Jeremias 38
1 At that time, saith the Lord, I will be a God to the family of Israel, and they shall be to me a people.
Shefatia mwana wa Matani, Gedalia mwana wa Pashuri, na Pashuri mwana wa Malkiya alisikia maneno ambayo Yeremia alikuwa akitanganza kwa wato wote. Alikuwa akisema,
2 Thus saith the Lord, I found him warm in the wilderness with them that were slain with the sword: go ye and destroy not Israel.
“Yahwe asema hivi: Yeyote anayeishi kwenye mji huu atauwawa kwa upanga, njaa, na pigo. Lakini yeyote ambaye aendae kwa Wakaldayo ataishi. Atatoroka pamoja na maisha yake mwenyewe, na kuishi.
3 The Lord appeared to him from afar, [saying], I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore have I drawn thee in compassion.
Yahwe asema hivi: Huu mji huu utapewa kwa mkono wa jeshi la mfalme wa Babeli, na ataukamata.”
4 For I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt yet take thy timbrel, and go forth with the party of them that make merry.
Kwa hiyo maafisa walisema kwa mfalme, “Acha mtu huu afe, kwa kuwa kwa njia hii anadhofisha mikono ya wanaume wapiganaji waliobaki kwenye mji huu, na mikono ya watu wote. Anatanganza maneno haya, kwa kuwa huyu mtu hafanyi kwa usalama wa watu hawa, lakini kwa majanga.”
5 For ye have planted vineyards on the mountains of Samaria: plant ye, and praise.
Basi mfalme Sedekia alisema, “Tazama, yuko mkononi mwako kwa kuwa hakuna mfalme awezae kumpinga.”
6 For it is a day when those that plead on the mountains of Ephraim shall call, [saying], Arise ye, and go up to Sion to the Lord your God.
Kisha walimchukua Yeremia na kumtupa kwenye kisima cha Malkiya, mwana wa mfalme. Kisima kilikuwa kwenye uwanja wa mlinzi. Walimshusha Yeremia chini kwa kamba. Hapakuwa na maji kwenye kisima, lakini kulikuwa na matope, na alizama chini ya matope.
7 For thus saith the Lord to Jacob; Rejoice ye, and exult over the head of the nations: make proclamation, and praise ye: say, The Lord has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel.
Sasa Ebed Meleki Mkushi alikuwa mmoja wa watowashi katika nyumba ya mfalme. Alisikia kwamba walikuwa wamemuweka Yeremia kwenye kisima. Sasa mfalme alikuwa ameketi kwa mlango wa Benjamini.
8 Behold, I bring them from the north, and will gather them from the end of the earth to the feast of the passover: and [the people] shall beget a great multitude, and they shall return hither.
Basi Ebed Meleki alienda toka nyumba ya mfalme na kuzungumza na mfalme.
9 They went forth with weeping, and I will bring them back with consolation, causing them to lodge by the channels of waters in a straight way, and they shall not err in it: for I am become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born.
Alisema, “Bwana wangu mfalme, hawa wanaume wamefanya uovu kwa namna walivyomtendea Yeremia nabii. Walimtupa kwenye kisima kwa ajili ya kufa kutokana na njaa, tangu hakuna chakula zaidi katika mji.”
10 Hear the words of the Lord, ye nations, and proclaim [them] to the islands afar off; say, He that scattered Israel will also gather him, and keep him as one that feeds his flock.
Kisha mfalme alitoa amri kwa Ebed Meleki Mkushi. Alisema, “Chukua amri ya watu thelasini kutoka hapa na mtoe Yeremia nabii nje ya kisima kabla hajafa.”
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, he has rescued him out of the hand of them [that were] stronger than he.
Basi Ebed Meleki alichukua amri ya watu hao na akaenda nyumba ya mfalme, kwenye ghala la nguo chini ya nyumba. Toka hapo alichukua vitambaa na nguo zilizochanika na kuyashusha chini kwa kamba kwa Yeremia ndani ya kisima.
12 And they shall come, and shall rejoice in the mount of Sion, and shall come to the good things of the Lord, [even] to a land of corn, and wine, and fruits, and cattle, and sheep: and their soul shall be as a fruitful tree; and they shall hunger no more.
Ebed Meleki Mkushi alisema kwa Yeremia, “Weka matambara na nguo zilizoraruka chini ya mikono yako na juu ya kamba.” Basi Yeremia alifanya hivyo.
13 Then shall the virgins rejoice in the assembly of youth, and the old men shall rejoice; and I will turn their mourning into joy, and will make them merry.
Kisha walimvuta Yeremia kwa kamba. Kwa njia hii walimtoa kutoka kisimani. Basi Yeremia alibaki kwenye uwanja wa mlinzi.
14 I will expand and cheer with wine the soul of the priests the sons of Levi, and my people shall be satisfied with my good things: thus saith the Lord.
Kisha Mfalme Sedekia alituma neno na kumleta Yeremia nabii kwake, kwenye lango la tatu la nyumba ya Yahwe. Mfalme alisema kwa Yeremia, “Nataka nikuulize kitu. Usinizuilie jibu mimi.”
15 A voice was heard in Rama, of lamentation, and of weeping, and wailing; Rachel would not cease weeping for her children, because they are not.
Yeremia alisema kwa Sedekia, “Kama nakujibu, hautaniuawa kwa hakika? Na kama nakupa ushauri, hautanisikiliza mimi.”
16 Thus saith the Lord; Let thy voice cease from weeping, and thine eyes from thy tears: for their is a reward for thy works; and they shall return from the land of [thine] enemies.
Lakini Mfalme Sedekia aliapa kwa Yeremia kwa siri na kusema, “Kama Yahwe aishivyo, yeye aliyetufanya sisi, Sitakuuwa au kukuweka kwenye mkono wa watu wale wanaotafuta maisha yako.”
17 [There shall be] an abiding [home] for thy children.
Kwa hiyo Yeremia alisema kwa Sedekia, “Yahwe, Mungu wa majeshi, Mungu wa Israel, asema hivi: Kama kwa kweli utatoka kwenda kwa maafisa wa mfalme wa Babeli basi utaishi, and mji huu hautachomwa. Wewe na familia yako mtaishi.
18 I have heard the sound of Ephraim lamenting, [and saying], Thou hast chastened me, and I was chastened; I as a calf was not [willingly] taught: turn thou me, and I shall turn; for thou [art] the Lord my God.
Lakini kama hautaenda kwa maafisa wa mfalme wa Babeli, basi mji huu utachukuliwa kwa mkono wa Wakaldayo. Watauchoma, na hautakwepa kutoka mkono wao.”
19 For after my captivity I repented; and after I knew, I groaned for the day of shame, and shewed thee that I bore reproach from my youth.
Mfalme Sedekia alisema kwa Yeremia, “Lakini ninaogopa watu wa Yuda waliotoka jangwani kwenda kwa Wakaldayo, kwa sababu nitapewa katika mkono wao, kwa kunifanyia vibaya.”
20 Ephraim is a beloved son, a pleasing child to me: for because my words are in him, I will surely remember him: therefore I made haste [to help] him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.
Yeremia alisema, “Hawatakutoa kwao. Tii ujumbe toka kwa Yahwe ambao ninakuambia, ili kusudi mambo yataenda vizuri kwako, na ili kusudi utaishi.
21 Prepare thyself, O Sion; execute vengeance; look to thy ways: return, O virgin of Israel, by the way by which thou wentest, return mourning to thy cities.
Lakini kama unakataa kutoka, hivi ndivyo Yahwe amenionesha mimi.
22 How long, O disgraced daughter, wilt thou turn away? for the Lord has created safety for a new plantation: men shall go about in safety.
Tazama! Wanawake wote walioachwa kwenye nyumba yako, mfalme wa Yuda, ataletwa kwa maafisa wa mfalme wa Babeli. Hawa wanawake watasema kwako, “Umedaganywa na rafiki zako; wamekuharibu. Miguu yako sasa imezama kwenye matope, na rafiki zako watakimbia.'
23 For thus saith the Lord; They shall yet speak this word in the land of Juda, and in the cities thereof, when I shall turn his captivity; blessed be the Lord on his righteous holy mountain!
Kwa kuwa wake zenu wote na watoto wataletwa kwa Wakaldayo, na wewe mwenyewe hautatoroka nchi yao. Utashikwa na mkono wa mfalme wa Babeli, na mji huu utachomwa.”
24 And there shall be dwellers in the cities of Juda, and in all his land, together with the husbandman, and [the shepherd] shall go forth with the flock.
Kisha Sedekia alisema kwa Yeremia, “Usimjulishe yeyote kuhusu maneno haya, ili kwamba usije kufa.
25 For I have saturated every thirsting soul, and filled every hungry soul.
Kama maafisa wanasikia kwamba nimeongea na wewe- kama wanakuja na kusema kwako, 'Tuambia umezungumza nini pamoja na mfalme. Usitufiche, au tutakuuwa. Na tuambie nini mfalme amesema kwako'-
26 Therefore I awake, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet to me.
kisha unapaswa kusema nao, “Nilishawishiana pamoja na mfalme asirudi kwangu kwa nyumba ya Yonathan nitakufa humo.”
27 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Juda with the seed of man, and the seed of beast.
Kisha maafisa wote walikuja kwa Yeremia na kumuuliza, basi aliwajibu kama mfalme alivyomuelekeza. Basi waliacha kuongea pamoja naye, kwa sababu hawakusikia mazungumzo kati ya Yeremia na mfalme.
28 And it shall come to pass, that as I watched over them, to pull down, and to afflict, so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord.
Basi Yeremia alibaki kwenye uwanja wa mlinzi mpaka siku ile Yerusalem ilipotekwa.
29 In those days they shall certainly not say, The fathers ate a sour grape, and the children's teeth were set on edge.
30 But every one shall die in his own sin; and the teeth of him that eats the sour grape shall be set on edge.
31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda:
32 not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they abode not in my covenant, and I disregarded them, saith the Lord.
33 For this is my covenant which I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will surely put my laws into their mind, and write them on their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
34 And they shall not at all teach every one his [fellow] citizen, and every one his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them: for I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more.
35 Thus saith the Lord, who gives the sun for a light by day, the moon and the stars for a light by night, and [makes] a roaring in the sea, so that the waves thereof roar; the Lord Almighty is his name:
36 if these ordinances cease from before me, saith the Lord, then shall the family of Israel cease to be a nation before me forever.
37 Though the sky should be raised to a [greater] height, saith the Lord, and though the ground of the earth should be sunk [lower] beneath, yet I will not cast off the family of Israel, saith the Lord, for all that they have done.
38 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Anameel to the gate of the corner.
39 And the measurement of it shall proceed in front of them as far as the hills of Gareb, and it shall be compassed with a circular wall of choice stones.
40 And all the Asaremoth even to Nachal Kedron, as far as the corner of the horse-gate eastward, shall be holiness to the Lord; and it shall not fail any more, and shall not be destroyed for ever.
