Jeremiah 29
1 Jeremiah the prophet wrote this letter and sent it from Jerusalem to the elders who were left among the exiles, to the priests, the prophets, and everyone else who had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.
Eyi ne krataa mu nsɛm a odiyifo Yeremia kyerɛw fii Yerusalem kɔmaa nnommum no mu mpanyimfo nkae, asɔfo, adiyifo ne nnipa a wɔaka nyinaa a Nebukadnessar afa wɔn afi Yerusalem akɔ Babilonia no.
2 This was after King Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metals-workers had been exiled from Jerusalem.
(Eyi yɛ bere a ɔhene Yehoiakyin ne ɔhemmea no, asennii adwumayɛfo, Yuda ne Yerusalem ntuanofo, adwumfo ahorow nyinaa afi Yerusalem akɔ nnommum mu no akyi.)
3 Elasah, son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, son of Hilkiah, took the letter with them when Zedekiah king of Judah sent them to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. In the letter Jeremiah wrote:
Ɔde krataa no hyɛɛ Safan babarima Elasa ne Hilkia babarima Gemaria nsa, wɔn na Yudahene Sedekia somaa wɔn kɔɔ Ɔhene Nebukadnessar nkyɛn wɔ Babilonia no. Krataa no mu nsɛm ni:
4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon:
Nea Asafo Awurade, Israel Nyankopɔn, ka kyerɛ wɔn a mema wɔfaa wɔn nnommum fi Yerusalem kɔɔ Babilonia no nyinaa ni:
5 Build yourselves houses there to live in. Plant gardens and grow food to eat.
“Munsisi afi, na momfa mmɔ atenase; monyɛ nturo na munni mu aba.
6 Get married and have children. Arrange for your children to get married so they can have children too. Increase in number, don't decrease.
Monwareware, na monwowo mmabarima ne mmabea. Monhwehwɛ yerenom mma mo mmabarima na momfa mo mmabea nso mma aware, na wɔn nso nwowo mmabarima ne mmabea. Monnɔ wɔ hɔ na mo so antew.
7 Help make the city where I've exiled you more prosperous. Pray to the Lord for it, since as it prospers, so will you.
Afei, monhwehwɛ kuropɔn a mema wotuu mo kɔtenaa so no asomdwoe ne yiyedi. Mommɔ Awurade mpae mma no, efisɛ ne yiyedi mu na mo nso mubedi yiye.”
8 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Don't be fooled by your prophets and fortune-tellers, and don't listen to any dreams they interpret for you.
Yiw, sɛɛ na Asafo Awurade, Israel Nyankopɔn se: “Mommma adiyifo ne nkɔmhyɛfo a wɔwɔ mo mu no nnaadaa mo. Munntie wɔn adae a mohyɛ wɔn nkuran ma wɔsoso no.
9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name; I have not sent them, declares the Lord.
Wɔhyɛ atoro nkɔm wɔ me din mu. Mensomaa wɔn,” Awurade na ose.
10 This is what the Lord says: When the seventy years exile in Babylon are over, I will see to you and keep my promise to bring you back to Jerusalem.
Nea Awurade se ni: “Sɛ mosom Babilonia mfe aduɔson a, mɛba abɛhwɛ mo na mɛma mʼadom mu bɔhyɛ sɛ mede mo bɛba ha bio no aba mu.
11 I know what I intend to do for you, declares the Lord. I plan good things for you and not bad. I'm going to give you a future and a hope.
Minim nhyehyɛe a mewɔ ma mo,” Awurade na ose, “Nhyehyɛe a ɛde mo besi yiye na ɛrenhaw mo, nhyehyɛe a ɛbɛma mo anidaso ne awiei pa.
12 Then you will call for my help, you will come and pray to me, and I will answer you.
Afei mobɛfrɛ me na moaba abɛbɔ me mpae, na metie mo.
13 You will look for me and you will find me when you're completely committed to looking for me.
Mobɛhwehwɛ me na mubehu me, sɛ mode mo koma nyinaa hwehwɛ me a.
14 I will let you find me, declares the Lord. I will end your captivity, gathering you from all the nations and places where I scattered you, declares the Lord. I will bring you back home to the place from where I sent you into exile.
Mubehu me,” Awurade na ose, “na meyi mo afi nkoasom mu de mo asan aba. Mɛboaboa mo ano afi amanaman ne mu ne faako a mepam mo kɔɔ no nyinaa,” Awurade na ose, “na mede mo bɛsan aba faako a mituu mo fi kɔɔ nnommum mu no bio.”
15 But if you argue, “The Lord has provided prophets for us in Babylon,”
Mobɛka se, “Awurade ama yɛn adiyifo wɔ Babilonia,”
16 this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David's throne and everyone who's left in Jerusalem, your fellow citizens who weren't taken with you into exile.
nanso, sɛɛ na Awurade ka fa ɔhene a ɔte Dawid ahengua so ne nnipa a wɔaka wɔ kuropɔn no mu nyinaa, mo manfo a wɔne mo ankɔ nnommum mu no.
17 This is what the Lord Almighty says: I'm going send war and famine and disease against them. I'll make them like rotten figs, so bad that they can't be eaten.
Yiw, nea Asafo Awurade se ni: “Mɛma afoa, ɔkɔm ne ɔyaredɔm aba wɔn so, na wɔayɛ sɛ borɔdɔma a asɛe enti wontumi nni.
18 I will chase them down with war and famine and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified by them. They will become a curse word, totally ruined, people to be mocked and criticized among all the nations where I scatter them.
Mede afoa, ɔkɔm ne ɔyaredɔm betiw wɔn, na mɛyɛ wɔn atantanne ama ahenni a ɛwɔ asase no so nyinaa, ne nnome ne ahodwiriwde, fɛwdi ne animtiaabude wɔ amanaman a mepam wɔn kɔɔ so no mu.
19 I'm going to do this because they haven't obeyed to my words, declares the Lord, which I sent to them time and again through my servants the prophets. You exiles haven't obeyed me either, declares the Lord.
Efisɛ, wɔantie me nsɛm,” sɛɛ na Awurade se, “nsɛm a mede somaa mʼasomfo adiyifo mpɛn bebree baa mo nkyɛn. Na mo nnommum nso antie,” Awurade na ose.
20 So listen to the word of the Lord, all you exiles I sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Afei muntie Awurade asɛm, mo nnommum a mama mo afi Yerusalem akɔ Babilonia no nyinaa.
21 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name. I'm going to hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them right before your eyes.
Sɛɛ na Asafo Awurade, Israel Nyankopɔn ka fa Kolaia babarima Ahab ne Maaseia babarima Sedekia a wɔde me din rehyɛ mo atoro nkɔm no ho ni: “Mede wɔn bɛhyɛ Babiloniahene Nebukadnessar nsa, na wakum wɔn wɔ mo anim.
22 Because of what happens to them, all the exiles of Judah in Babylon will curse others like this: “May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, burned alive by the king of Babylon!”
Esiane wɔn nti, Yuda nnommum a wɔwɔ Babilonia nyinaa de saa nnome yi bɛdome sɛ: ‘Awurade nyɛ wo sɛ, Sedekia ne Ahab a Babiloniahene hyew wɔn wɔ ogya mu no.’
23 They did outrageous things in Israel—they committed adultery with their neighbor's wives and told lies in my name. I didn't tell them to say anything. I am the one who knows what they did, and I can witness to it, declares the Lord.
Na wɔayɛ akyiwade a ɛboro so wɔ Israel: wɔne wɔn yɔnkonom yerenom adeda de asɛe aware, na wɔde me din adi atoro a menka nkyerɛɛ wɔn sɛ wɔnyɛ. Minim na midi ho adanse,” Awurade na ose.
24 Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite
Ka kyerɛ Nehelamni Semaia se,
25 that this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: On your own authority you sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying,
“Nea Asafo Awurade, Israel Nyankopɔn se ni: Wokyerɛw krataa wɔ wo din mu kɔmaa nnipa a wɔwɔ Yerusalem nyinaa, ɔsɔfo Maaseia babarima Sefania, ne asɔfo a aka no nyinaa. Woka kyerɛɛ Sefania se,
26 “Zephaniah, the Lord has chosen you as priest to replace Jehoiada, to be in charge of the Lord's Temple. In that capacity you are required to put in the stocks and neck irons any crazy person who claims to be a prophet.
‘Awurade ahyɛ wo sɔfo asi Yehoiada anan mu se hwɛ Awurade fi no so; Ɛsɛ sɛ wode nkɔnsɔnkɔnsɔn ne dade konnua gu obiara a wabɔ dam na ɔyɛ ne ho sɛ odiyifo no.
27 So why haven't you not punished Jeremiah of Anathoth, who claims to be a prophet among you?
Afei adɛn nti na wonka Yeremia a ofi Anatot a ɔyɛ ne ho sɛ odiyifo wɔ mo mu no anim?
28 You should have done this because he has sent a letter to us here in Babylon, stating, ‘The exile will last a long time. So build yourselves houses there to live in. Plant gardens and grow food to eat.’”
Ɔde saa nkra yi abrɛ yɛn wɔ Babilonia: Ɛbɛkyɛ. Ɛno nti munsisi afi mfa nyɛ atenae; monyɛ nturo na munni mu aba.’”
29 However, Zephaniah the priest read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.
Ɔsɔfo Sefania kenkan krataa no kyerɛɛ odiyifo Yeremia.
30 Then the Lord told Jeremiah:
Na Awurade asɛm baa Yeremia nkyɛn se,
31 Send this message to all the exiles: This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Since Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I didn't send him, and has convinced you to believe in a lie,
“Fa saa nkra yi kɔma nnommum no nyinaa se, ‘Eyi ne nea Awurade ka fa Nehelamni Semaia ho: Esiane sɛ wahyɛ mo nkɔm a mpo mansoma no, na wama moagye atoro adi nti,
32 this is what the Lord says: I'm going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He won't have any family left among this people, and he won't experience the good things that I'm going to do for my people, declares the Lord, for he has promoted rebellion against the Lord.
nea Awurade se ni: Nokware, mɛtwe Nehelamni Semaia ne nʼasefo aso. Ɔrennya obiara a ɔbɛka wɔ saa nkurɔfo yi mu, na ɔrenhu nneɛma pa a mɛyɛ ama me nkurɔfo, efisɛ waka atuatew nsɛm atia me,’” Awurade na ose.
