Jeremiah 7
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Hili ndilo neno lililomjia Yeremia kutoka kwa Bwana:
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.
“Simama kwenye lango la nyumba ya Bwana, na huko upige mbiu ya ujumbe huu: “‘Sikieni neno la Bwana, enyi watu wote wa Yuda mliokuja kupitia malango haya ili kumwabudu Bwana.
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.
Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote, Mungu wa Israeli: Tengenezeni njia zenu na matendo yenu, nami nitawaacha mkae mahali hapa.
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.’
Msitumainie maneno ya udanganyifu na kusema, “Hili ni Hekalu la Bwana, Hekalu la Bwana, Hekalu la Bwana!”
5 For if you really correct your ways and deeds, if you act justly toward one another,
Kama kweli mkibadili njia zenu na matendo yenu, mkatendeana haki kila mmoja na mwenzake,
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,
kama msipomwonea mgeni, yatima wala mjane, na kumwaga damu isiyo na hatia mahali hapa, nanyi kama msipofuata miungu mingine kwa madhara yenu wenyewe,
7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
ndipo nitawaacha mkae mahali hapa, katika nchi niliyowapa baba zenu milele na milele.
8 But look, you keep trusting in deceptive words to no avail.
Lakini tazama, mnatumainia maneno ya udanganyifu yasiyo na maana.
9 Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,
“‘Je, mtaiba na kuua, mtazini na kuapa kwa uongo, na kufukiza uvumba kwa Baali, na kufuata miungu mingine ambayo hamkuijua,
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’?
kisha mje na kusimama mbele yangu katika nyumba hii inayoitwa kwa Jina langu, mkisema, “Tuko salama.” Salama kwa kufanya mambo haya yote ya kuchukiza?
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.
Je, nyumba hii, iitwayo kwa Jina langu, imekuwa pango la wanyangʼanyi kwenu? Lakini nimekuwa nikiona yanayotendeka! asema Bwana.
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.
“‘Nendeni sasa mahali pangu palipokuwa huko Shilo, mahali ambapo nilipafanya pa kwanza kuwa makao ya Jina langu, nanyi mwone lile nililopafanyia kwa ajili ya uovu wa watu wangu Israeli.
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,
Mlipokuwa mnafanya yote haya, asema Bwana, nilisema nanyi tena na tena, lakini hamkusikiliza; niliwaita, lakini hamkujibu.
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.
Kwa hiyo, nililolifanyia Shilo, nitalifanya sasa kwa nyumba hii iitwayo kwa Jina langu, Hekalu mnalolitumainia, mahali nilipowapa ninyi na baba zenu.
15 And I will cast you out of My presence, just as I have cast out all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.
Nitawafukuza mbele yangu, kama nilivyowafanyia ndugu zenu, watu wa Efraimu.’
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.
“Kwa hiyo usiombe kwa ajili ya watu hawa, wala usinililie, na usifanye maombi kwa ajili yao; usinisihi, kwa sababu sitakusikiliza.
17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Je, huyaoni hayo wanayoyatenda katika miji ya Yuda na katika barabara za Yerusalemu?
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.
Watoto wanakusanya kuni, baba zao wanawasha moto, na wanawake wanakanda unga na kuoka mikate kwa ajili ya Malkia wa Mbinguni. Wanamimina sadaka za vinywaji kwa miungu mingine ili kunikasirisha.
19 But am I the One they are provoking? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?
Lakini je, mimi ndiye wanayenikasirisha? asema Bwana. Je, hawajiumizi wenyewe na kujiaibisha?
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.
“‘Kwa hiyo hivi ndivyo asemavyo Bwana Mwenyezi: Hasira yangu na ghadhabu yangu itamwagwa mahali hapa, juu ya mwanadamu na mnyama, juu ya miti ya shambani na juu ya matunda ya ardhini, nayo itaungua pasipo kuzimwa.
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!
“‘Hivi ndivyo asemavyo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote, Mungu wa Israeli: Endeleeni, ongezeni sadaka zenu za kuteketezwa juu ya dhabihu zenu nyingine, mle nyama hiyo wenyewe!
22 For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices,
Kwa kuwa nilipowaleta baba zenu kutoka Misri na kusema nao, sikuwapa amri kuhusu sadaka za kuteketezwa na dhabihu tu,
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.
lakini niliwapa amri hii nikisema: Nitiini mimi, nami nitakuwa Mungu wenu nanyi mtakuwa watu wangu. Enendeni katika njia zote ninazowaamuru ili mpate kufanikiwa.
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.
Lakini hawakusikiliza wala kujali. Badala yake, walifuata ukaidi wa mioyo yao miovu. Walirudi nyuma badala ya kusonga mbele.
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.
Tangu wakati ule baba zenu walipotoka Misri hadi sasa, siku baada ya siku, tena na tena nimewatumia watumishi wangu manabii.
26 Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.
Lakini hawakunisikiliza wala hawakujali. Walikuwa na shingo ngumu na kufanya maovu kuliko baba zao.’
27 When you tell them all these things, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer.
“Utakapowaambia haya yote, hawatakusikiliza; utakapowaita, hawatajibu.
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.
Kwa hiyo waambie, ‘Hili ni taifa ambalo halimtii Bwana, Mungu wao, wala kukubali maonyo. Kweli imekufa, imetoweka midomoni mwao.
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.’
Nyoeni nywele zenu na kuzitupa, ombolezeni katika miinuko iliyo kame, kwa kuwa Bwana amekikataa na kukiacha kizazi hiki kilichomkasirisha.
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.
“‘Watu wa Yuda wamefanya maovu machoni pangu, asema Bwana. Wameziweka sanamu zao za machukizo ndani ya nyumba iitwayo kwa Jina langu, na wameitia unajisi.
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.
Wamejenga mahali pa juu pa kuabudia sanamu pa Tofethi kwenye Bonde la Ben-Hinomu ili kuwateketeza wana wao na binti zao kwenye moto, kitu ambacho sikuamuru, wala hakikuingia akilini mwangu.
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.
Kwa hiyo mjihadhari, siku zinakuja, asema Bwana, wakati watu watakapokuwa hawapaiti Tofethi au Bonde la Ben-Hinomu, lakini watapaita Bonde la Machinjo, kwa sababu watawazika wafu huko Tofethi mpaka pasiwe tena nafasi.
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.
Ndipo mizoga ya watu hawa itakuwa chakula cha ndege wa angani na wanyama wa nchi, wala hapatakuwepo na yeyote wa kuwafukuza.
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.”
Nitazikomesha sauti za shangwe na furaha, na sauti za bwana arusi na bibi arusi katikati ya miji ya Yuda na barabara za Yerusalemu, kwa sababu nchi itakuwa ukiwa.
