Jeremiah 7
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Leli yilizwi elafika kuJeremiya livela kuThixo lisithi:
2 “Stand in the gate of the house of the LORD and proclaim this message: Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the LORD.
“Mana esangweni lendlu kaThixo umemezele ilizwi leli ukhonapho uthi: ‘Zwanini ilizwi likaThixo, lonke lina bantu bakoJuda abangena ngala amasango ukuzakhonza uThixo.
3 Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Correct your ways and deeds, and I will let you live in this place.
UThixo uSomandla, uNkulunkulu ka-Israyeli uthi: Lungisani izindlela zenu lezenzo zenu, ukuze ngilivumele ukuba lihlale kule indawo.
4 Do not trust in deceptive words, chanting: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
Lingathembi amazwi akhohlisayo lithi, “Leli lithempeli likaThixo, ithempeli likaThixo, ithempeli likaThixo!”
5 For if you really correct your ways and deeds, if you act justly toward one another,
Lingalungisa izindlela zenu lezenzo zenu sibili liphathane ngokulunga,
6 if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,
nxa lingancindezeli owezizweni, izintandane loba umfelokazi njalo lingachithi gazi elingelacala kule indawo, njalo nxa lingalandeli abanye onkulunkulu okuzalilimaza,
7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
ngizalivumela ukuba lihlale kule indawo, elizweni engalinika okhokho benu ukuba libe ngelabo kuze kube nini lanini.
8 But look, you keep trusting in deceptive words to no avail.
Kodwa khangelani, lina lithemba amazwi akhohlisayo angasizi lutho.
9 Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,
Kambe lizantshontsha njalo libulale, lifebe, lifunge amanga, litshisele uBhali impepha njalo lilandele abanye onkulunkulu elingakaze libazi,
10 and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue with all these abominations’?
beselisizakuma phambi kwami kuyonale indlu, eleBizo lami, lithi, “Sivikelekile,” livikeleka ukuba lenze zonke lezizinto ezenyanyekayo na?
11 Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares the LORD.
Indlu le, eleBizo lami, seyaba lubhalu lwabaphangi na? Kodwa kade ngikhangele! kutsho uThixo.
12 But go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
Hambani khathesi endaweni yami eShilo lapho engenza khona kuqala indawo yokuhlala iBizo lami, libone engakwenza kuyo ngenxa yobubi babantu bami bako-Israyeli.
13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer,
UThixo uthi, kwathi lapho lisenza lezizinto, mina ngakhuluma lani futhifuthi, kodwa kalingilalelanga, ngalibiza, kalaze lasabela.
14 therefore what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears My Name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave to you and your fathers.
Ngakho-ke, lokho engakwenza eShilo khathesi ngizakwenza kule indlu eleBizo lami, ithempeli elilithembileyo, indawo engalinika yona lina kanye labokhokho benu.
15 And I will cast you out of My presence, just as I have cast out all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.
Ngizalixotsha phambi kwami, njengalokho engakwenza abafowenu bonke, abantu bako-Efrayimi.’
16 As for you, do not pray for these people, do not offer a plea or petition on their behalf, and do not beg Me, for I will not listen to you.
Ngakho abantu laba ungabakhulekeli loba ubakhulumele kumbe ubenzele isicelo; ungangincengi ngoba angiyikukulalela.
17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Abakwenzayo emadolobheni akoJuda lasemigwaqweni yaseJerusalema kawukuboni na?
18 The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger.
Abantwana batheza inkuni, oyise babasa imililo, labesifazane baxova inhlama benzele iNdlovukazi yaseZulwini isinkwa. Bathelela abanye onkulunkulu iminikelo yokunathwayo ukuba bangithukuthelise.
19 But am I the One they are provoking? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?
Kodwa yimi abangithukuthelisayo na? kutsho uThixo. Kabazilimazi bona ngokwabo na, okulihlazo kubo?
20 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the produce of the land, and it will burn and not be extinguished.
‘Ngakho uThixo Wobukhosi uthi: Ukuthukuthela kwami lolaka lwami kuzakwehliselwa kule indawo, phezu kwabantu lasezinyamazaneni, phezu kwezihlahla zeganga laphezu kwezithelo zomhlabathi; njalo kuzakutsha kungacitsheki.
21 This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!
UThixo uSomandla, uNkulunkulu ka-Israyeli uthi: Qhubekani, fakani iminikelo yenu yokutshiswa kweminye imihlatshelo yenu lidle inyama lina ngokwenu!
22 For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices,
Ngoba ekukhupheni kwami okhokho benu eGibhithe ngikhuluma labo, angizange ngibanike imilayo nje kuphela ngeminikelo yokutshiswa lemihlatshelo,
23 but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.
kodwa ngabanika umlayo lo othi: Ngilalelani, njalo ngizakuba nguNkulunkulu wenu lina libe ngabantu bami. Hambani ngezindlela zonke engililaye zona, ukuze kulilungele.
24 Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
Kodwa kabazange balalele kumbe banake; esikhundleni salokho, bona balandela inkani yentando yezinhliziyo zabo ezimbi. Baya emuva hatshi phambili.
25 From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.
Kusukela ngesikhathi okhokho benu besuka eGibhithe kuze kube khathesi, usuku ngosuku, njalonjalo ngalithumela izinceku zami abaphrofethi.
26 Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.
Kodwa kabangilalelanga kumbe banake. Babelentamo ezilukhuni njalo benza ububi obudlula obabokhokho babo.’
27 When you tell them all these things, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer.
Lapho ubatshela konke lokhu, kabayikukulalela; lalapho ubabiza, kabayikusabela.
28 Therefore you must say to them, ‘This is the nation that would not listen to the voice of the LORD their God and would not receive correction. Truth has perished; it has disappeared from their lips.
Ngakho batshele uthi, ‘Lesi yisizwe esingalalelanga uThixo uNkulunkulu waso kumbe sivume ukuqondiswa. Iqiniso selifile; kalisekho ezindebeni zabo.
29 Cut off your hair and throw it away. Raise up a lamentation on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’
Gelani inwele zenu lizilahlele khatshana; lenze isililo emiqolweni elugwadule, ngoba uThixo usesalile wasidela isizukulwane lesi esingaphanasi kolaka lwakhe.’”
30 For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.
“‘Abantu bakoJuda benze ububi phambi kwami, kutsho uThixo. Bamise izithombe zabo ezenyanyekayo endlini eleBizo lami balingcolisa.
31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.
Sebakhe izindawo eziphakemeyo zaseThofethi esigodini saseBheni-Hinomu ukuba batshisele khona amadodana lamadodakazi abo ngomlilo, into engingabalayanga yona, engazange ifike engqondweni yami.
32 So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.
Ngakho qaphelani, insuku ziyeza, kutsho uThixo, lapho abantu bengayikuyithi yiThofethi kumbe iSigodi saseBheni-Hinomu, kodwa iSigodi sokuBulala, ngoba abafileyo bazabangcwaba eThofethi kuze kusweleke indawo.
33 The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away.
Lapho-ke izidumbu zabantu laba zizakuba yikudla kwezinyoni zasemoyeni lezinyamazana zomhlaba, njalo akuyikuba lomuntu ozazethusa.
34 I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”
Ngizaqeda imisindo yokuthokoza leyenjabulo emadolobheni akoJuda lasemigwaqweni yaseJerusalema, lokuthaba lelizwi lomlobokazi lelomyeni, ngoba ilizwe lizachitheka.’”
