1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. 2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. 3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
5 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 8 But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
9 ¶ Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness. 10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. 11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. 12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. 13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. 14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. 18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it ? 19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. 20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. 21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. 23 Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? 24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. 25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. 26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; 27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. 28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. 29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. 32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
33 ¶ And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD. 34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house. 35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken? 36 And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God. 37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken? 38 But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD; 39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: 40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
Lutabi gwe ndulamo
1 “Yee mme wee mapalala imwi balisi banokolomola kakale mupaladza pkhwizi dze fulo langu!” 2 Ndizo Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela bakati ngekwe balisi bakalisa bathu bangu, “Makapaladza pkhwizi ne mbudzi dzangu, makadzitatila kutjena, amuzodzitjengeta. Bonani ndowolingisana namwi ngekwe mishingo yenyu yakabipa kojalo Yahwe. 3 Ipapo ndowokubunganya malimbelimbe e pkhwizi ne mbudzi dzangu mu shango dzose dzandakaatatila ko ngono ndowoazhisa ku danga lawo anowobe manjinji akawanda. 4 Ndowoabigila balisi kuatjengeta, aatjawotja kakale kene kuli kutemeka mafupa kene kukabe ne limwe lingatjamila kakale,” kojalo Yahwe.
5 “Bonani, misi yaswika,” kojalo Yahwe, “inowoti amusila Dafite lutabi gwakalulwama, mambo unowobusa nge butjenjedu, kathama tjakatambunuka ne ndulamo mu shango. 6 Mu mazhuba awe Juda unowotjidziwa, Iziraela ikagala nge kwakabakililika. Ileli ndilo zina laanowodang'wa ndilo, ‘Yahwe i ndulamo yedu.’
7 “Ndizo, bonani, misi yaswika” kojalo Yahwe, “kunowoti bathu bakasishwe beti, ‘Nge malebeswa se Yahwe betjila, ibo bakadusa bathu be Iziraela mu shango ye Egipiti,’ 8 koga banowoti, ‘Nge malebeswa se Yahwe betjila ibo bakadusa bakatungamila zwizekugwana zwe ng'umba ye Iziraela kudwa mu shango ye bunandzwa ne kudwa mu shango dzose dzabakabe babatatila ko.’ Ipapo banowogala mu shango yabo.”
Balebesambeli be manyepkhwa
9 Ngekwe balebesambeli,
Moyo wangu unogwadza,
mafupa angu anotetema,
ndonga nthu wakalaladza,
ndonga nthu wakakuligwa nge nkumbi we zhambi,
ngekwa Yahwe,
ne ngekwe matama abo akayengemala.
10 Ngoti shango izhele phombgwe
ngekwe bhiso shango inolila,
mafulilo mu tjilambanyika akabuna.
Balebesambeli banolabukila zwithu zwakabipa koga,
bunyambi gwabo gumuna zwisakatambunuka.
11 “Nlebesambeli ne mpirisiti abana Ndzimu,
ne mu Ng'umba yangu ndakawana bubi gwabo,”
Koleba Yahwe.12 Ndizo ke zila yabo inowobe inosodzoloka,
banowotatigwa ku zhalima,
ngono banowa.
Ndowozhisa mbatsha mu bali,
mu gole lekulobgwa shamu kwabo,
Koleba Yahwe.13 Mu balebesambeli be Samariya,
ndakabona butjapa,
bakabe be belebeselambeli beshingisa Bhaale,
bakapambusa bathu bangu Iziraela.
14 Mu balebesambeli be Jerusalema,
ndakabona tjithu tjakabangalala,
banothama bupombgwe banotjila manyepkhwa,
banosimisa maboko e banothama mbipo,
kuti ndizo kushete washandukila bubi gugwe,
bose botjinga Sodoma kundili,
ne bagali bayo bonga Gomora.
15 Ndizo Yahwe Masimbawose ngekwe balebesambeli bakati,
“Bonani, ndowobajisa zojiwa zwinobaba
abapa vula ina nti unobulaya kuti baing'we,
ngoti kudwa mu balebesambeli be Jerusalema,
kushaya Ndzimu kwaandama ne shango yose.”
16 Yahwe Masimbawose bakati, “Musiteedze matama e balebesambeli banomulebeselambeli, bemuzhadza nge kugalabgwe kusi kwe tjimwe, banoleba mbono dze mikumbulo yabo kusi inodwa mu milomo ya Yahwe. 17 Banogala beti kuna ibabo banolengudza dama la Yahwe, ‘Mowobe ne kunyalala.’ Ngono kuna ibabo banotobela bukomba gwe mimoyo yabo banoti kubali, ‘Akuna mbatsha dzinowomuwila.’ ”
18 Ndiyani pakati kwabo wakatongoma pakati kwe goko la Yahwe kubona kene kuhwa dama la Yahwe?
Wakatongoteedza kahwa hwi lawo?
19 Bonani dutu la Yahwe!
Bushongola gunothuta,
tjampupudze tjakabangalala,
tjowonginilila misholo ye babiibi.
20 Kugwadzamoyo kwa Yahwe akutowotebama,
kudzina bawidza tjabakazwimisila mu moyo wabo.
Mu mazhuba anozha,
mowokuhwisisa zubuyanana.
21 Andizotuma balebesambeli ibaba,
koga banotjimbidza kuyisa ndayidzo,
andizolebeleka nabo,
koga bakalebesambeli.
22 Koga abangabe bedwa pama mu goko langu,
bangabe bakaleba matama angu ku bathu bangu,
ipapo bangabe bakashandukila zila dzabo mbi,
ne mu mishingo yabo yakabipa.
23 “Apa ndi Ndzimu upejo koga?” Kojalo Yahwe. “Apa andite ndili Ndzimu ukule kene? 24 Apa nthu ungabgwata mu magalo akasumbikala kuti ndizo ndisimbone kene?” Kojalo Yahwe. “Apa andite ndili pamwe ne pamwe mu zhuzhugwi ne shango kene?” Kojalo Yahwe. 25 “Ndakahwa tjakalebgwa ne balebesambeli bakabe belebesambeli manyepkhwa nge zina langu beti, ‘Ndakawolota, ndakawolota!’ 26 Kowotola tjibaka tjingapani ikoku kwakadwilila mu mimoyo ye balebesambeli ibaba be manyepkhwa, banolebesambeli hwumana kwe mimoyo yabo kene? 27 Banokumbula kuti mawoloto abanobudzana anowothama kuti bathu bangu bakangang'we zina langu, koga bobatategulu babo sekwa bakakangang'wa zina langu nge kuthigamila Bhaale. 28 Nlebesambeli una mawoloto ngaalebe mawoloto awe koga iye una dama langu ngaalebe dama langu nge lebeswa. Apa bunye guna gobe leni mu mathunde kene?” Kojalo Yahwe. 29 “Apa dama langu alitonga moto kene? Apa alitonga hamuli inopkhwanya shongwe ikabe zwitibhutibhu kene?” Kojalo Yahwe. 30 “Ndizo ke, bonani, ndobhayana ne balebesambeli banokwiba dama langu mmwe mu mmwe,” koleba Yahwe. 31 “Bonani, ndobhayana ne balebesambeli banoshingisa matama abo beti ‘Kojalo Yahwe.’ 32 Bonani, ndobhayana na ibabo banolebesambeli mawoloto e manyepkhwa.” Kojalo Yahwe. “Ibabo banobadwa kakale bebatungamilila ntome nge manyepkhwa abo nenge butjapa gwabo ngono ipapo imi ndisakabatuma kene kuli kubadwa tjimwe, ndizo abatobhatsha bathu ibaba nge tjimwe ndodwa,” kojalo Yahwe.
Ntolo wa Yahwe
33 “Ha mmwe we bathu ibaba kene nlebesambeli kene mpirisiti ungakubhuzwa eti, ‘Ntolo wa Yahwe ini?’ Ubadwe uti, ‘Ndimwi ntolo, koga ndowomutula ndimulasha,’ kojalo Yahwe. 34 Ngono ha nlebesambeli kene mpirisiti kene mmwe koga angati, ‘Ntolo wa Yahwe,’ ndowoloba shamu nthu iwoyo ne nsha uwe. 35 Mulebesane mmwe ne mmwe ne mbakidzani naye ne mmwe ne mmwe ku hama iye muti, ‘Yahwe badabila betini’ kene ‘Yahwe balebeleka betini?’
36 “Koga musitongo tjashingisa dama linoti, ‘Ntolo wa Yahwe’ ngoti dama ileli lowobe ntolo mu mmwe ne mmwe. Naikobo mungabe mulelekesa matama e Ndzimu unotjila matama a Yahwe Masimbawose, matama e Ndzimu wedu. 37 Bhuzwa nlebesambeli uti, ‘Yahwe badabila betini’ kene ‘Yahwe balebeleka betini?’ 38 Koga amuti, ‘Ntolo wa Yahwe,’ kojalo Yahwe, ngoti mowobe maleba matama iyawa, ‘Ntolo wa Yahwe,’ andimutuma nditi, ‘Musilebe muti, “Ntolo wa Yahwe,” ’ 39 ndizo ke, bonani ndowomumilidzila pezhugwi se ntolo amulashila ku tjena mukadwa mbeli kwangu, imwi ne nzi nkulu wandakamupa imwi na bobatategulu benyu. 40 Ngono ndowomuzhisila kulengudzika kusingapele, kubhatisiwa shoni kusowokanganika.”