Jeremias 38
1 At that time, says the Lord, I will be a God to the family of Israel, and they shall be to me a people.
Shefatia mwana wa Matani, na Gedalia mwana wa Pashuri, na Yehukali mwana wa Shelemia, na Pashuri mwana wa Malkiya wakasikia kile Yeremia alichokuwa akiwaambia watu wote wakati aliposema,
2 Thus says the Lord, I found him warm in the wilderness with them that were slain with the sword: go you and destroy not Israel.
“Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana: ‘Yeyote akaaye ndani ya mji huu atakufa kwa upanga, njaa au tauni, lakini yeyote atakayejisalimisha kwa Wakaldayo ataishi. Atakayeyatoa maisha yake kama nyara, ataishi.’
3 The Lord appeared to him from afar, [saying], I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore have I drawn you in compassion.
Tena hili ndilo asemalo Bwana: ‘Mji huu kwa hakika utatiwa mikononi mwa jeshi la mfalme wa Babeli, ambaye atauteka.’”
4 For I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel: you shall yet take your timbrel, and go forth with the party of them that make merry.
Ndipo maafisa wakamwambia mfalme, “Mtu huyu imempasa kuuawa. Anawakatisha tamaa askari waliobaki katika mji huu, vivyo hivyo na watu wote pia, kwa ajili ya mambo anayowaambia. Mtu huyu hawatakii mema watu hawa, bali maangamizi yao.”
5 For you have planted vineyards on the mountains of Samaria: plant you, and praise.
Mfalme Sedekia akajibu, “Yeye yuko mikononi mwenu! Mfalme hawezi kufanya lolote kuwapinga ninyi.”
6 For it is a day when those that plead on the mountains of Ephraim shall call, [saying], Arise you, and go up to Sion to the Lord your God.
Basi wakamchukua Yeremia na kumtia kwenye kisima cha Malkiya, mwana wa mfalme, kilichokuwa katika ua wa walinzi. Wakamteremsha Yeremia kwa kamba ndani ya kisima. Hakikuwa na maji ndani yake, ila tope tu, naye Yeremia akazama ndani ya matope.
7 For thus says the Lord to Jacob; Rejoice you, and exult over the head of the nations: make proclamation, and praise you: say, The Lord has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel.
Lakini Ebed-Meleki Mkushi, aliyekuwa afisa katika jumba la kifalme, akasikia kuwa walikuwa wamemtia Yeremia ndani ya kisima. Wakati mfalme alipokuwa ameketi katika Lango la Benyamini,
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.
Ebed-Meleki akatoka nje ya jumba la kifalme na kumwambia,
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 firstborn.
“Mfalme bwana wangu, watu hawa wamefanya uovu kwa yote waliomtendea nabii Yeremia. Wamemtupa ndani ya kisima, mahali ambapo atakufa kwa njaa wakati ambapo hakuna chakula popote katika mji.”
10 Hear the words of the Lord, you 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.
Basi mfalme akamwamuru Ebed-Meleki Mkushi, akisema, “Chukua watu thelathini kutoka hapa pamoja nawe, mkamtoe nabii Yeremia huko kwenye 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 akawachukua watu pamoja naye, wakaenda mpaka kwenye chumba kilichoko chini ya hazina ndani ya jumba la kifalme. Akachukua matambaa makuukuu pamoja na nguo zilizochakaa kutoka huko, na kumshushia Yeremia kwa kamba 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 akamwambia Yeremia, “Weka haya matambaa makuukuu na hizo nguo zilizochakaa makwapani ili kuzuia kamba.” Yeremia akafanya 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.
nao wakamvuta juu kwa kamba na kumtoa katika kisima. Yeremia akakaa katika ua wa walinzi.
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 says the Lord.
Ndipo Mfalme Sedekia akatuma watu wamwitie nabii Yeremia wamlete kwake kwenye ingilio la tatu la Hekalu la Bwana. Mfalme akamwambia Yeremia, “Ninataka kukuuliza jambo fulani, usinifiche kitu chochote.”
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 akamwambia Sedekia, “Nikikupa jibu, je, hutaniua? Hata kama nikikupa shauri, wewe hutanisikiliza.”
16 Thus says the Lord; Let your voice cease from weeping, and your eyes from your tears: for their is a reward for your works; and they shall return from the land of [your] enemies.
Lakini Mfalme Sedekia akamwapia Yeremia kiapo hiki kwa siri, akisema, “Hakika kama aishivyo Bwana, ambaye ametupa pumzi, sitakuua wala sitakutia mikononi mwa wale wanaotafuta uhai wako.”
17 [There shall be] an dwelling [home] for your children.
Kisha Yeremia akamwambia Sedekia, “Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana Mungu Mwenye Nguvu Zote, Mungu wa Israeli: ‘Ikiwa utajisalimisha kwa maafisa wa mfalme wa Babeli, maisha yako yatasalimika, na mji huu hautateketezwa kwa moto. Pia wewe na jamaa yako mtaishi.
18 I have heard the sound of Ephraim lamenting, [and saying], You have chastened me, and I was chastened; I as a calf was not [willingly] taught: turn you me, and I shall turn; for you [are] the Lord my God.
Lakini ikiwa hutajisalimisha kwa maafisa wa mfalme wa Babeli, mji huu utatiwa mikononi mwa Wakaldayo na watauteketeza kwa moto, nawe mwenyewe hutaweza kujiokoa mikononi mwao.’”
19 For after my captivity I repented; and after I knew, I groaned for the day of shame, and showed you that I bore reproach from my youth.
Mfalme Sedekia akamwambia Yeremia, “Ninawaogopa Wayahudi ambao wamekimbilia kwa Wakaldayo, kwa kuwa Wakaldayo wanaweza kunitia mikononi mwao, nao wakanitenda 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, says the Lord.
Yeremia akajibu, “Hawatakutia mikononi mwao. Mtii Bwana kwa kufanya kile ninachokuambia. Kisha utafanikiwa na maisha yako yatakuwa salama.
21 Prepare yourself, O Sion; execute vengeance; look to your ways: return, O virgin of Israel, by the way by which you went, return mourning to your cities.
Lakini ukikataa kujisalimisha, hili ndilo Bwana alilonifunulia:
22 How long, O disgraced daughter, will you turn away? for the Lord has created safety for a new plantation: men shall go about in safety.
Wanawake wote walioachwa katika jumba la kifalme la mfalme wa Yuda wataletwa mbele ya maafisa wa mfalme wa Babeli. Wanawake hao watakuambia: “‘Walikupotosha na kukushinda, wale rafiki zako uliowaamini. Miguu yako imezama matopeni; rafiki zako wamekuacha.’
23 For thus says 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!
“Wake zako wote na watoto wataletwa na kutiwa mikononi mwa Wakaldayo. Wewe mwenyewe hutaweza kujiokoa mikononi mwao. Lakini utatekwa na mfalme wa Babeli, na mji huu utateketezwa kwa moto.”
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 akamwambia Yeremia, “Usiruhusu mtu yeyote ajue kuhusu haya mazungumzo, la sivyo utakufa.
25 For I have saturated every thirsting soul, and filled every hungry soul.
Maafisa wakisikia kwamba nimezungumza nawe, nao wakakujia na kusema, ‘Tuambie kile ulichozungumza na mfalme na kile mfalme alichokuambia, usitufiche au sivyo tutakuua,’
26 Therefore I awake, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.
basi waambie, ‘Nilikuwa ninamsihi mfalme asinirudishe kwenye nyumba ya Yonathani nisije nikafia humo.’”
27 Therefore, behold, the days come, says 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.
Maafisa wote wakamjia Yeremia na kumuuliza, naye Yeremia akawaambia kila kitu mfalme alichomwagiza kusema. Kisha hawakusema lolote zaidi na Yeremia kwa sababu hakuna yeyote aliyesikia mazungumzo yake 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, says the Lord.
Naye Yeremia akabaki katika ua wa walinzi hadi siku Yerusalemu 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, says 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, says the Lord.
33 For this is my covenant which I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, says 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 says 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, says 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, says the Lord, and though the ground of the earth should be sunk [lower] beneath, yet I will not cast off the family of Israel, says the Lord, for all that they have done.
38 Behold, the days come, says 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.
