamba kuswikila bose balobesiwa. 28 Ibabo banowosiya thumo bakabgwilila ku shango ye Juda kudwa mu Egipiti banowobe bashomanana. Ipapo limbelimbe lose le Juda linozha kuwogala mu Egipiti lowoziba kuti dama laani linowosala, langu kene labo.
29 “ ‘Etji nditjo tjinowobe tjilakidzo kumuli kuti ndowomuloba shamu pathu ipapa,’ kojalo Yahwe, ‘kuti ndizo muzibe kuti kumutjenjedza kwangu ngekwe mbatsha dzakamulingisana nge malebeswa kowoshingikala.’ 30 Ndizo Yahwe bakati, ‘Bonani ndowolonga Faro Hafura mambo we Egipiti mu maboko e zwita zwizwe ne mu maboko a ibabo banoshaka kumbulaya sekwa ndakalonga Zedekiya mambo we Juda mu luboko gwa Nebukadineza mambo we Bhabhiloni iye wakabe ali tjita tjitje kakale wakabe eshaka kumbulaya.’ ”
The Lord's Message to the Israelites in Egypt
1 The Lord spoke to me concerning all the Israelites living in Egypt, in the cities of Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis, and in the southern part of the country. 2 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, said, “You yourselves have seen the destruction I brought on Jerusalem and all the other cities of Judah. Even now they are still in ruins, and no one lives in them 3 because their people had done evil and had made me angry. They offered sacrifices to other gods and served gods that neither they nor you nor your ancestors ever worshiped. 4 I kept sending you my servants the prophets, who told you not to do this terrible thing that I hate. 5 But you would not listen or pay any attention. You would not give up your evil practice of sacrificing to other gods. 6 So I poured out my anger and fury on the towns of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem, and I set them on fire. They were left in ruins and became a horrifying sight, as they are today.
7 “And so I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, now ask why you are doing such an evil thing to yourselves. Do you want to bring destruction on men and women, children and babies, so that none of your people will be left? 8 Why do you make me angry by worshiping idols and by sacrificing to other gods here in Egypt, where you have come to live? Are you doing this just to destroy yourselves, so that every nation on earth will make fun of you and use your name as a curse? 9 Have you forgotten all the wicked things that have been done in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem by your ancestors, by the kings of Judah and their wives, and by you and your wives? 10 But to this day you have not humbled yourselves. You have not honored me or lived according to all the laws that I gave you and your ancestors.
11 “So then, I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, will turn against you and destroy all Judah. 12 As for the people of Judah who are left and are determined to go and live in Egypt, I will see to it that all of them are destroyed. All of them, great and small, will die in Egypt, either in war or of starvation. They will be a horrifying sight; people will make fun of them and use their name as a curse. 13 I will punish those who live in Egypt, just as I punished Jerusalem—with war, starvation, and disease. 14 None of the people of Judah who are left and have come to Egypt to live will escape or survive. Not one of them will return to Judah, where they long to live once again. No one will return except a few refugees.”
15 Then all the men who knew that their wives offered sacrifices to other gods, and all the women who were standing there, including the Israelites who lived in southern Egypt—a large crowd in all—said to me, 16 “We refuse to listen to what you have told us in the name of the Lord. 17 We will do everything that we said we would. We will offer sacrifices to our goddess, the Queen of Heaven, and we will pour out wine offerings to her, just as we and our ancestors, our king and our leaders, used to do in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty of food, we were prosperous, and had no troubles. 18 But ever since we stopped sacrificing to the Queen of Heaven and stopped pouring out wine offerings to her, we have had nothing, and our people have died in war and of starvation.”
19 And the women added, “When we baked cakes shaped like the Queen of Heaven, offered sacrifices to her, and poured out wine offerings to her, our husbands approved of what we were doing.”
20 Then I said to all the men and the women who had answered me in this way, 21 “As for the sacrifices which you and your ancestors, your kings and your leaders, and the people of the land offered in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—do you think that the Lord did not know about them or that he forgot them? 22 This very day your land lies in ruins and no one lives in it. It has become a horrifying sight, and people use its name as a curse because the Lord could no longer endure your wicked and evil practices. 23 This present disaster has come on you because you offered sacrifices to other gods and sinned against the Lord by not obeying all his commands.”
24-25 I told all the people, especially the women, what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, was saying to the people of Judah living in Egypt: “Both you and your wives have made solemn promises to the Queen of Heaven. You promised that you would offer sacrifices to her and pour out wine offerings to her, and you have kept your promises. Very well, then! Keep your promises! Carry out your vows! 26 But now listen to the vow that I, the Lord, have made in my mighty name to all you Israelites in Egypt: Never again will I let any of you use my name to make a vow by saying, ‘I swear by the living Sovereign Lord!’ 27 I will see to it that you will not prosper, but will be destroyed. All of you will die, either in war or of disease, until not one of you is left. 28 But a few of you will escape death and return from Egypt to Judah. Then the survivors will know whose words have come true, mine or theirs. 29 I, the Lord, will give you proof that I will punish you in this place and that my promise to bring destruction on you will come true. 30 I will hand over King Hophra of Egypt to his enemies who want to kill him, just as I handed over King Zedekiah of Judah to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, who was his enemy and wanted to kill him.”