Jeremiah 3
1 Tongpa loh a yuu te a tueih coeng tih a taeng lamloh, “Cet laeh,” a ti nah phoeiah tah hlang tloe hut la om coeng. Te dongah anih te koep mael aya? Khohmuen te poeih rhoela poeih mahpawt nim? Tedae nang tah na hui neh muep na cukhalh mai cakhaw kai taengla ha mael laeh.
“[Moses wrote that] if a man divorces his wife and then she marries another man, her first husband certainly must not [RHQ] take her back again [to be his wife], because that would certainly [RHQ] cause the whole nation to become unacceptable to me. But you have more [idols than] prostitutes have men whom they have slept with! So, [why should I accept you if] you return to me?” [RHQ] says Yahweh.
2 Caphoei cuk te na mik huel lamtah long taengah na yalh neh na yalh pawt te hmu. Amih te Arab bangla khosoek ah na ngol thil. Thurha nang neh boethae nang loh diklai na poeih.
“Look up at the barren hilltops. On every hilltop there are [RHQ] [idols that you have worshiped]. [It is as though] they are all lovers with whom you have had sex. [It is as though] you have sat along the roadsides like an Arab, waiting [to attack and steal things from] those who pass by. Because of worshiping idols and all the other wicked things that you have done, you have caused the [entire] land to become unacceptable to me.
3 Mueitui khaw uelh vetih tlankhol khaw om tangloeng pawh. Pumyoi nu kah a tal te nang taengla pawk coeng dae hmaithae tah na aal.
That is why I have not sent you any rain at the times of the year when you needed it. But you are like prostitutes [MET] who are not at all ashamed [for what they have done].
4 Tahae ah kang khue pawt tih a? kai taengah, “A pa nang tah ka camoe kah boeihlum ni,” tila nang khue.
Now each of you says to me, ‘You are my father! You have loved me ever since I was young!
5 Kumhal duela la lunguen vetih a yoeyah la ka muet uh aya? Ka thui long tah na thui ngawn dae boethae ni na saii thai he.
So surely you will not [RHQ] be angry with me forever!’ But you will not quit sinning!”
6 Manghai Josiah tue vaengah BOEIPA loh kai taengah he ni a thui. Israel hnuknong loh a saii te na hmuh nim? Tlang sang tom ah cet tih thing hing hmui tom ah hnap cukhalh.
[One day] when Josiah was the king of Judah, Yahweh said to me, “Have you seen what the people of Israel have done? They have turned away from me, like a woman who has abandoned her husband and sleeps with other men. They have gone up on every hilltop and under every big tree and worshiped idols there [MET].
7 Te rhoek te boeih a saii hnukah kai taengah ha mael ni ka ti. Tedae ha mael pawt te a tanu Judah hlangrhong loh a hmuh khaw a hmuh coeng.
I thought that they would return to me, so I said to them, ‘Come back to me!’ But they refused. So I sent them away [to other countries, like a man] writes a note saying that he is divorcing his wife and then sends his wife away because she has committed adultery [MET].
8 Hnuknong Israel loh a samphaih te a kong a mai boeih ka hmuh. Anih te ka tueih coeng tih yuuhlak cabu te amah taengah ka paek coeng. A tanu Judah hnukpoh te a rhih kolla a paan dongah anih khaw cukhalh bal.
The people of Judah saw what I did to them. But they are just like the people of Israel. They are not afraid [of what I will do to them]. They also [have turned away from me and are worshiping idols like] women who abandon their husbands and go to other men [MET].
9 Anih kah thurha ol te a om dongah khohmuen te a poeih. Lungto taeng neh thingngo taengah samphaih coeng.
They thought that worshiping idols did not matter to me, so they have made the [entire] land unacceptable to me by worshiping idols of wood and stone.
10 Te boeih nen khaw a tanu hlangrhong Judah loh a lungbuei boeih neh kai taengla ha mael pawt tih a honghi bueng la om. He tah BOEIPA kah olphong ni.
The people of Judah have pretended to return to me, but they have not really done that. [This is true because I], Yahweh, have said it.”
11 BOEIPA loh kai taengah a thui ngawn. Israel hnuknong kah a hinglu he Judah hnukpoh lakah tang ngai.
Then Yahweh said to me, “The people of Israel have turned away from me, but what the people of Judah have done is worse.
12 Cet lamtah he ol he tlangpuei ah pang puei. Hnuknong Israel te ha mael laeh,’ ti nah.
So go and tell this to the people of Israel: ‘Yahweh says this to you Israeli people who have turned away from him: I am merciful. I will not continue to be angry with you forever. So return to me.
13 Namah kah thaesainah te dawk ming saw. BOEIPA na Pathen taengah boe na koek. Thing hing hmui boeih kah hlanglak taengah na khosing na yaal coeng. Kai ol te khaw na yaak uh moenih.
But you must admit/say that you are guilty, and that you have rebelled against me, Yahweh, your God, that you have worshiped idols under big trees everywhere, and you have not obeyed me. You have turned away from me.
14 Hnukcol ca rhoek ha mael uh laeh. BOEIPA kah olphong ni. Nangmih aka yuunah khaw kai ni. Nangmih te khopuei lamkah pakhat, cako pakhat lamkah panit te kan loh phoeiah nangmih te Zion la kang khuen ni.
But you belong to me. So I will take you, one from [each] city and two from [each] clan, and bring you [back] to Jerusalem [from the countries to which you were exiled].
15 Nang aka dawn ham neh aka cangbam ham khaw ka lungbuei kah bangla kam paek vetih nangmih te lungming neh n'luem puei ni.
[If you do that], I will appoint for you leaders with whom I am pleased, leaders who will guide you [well] because they will know and understand [what pleases me].
16 Te khohnin ha pai vaengah tah na ping vetih diklai ah pungtai uh ni. BOEIPA kah olphong ni he. BOEIPA kah paipi thingkawng koep thui uh mahpawh. Lungbuei ah ael voel pawt vetih poek uh voel mahpawh. Thoelh uh voel pawt vetih koep saii voel mahpawh.
And when you become very numerous [DOU] in your land, you will not need to talk about the Sacred Chest that contained the Ten Commandments. You will not think about it, and you will not want to make a new one.
17 Te vaeng tue ah Jerusalem te BOEIPA kah ngolkhoel a ti uh ni. A khuikah namtom boeih loh Jerusalem kah BOEIPA ming te a lamtawn uh ni. Amih kah boethae neh lungbuei thinthahnah hnuk te vai uh voel mahpawh.
At that time people will say, “Jerusalem is [the place where] Yahweh’s throne is.” [People from] all nations will come there to worship me. And they will no longer stubbornly do the evil things that they desire.
18 Te khohnin ah Judah imkhui neh Israel imkhui te paan uh thae vetih na pa rhoek ka phaeng khohmuen ah tlangpuei khohmuen lamloh tun ha pawk uh ni.
At that time you people [MTY] of Israel and the people of Judah will return from [being (exiled/forced to live) in] lands to the northeast. You will return to the land that I gave to your ancestors to belong to them [forever].
19 Kai loh ca rhoek bangla nang kang khueh vetih namtom caempuei kah a rho kirhang neh khohmuen sahnaih te nang taengah metlam kam paek eh ka ti. Kai he a pa la nang khue rhoe nang khue vetih kai hnuk lamloh na mael rhoe, na mael mahpawh ka ti.
You people of Israel, I wanted to accept you to be my children. I wanted to give you [this] delightful land. It is a land more desirable/pleasant than the land of any other nation! I wanted you to call me ‘father’, and I wanted you to never turn away from me.
20 Tedae huta a hui taengah a hnukpoh bangla Israel imkhui loh kai taengah na hnukpoh tangkhuet.
But you have abandoned me like wives who have abandoned their husbands.’” [That is what] Yahweh said, and [I told it] to the people of Israel.
21 Israel ca rhoek kah a rhah neh a huithuinah ol te caphoei cuk ah a yaak. Amih kah longpuei paihaeh tih a Pathen BOEIPA te a hnilh uh.
People will hear a noise on the barren hilltops. It will be the noise made by people weeping and pleading [for God to be merciful to them]. They will be admitting/saying that they have forgotten Yahweh their God, and that they turned away from behaving as God wanted them to.
22 Hnukcol koca rhoek mael uh laeh, nangmih kah hnuknong te ka hoeih sak bitni. Kaimih kah Pathen BOEIPA tah nang ham a om dongah kaimih khaw nang taengla ka pawk uh bitni he.
Yahweh will say to them, “You Israeli people, come back to me! [If you do that], I will cause you to never turn away from me again.” [The people will reply], “We are returning to you, because you are Yahweh, our God.
23 Tlang neh som lamkah hlangping khaw a honghi ni. Israel kah loeihnah he mamih kah Pathen BOEIPA dongah ni a om dae.
We did not get any help from [the idols that we worshiped on] the hilltops; we did not get any help from making all that noise up there.
24 A pa rhoek a thatloh te yahpohnah loh mamih n'camoe lamkah ni, a boiva neh a saelhung la, a capa rhoek neh a canu rhoek la a caak coeng.
From the time when we were young, the shameful [god Baal] has taken away [from us] everything that our ancestors worked hard to acquire. He has taken away their flocks [of sheep] and herds [of cattle], their sons and their daughters.
25 Mamih kah yahpohnah dongah yalh uh sih lamtah mamih kah mingthae loh mamih n'khuk mai saeh. Mamih kah Pathen BOEIPA taengah mamih khaw, a pa rhoek khaw n'tholh uh coeng. Mamih n'camoe lamkah tihnin duela mamih kah Pathen BOEIPA ol te n'hnatun uh moenih.
So, now we should lie down feeling very ashamed [DOU], because we and our ancestors have sinned against Yahweh our God, and we have never obeyed him.”
