Jeremiah 7
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:
Ilizwi elafika kuJeremiya livela eNkosini lisithi:
2 “Stand at the gate to the house of the Lord, and preach this word there, and say: Listen to the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter through these gates to adore the Lord.
Mana esangweni lendlu yeNkosi umemezele khona lelilizwi uthi: Zwanini ilizwi leNkosi, lina bonke bakoJuda, abangena kulamasango ukuzakhonza iNkosi.
3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Make your ways and your intentions good, and I will live with you in this place.
Itsho njalo INkosi yamabandla, uNkulunkulu wakoIsrayeli: Lungisani indlela zenu lezenzo zenu, khona ngizalenza ukuthi lihlale kulindawo.
4 Do not choose to trust in lying words, saying: ‘This is the temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord!’
Lingathembi lina emazwini amanga okuthi: La alithempeli leNkosi, ithempeli leNkosi, ithempeli leNkosi.
5 For if you direct your ways and your intentions well, if you exercise judgment between a man and his neighbor,
Ngoba uba lilungisisa lokulungisa izindlela zenu lezenzo zenu; uba lisenza lokwenza isahlulelo phakathi komuntu lomakhelwane wakhe;
6 if you do not act with deceit toward the new arrival, the orphan, and the widow, and if you do not pour out innocent blood in this place, and if you do not walk after strange gods, which is to your own harm,
lingacindezeli owezizweni, intandane, lomfelokazi, lingachithi igazi elingelacala kulindawo; futhi lingalandeli abanye onkulunkulu ukuze kube kubi kini;
7 then I will live with you in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers from the beginning and even forever.
khona ngizalenza ukuthi lihlale kulindawo, elizweni engalinika oyihlo, kusukela endulo kuze kube nininini.
8 Behold, you trust in false words, which will not benefit you,
Khangelani, lina lithembela emazwini amanga angasizi lutho.
9 so as to steal, to murder, to commit adultery, to swear falsely, to offer libations to Baal, and to go after strange gods, which you do not know.
Lizakweba, libulale, lifebe, lifunge amanga, litshisele uBhali impepha, lilandele abanye onkulunkulu elingabaziyo yini?
10 And you arrived and stood before me in this house, where my name is invoked, and you said: ‘We have been freed because we carried out all these abominations.’
Beselisiza lime phambi kwami kulindlu, ebizwa ngebizo lami, lithi: Sikhululwe ukuze senze zonke lezizinengiso.
11 So then, has this house, where my name has been invoked, become a den of robbers in your eyes? It is I, I am, I have seen, says the Lord.
Indlu le, ebizwa ngebizo lami, isibe lubhalu lwabaphangi emehlweni enu yini? Khangelani, mina sengibonile, itsho iNkosi.
12 Go to my place in Shiloh, where my name has lived from the beginning, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.
Ngoba yanini khathesi endaweni yami eseShilo, lapho engamisa khona ibizo lami kuqala, libone engikwenzileyo kiyo ngenxa yobubi babantu bami uIsrayeli.
13 And now, because you have done all these works, says the Lord, and because I have spoken to you from your morning rising, and because I was speaking, but you were not listening, and because I have called you, but you have not responded:
Khathesi-ke, ngoba lenzile yonke le imisebenzi, itsho iNkosi, njalo ngikhulumile lani, ngivuka ngovivi ngikhuluma, kodwa kalizwanga, ngalibiza, kodwa kaliphendulanga;
14 I will do to this house, in which my name is invoked, and in which you have confidence, even to this place which I gave to you and to your fathers, just as I have done to Shiloh.
ngakho ngizakwenza kulindlu, ebizwa ngebizo lami, elithemba kiyo, lakundawo engayinika lina laboyihlo, njengalokho engakwenza eShilo.
15 And I will cast you away from my face, just as I have cast away all your brothers, the entire offspring of Ephraim.
Njalo ngizalixotsha lisuke ebusweni bami, njengalokho ngaxotsha bonke abafowenu, inzalo yonke kaEfrayimi.
16 Therefore, you should not pray for this people, nor take up praise and supplication on their behalf. And you should not stand in opposition to me. For then I will not heed you.
Ngakho wena ungabakhulekeli lababantu, ungabaphakamiseli ukukhala loba umkhuleko, ungalabheli kimi, ngoba kangiyikukuzwa.
17 Have you not seen what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Kawukuboni yini abakwenza emizini yakoJuda lezitaladeni zeJerusalema?
18 The sons gather the wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the wives spread the grease, so as to make cakes to the queen of heaven and to offer libations to strange gods, and so as to provoke me to anger.
Abantwana batheza inkuni, laboyise baphembe umlilo, labesifazana baxove inhlama, ukuze benzele indlovukazi yamazulu amaqebelengwana, bathululele abanye onkulunkulu iminikelo yokunathwayo, ukuze bangithukuthelise.
19 But are they provoking me to anger, says the Lord? Are they not provoking themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?”
Bathukuthelisa mina yini? itsho iNkosi. Kabazenzeni yini kuze kusanganiseke ubuso babo?
20 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, my fury and my indignation is kindled against this place, over men and over beasts, and over the trees of the countryside and over the fruits of the land, and it will burn and not be extinguished.”
Ngakho itsho njalo iNkosi uJehova: Khangela, intukuthelo yami lolaka lwami kuzathululelwa kulindawo, phezu komuntu, laphezu kwenyamazana, laphezu kwezihlahla zasendle, laphezu kwesithelo somhlabathi; njalo kuzakutsha, kungacitshwa.
21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your holocausts to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh.
Itsho njalo INkosi yamabandla, uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli: Fakani iminikelo yenu yokutshiswa kanye lemihlatshelo yenu, lidle inyama.
22 For concerning the matter of holocausts and sacrifices, I did not speak with your fathers, and I did not instruct them, in the day when I led them away from the land of Egypt.
Ngoba kangikhulumanga kuboyihlo, njalo kangibalayanga ngosuku engabakhupha ngalo elizweni leGibhithe, mayelana lendaba zeminikelo yokutshiswa kumbe imihlatshelo.
23 But on this matter I did instruct them, saying: Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. And walk in the entire way that I have commanded you, so that it may be well with you.
Kodwa ngabalaya le into ngisithi: Lalelani ilizwi lami, njalo ngizakuba nguNkulunkulu wenu, lina-ke libe ngabantu bami; njalo hambani ngayo yonke indlela engililaya yona, ukuze kulilungele.
24 But they did not listen, nor did they incline their ear. Instead, they walked by their own will and in the depravity of their own wicked heart. And so, they went backward, and not forward,
Kodwa kabalalelanga, kabathobanga indlebe yabo; kodwa bahamba ngamacebo, ngenkani yenhliziyo yabo embi, bahlehlela nyovane, hatshi-ke phambili.
25 from the day when their fathers went forth from the land of Egypt, even to this day. And I have sent all my servants, the prophets, to you, throughout the day, rising at first light and sending them.
Kusukela osukwini oyihlo abaphuma ngalo elizweni leGibhithe kuze kube yilolusuku, ngithume kini zonke inceku zami, abaprofethi, insuku ngensuku ngivuka ngovivi, ngithuma.
26 But they have not listened to me, nor have they inclined their ear. Instead, they have stiffened their neck, and they have behaved worse than their fathers did.
Kanti kabangilalelanga, njalo kababekanga indlebe yabo, kodwa benza intamo yabo yaba lukhuni; benza kubi kulaboyise.
27 And so, you will speak to them all these words, but they will not listen to you. And you will call to them, but they will not respond to you.
Ngakho uzakhuluma wonke lamazwi kibo, kodwa kabayikukulalela; futhi uzababiza, kodwa kabayikukuphendula.
28 And you will say to them: This is the nation that has not listened to the voice of the Lord their God, nor accepted discipline. Faith has perished and been taken away from their mouth.
Ngakho uzakuthi kibo: Lesi yisizwe esingalaleli ilizwi leNkosi, uNkulunkulu waso, lesingemukeli ukulaywa; iqiniso liphelile, liqunyiwe emlonyeni waso.
29 Cut off your hair, and cast it away. And take up a lamentation on high. For the Lord has cast aside and abandoned this generation of his fury.
Gela inwele zakho, wena Jerusalema, uzilahle, uphakamise isililo emadundulwini; ngoba iNkosi isalile yasidela isizukulwana solaka lwayo.
30 For the sons of Judah have done evil in my eyes, says the Lord. They have stationed their abominations in the house where my name is invoked, so that they may defile it.
Ngoba abantwana bakoJuda benzile ububi emehlweni ami, itsho iNkosi; babekile izinengiso zabo endlini ebizwa ngebizo lami, ukuze bayingcolise.
31 And they have built the exalted places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the son of Hinnom, so that they may burn their sons and their daughters with fire, something I neither instructed, nor thought in my heart.
Bakhile-ke indawo eziphakemeyo zeTofethi, ezisesihotsheni sendodana kaHinomu, ukuze batshise amadodana abo lamadodakazi abo ngomlilo; engingabalayanga khona, lokungavelanga enhliziyweni yami.
32 For this reason, behold, the days will arrive, says the Lord, when it will no longer be called Topheth, nor the Valley of the son of Hinnom, but instead the Valley of Slaughter. Yet they will bury in Topheth, because there will be no other place.
Ngakho khangela, insuku ziyeza, itsho iNkosi, lapho engasayikubizwa ngokuthi yiTofethi, loba isihotsha sendodana kaHinomu, kodwa isihotsha sokubulala; ngoba bazangcwaba eTofethi, kuze kungabi landawo.
33 And the corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the air and for the wild beasts of the land, and there will be no one to drive them away.
Lezidumbu zalababantu zizakuba yikudla kwenyoni zamazulu, lezezinyamazana zomhlaba, kungekho ozazethusa.
34 And from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, I will cause the cessation of the voice of gladness and the voice of rejoicing, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride. For the land will be in utter desolation.”
Khona ngizakwenza kuphele emizini yakoJuda lezitaladeni zeJerusalema ilizwi lenjabulo, lelizwi lentokozo, ilizwi lomyeni, lelizwi likamakoti, ngoba ilizwe lizakuba lunxiwa.
