1 Ungati nsholo wangu ungabe uli vula,
ne mesho angu ali nsenya we mishodzi!
Ndabe ndowolila siku ne sikati,
ngekwe kubulawa kwe nkololokadzi we bathu bangu!
2 Ungati mu tjilambanyika ndingabe ndina ng'umba ye bezi,
kuti ndisiye bathu bangu,
ndiyende kule nabo,
ngoti bose ba phombgwe,
i goko le bathu be batjebeli.
3 Banolulwamisa malimi abo se matati
kuleba manyepkhwa
abatokunda nge lebeswa mu shango,
ngoti banodwa pa bubi benoti ku gumwe,
abatondiziba, koleba Yahwe.
4 Ibeni nge njele nge bazwalani benyu,
musigalebgwe hama dzenyu,
ngoti hama imwe ne imwe i bhitipiti,
ne nzwalani mmwe ne mmwe ntjebeli.
5 Nzwalani unotjebela nzwalani uwe,
akuna unoleba lebeswa,
bakadiya ndimi dzabo kuleba manyepkhwa,
banozwinyadza ngotjinya.
6 Bugalo gugo gupakati kwe bupitipiti,
mu bupitipiti gwenyu molamba kundiziba, koleba Yahwe.
7 Ndizo wali, koleba Yahwe Masimbawose bakati,
“Bonani, ndowobakuyunga ha balika,
ngoti ini kakale tjandingathama ngekwe bathu bangu?
8 Malimi abo misebe yakabangalala,
anoleba butjebeli,
Mmwe ne mmwe unoleba mbakiso nge mmwe naye,
koga mu moyo uwe enlukila gwanga.
9 Apa ndisibalobele shamu ikoku kene?”
Kojalo Yahwe.
“Apa ndisibgwilizile ikoku,
mu itjaba tjinonga itjetji kene?”
10 “Ndowolilila matombo abe mu buyendasi nge kwawo,
ndimba lumbo gwe tjililo ngekwe mafulilo e tjilambanyika,
ngoti akathukudziwa kuti kushete waapalama,
ne kulila kwe ng'ombe akutjahwika.
Nyuni dze zhuzhugwi
ne phuka dzakatizha dzakayenda.
11 Ndowothama Jerusalema duluthulu le matongo,
bugalo gwe phungubgwe,
ndowothama mizi mikulu ye Juda kuti ithukudzike,
kushaye bagali muili.”
12 Nthu wakatjenjela unohwisisa izwezwi ndiani? Ndiyani wakati nlomo wa Yahwe ukalebeleka naye, kuzibisa kuti ndinge kutini shango yakalashika kakale yakatjinyika se tjilambanyika kwainopelela kusina ungaipalama kene? 13 Yahwe bakati, “Ndi ngekuti bakalasha nlayo wangu wandakabiga mbeli kwabo, bakasindihwilile kene kutobela nlayo wangu. 14 Koga bakatobela bukomba gwe mimoyo yabo, bakatobela bo Bhaale sa bobatategulu babo bakabadiya. 15 Ndizo wali, koleba Yahwe Masimbawose Ndzimu we Iziraela beti, Bonani, ndowojisa bathu ibaba zojiwa zwinobaba abapa vula ina nti unobulaya kuti baing'we. 16 Ndowobapaladza nge zwitjaba zwisakati zwilipo zwikazibgwa ndi bobatategulu babo, ndowobatatamila nge thumo kudzina ndabalobesa.”
17 Yahwe Masimbawose bakati,
“Yelani njele, danani bakadzi be tjililo kuti bazhe,
tumilani nyambi dze bakadzi kuti dzizhe,
18 tjinyolotjo ngabazhe bashobe lumbo gwe tjililo nge kwedu,
kuti ndizo mesho edu awunge mishodzi,
ne hwope dzedu dzibe misenya ye vula.
19 Ngoti nsindo we tjililo unohwika mu Ziyoni uti,
‘Takakolomogwa seni!
Tobhakhwa ne shoni hwulu seni,
ngoti takasiya shango yedu,
ngoti bakaliga magalo edu.’ ”
20 Imwi bakadzi, hwililani dama la Yahwe,
zebe dzenyu ngadziamutjile dama le nlomo uwe,
diyani bakololokadzi benyu koshoba lumbo gwe tjililo,
diyanani lumbo gwe tjililo.
21 Ngoti lufu gwangina ne mafesitere edu,
gwangina mu ng'umba dzedu dze bumambo,
kubulaya bana mu dzizila,
ne bazhuzha mu mashanganilo.
22 Lebeleka uti, “Yahwe bakati,
‘Zwitumbu zwe bathu zowoandama pasi,
se ndobe yakaandama mu shango,
se mashanga shule kwe nvuni avuna,
akuna ungazwikubunganya.’ ”
23 Yahwe bakati,
“Ntjenjedu ngaasizwikudze nge butjenjedu gugwe,
kene nlume wakasima kazwikudza ngosima kukwe,
kene nlume wakafuma kazwikudza nge fumwa iye,
24 koga unozwikudza ngaazwikudze na yetji,
kuti unondihwisisa kakale undiziba,
kuti ndimi Yahwe, imi ndinothama mahwilongoni,
ne kutambunuka ne ndulamo mu shango,
ngoti ikoku ndokushathila,” koleba Yahwe.
25 “Bonani misi yaswika koleba Yahwe, kunowoti aloba shamu bose ibabo bakathumbigwa ne basakathumbigwa, 26 bo Egipiti ne Juda ne Edomu ne Amoni ne Moabu na bose banogala mu tjilambanyika ku magalo akule banothubula theswi dze mavudzi. Ngoti zwitjaba zose izwezo ne Baiziraela bose bana mimoyo isakathumba.”
1 I wish my head were a well of water,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
so that I could cry day and night
for my people who have been killed.
2 I wish I had a place to stay in the desert
where I could get away from my people.
They are all unfaithful,
a mob of traitors.
3 They are always ready to tell lies;
dishonesty instead of truth rules the land.
The Lord says,
“My people do one evil thing after another
and do not acknowledge me as their God.”
4 Everyone must be on guard against their friends,
and no one can trust their relatives;
for all relatives are as deceitful as Jacob,
and everyone slanders their friends.
5-6 They all mislead their friends,
and no one tells the truth;
they have taught their tongues to lie
and will not give up their sinning.
They do one violent thing after another,
and one deceitful act follows another.
The Lord says that his people reject him.
7 Because of this the Lord Almighty says,
“I will refine my people like metal
and put them to the test.
My people have done evil—
what else can I do with them?
8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows;
they always tell lies.
Everyone speaks friendly words to their neighbors,
but they are really setting a trap for them.
9 Will I not punish them for these things?
Will I not take revenge on a nation like this?
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
10 I said, “I will mourn for the mountains
and weep for the pastures,
because they have dried up,
and no one travels through them.
The sound of livestock is no longer heard;
birds and wild animals have fled and gone.”
11 The Lord says, “I will make Jerusalem a pile of ruins,
a place where jackals live;
the cities of Judah will become a desert,
a place where no one lives.”
12 I asked, “Lord, why is the land devastated and dry as a desert, so that no one travels through it? Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom have you explained it so that they can tell others?”
13 The Lord answered, “This has happened because my people have abandoned the teaching that I gave them. They have not obeyed me or done what I told them. 14 Instead, they have been stubborn and have worshiped the idols of Baal as their ancestors taught them to do. 15 So then, listen to what I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, will do: I will give my people bitter plants to eat and poison to drink. 16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have heard about, and I will send armies against them until I have completely destroyed them.”
The People of Jerusalem Cry Out for Help
17 The Lord Almighty said,
“Think about what is happening!
Call for the mourners to come,
for the women who sing funeral songs.”
18 The people said,
“Tell them to hurry and sing a funeral song for us,
until our eyes fill with tears,
and our eyelids are wet from crying.”
19 Listen to the sound of crying in Zion:
“We are ruined!
We are completely disgraced!
We must leave our land;
our homes have been torn down.”
20 I said,
“Listen to the Lord, you women,
and pay attention to his words.
Teach your daughters how to mourn,
and your friends how to sing a funeral song.
21 Death has come in through our windows
and entered our palaces;
it has cut down the children in the streets
and the young men in the marketplaces.
22 Dead bodies are scattered everywhere,
like piles of manure on the fields,
like grain cut and left behind by the reapers,
grain that no one gathers.
This is what the Lord has told me to say.”
23 The Lord says,
“The wise should not boast of their wisdom,
nor the strong of their strength,
nor the rich of their wealth.
24 If any want to boast,
they should boast that they know and understand me,
because my love is constant,
and I do what is just and right.
These are the things that please me.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
25-26 The Lord says, “The time is coming when I will punish the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and the desert people, who have their hair cut short. All these people are circumcised, but have not kept the covenant it symbolizes. None of these people and none of the people of Israel have kept my covenant.”