Jeremiah 16
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
Ilizwi leNkosi laselifika kimi lisithi:
2 “You shall not take a wife, and there shall be no sons or daughters for you in this place.
Ungazithatheli umfazi, njalo ungabi lamadodana kumbe amadodakazi kulindawo.
3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are conceived in this place, and concerning their mothers who give birth to them, and concerning their fathers, from whose stock they have been born in this land:
Ngoba itsho njalo iNkosi mayelana lamadodana lamayelana lamadodakazi azalelwe kulindawo, lamayelana labonina abawazalayo lamayelana laboyise abawazalele kulelilizwe:
4 They will die from grievous mortal illnesses. They will not be mourned, and they will not be buried. They will be like manure on the face of the earth. And they will be consumed by sword and by famine. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the land.”
Bazakufa izimfa zemikhuhlane; kabayikulilelwa, futhi kabayikungcwatshwa; bazakuba ngumquba phezu kobuso bomhlaba; njalo bazaqedwa yinkemba layindlala; lezidumbu zabo zizakuba yikudla kwezinyoni zamazulu lokwenyamazana zomhlaba.
5 For thus says the Lord: “You shall not enter the house of feasting, and you shall not go to mourn or to console them. For I have taken away from this people, says the Lord, my peace, my mercy, and my pity.
Ngoba itsho njalo iNkosi: Ungangeni endlini yesililo, ungayikulila, ungabakhaleli; ngoba ngikususile ukuthula kwami kulababantu, itsho iNkosi, uthandolomusa lezihawu.
6 Both the great and the small will die in this land. They will not be buried, and they will not be mourned. And no one will cut themselves or make themselves bald on their behalf.
Njalo abakhulu labancinyane bazakufa kulelilizwe; kabayikungcwatshwa, kabayikubalilela, kabayikuzisika, kabayikuziphuca ngenxa yabo.
7 And they will not break bread among themselves for the sake of him who mourns, so as to console him over the dead. And they will not give them a chalice to drink, so as to console them over their father and mother.
Futhi kabayikubahlephulela isinkwa esililweni, ukubaduduza ngenxa yofileyo; futhi kakho ozabanathisa inkezo yezinduduzo ngenxa kayise langenxa kanina.
8 And so, you shall not enter the house of feasting, so as to sit with them, and to eat and drink.”
Njalo ungangeni endlini yedili, ukuhlala labo, ukudla lokunatha.
9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will take away from this place, in your sight and in your days, the voice of gladness and the voice of rejoicing, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.
Ngoba itsho njalo iNkosi yamabandla, uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli: Khangelani, ngizakwenza ukuthi kuphele kule indawo, emehlweni enu, lensukwini zenu, ilizwi lentokozo, lelizwi lenjabulo, ilizwi lomyeni, lelizwi likamakoti.
10 And when you announce all these words to this people, they will say to you: ‘Why would the Lord pronounce all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity and what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’
Njalo kuzakuthi lapho utshela lababantu wonke lamazwi, babesebesithi kuwe: INkosi ikhulumelani konke lokhu okubi okukhulu imelene lathi, njalo buyini ububi bethu, njalo yisiphi isono sethu esisonileyo simelene leNkosi uNkulunkulu wethu?
11 And you shall say to them: It is because your fathers abandoned me, says the Lord. And they went after strange gods, and they served them and adored them. And they abandoned me, and they did not keep my law.
Khona uzakuthi kubo: Ngenxa yokuthi oyihlo bangidelile, itsho iNkosi, balandela abanye onkulunkulu, babasebenzela, babakhonza, bangidela mina, kabagcinanga umlayo wami;
12 But you have acted even worse than your fathers. For behold, each one walks after the depravity of his own evil heart, so that he does not listen to me.
lina-ke lenze okubi kulaboyihlo; ngoba khangelani, lilandela, ngulowo lalowo ubulukhuni benhliziyo yakhe embi, ukuthi bangangilaleli.
13 And so, I will cast you out of this land, into a land that you do not know, and that your fathers did not know. And in that place, you will serve, day and night, strange gods who will not give you rest.
Ngakho ngizaliphosela ngaphandle kwalelilizwe, liye elizweni elingalaziyo, lina laboyihlo; lapho-ke lizasebenzela abanye onkulunkulu emini lebusuku, ngoba kangiyikulinika umusa.
14 Therefore, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives, who led the sons of Israel away from the land of Egypt,’
Ngakho, khangela, insuku ziyeza, itsho iNkosi, lapho kungasayikuthiwa: Kuphila kweNkosi, eyakhuphula abantwana bakoIsrayeli elizweni leGibhithe;
15 but instead, ‘As the Lord lives, who led the sons of Israel away from the land of the north,’ and from all the lands to which I have cast them out. And I will lead them back into their own land, which I gave to their fathers.
kodwa: Kuphila kweNkosi, eyakhuphula abantwana bakoIsrayeli elizweni lenyakatho lakuwo wonke amazwe eyayibaxotshele kiwo; ngoba ngizababuyisa futhi elizweni lakibo engalinika oyise.
16 Behold, I will send many fishermen, says the Lord, and they will fish for them. And after this, I will send many hunters to them, and they will hunt for them on every mountain, and on every hilltop, and in the caverns of the rocks.
Khangela, ngizathumela kubagoli benhlanzi abanengi, itsho iNkosi, babesebebagola; lemva kwalokho ngizathumela kubazingeli abanengi, babazingele bebasusa kuyo yonke intaba, lakulo lonke uqaqa, lasezingoxweni zamadwala.
17 For my eyes are upon all their ways. They have not been hidden from my face, and their iniquity has not been concealed from my eyes.
Ngoba amehlo ami aphezu kwazo zonke izindlela zabo; kazifihlakalanga ebusweni bami, lobubi babo kabucatshanga phambi kwamehlo ami.
18 But first, I will repay their double iniquities and their sins. For they have defiled my land with the dead bodies of their idols, and they have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”
Kuqala-ke ngizaphindisela isiphambeko sabo lesono sabo ngokuphindiweyo, ngoba bengcolise ilizwe lami, bagcwalisa ilifa lami ngezidumbu zamanyala abo lezinengiso zabo.
19 “O Lord, my strength, and my health, and my refuge in the day of tribulation: the Gentiles will approach you from the ends of the earth, and they will say: ‘Truly, our fathers possessed a lie, an emptiness that has not benefited them.’
Nkosi, wena mandla ami, lenqaba yami, lesiphephelo sami ngosuku lwembandezelo, abezizwe bazafika kuwe bevela emikhawulweni yomhlaba, bathi: Isibili obaba badlile ilifa lamanga, okuyize, lokungekho inzuzo kukho.
20 How can man make gods for himself, though these are not gods?”
Umuntu angazenzela onkulunkulu yini, kanti kabayisibo onkulunkulu?
21 “Concerning this, behold: I will make it clear to them, in this turn. I will reveal to them my hand and my virtue. And they will know that the Lord is my name.”
Ngakho, khangela, ngizabenza bazi okwalesisikhathi, ngizabenza bazi isandla sami lobuqhawe bami; bazakwazi-ke ukuthi ibizo lami linguJehova.
