Jeremiah 10
1 You people of Israel, listen to what Yahweh says:
Zwanini ilizwi iNkosi elikhuluma kini, lina ndlu kaIsrayeli.
2 “Do not act like the people of [other] nations act, and do not be terrified by strange/unusual things that you see in the sky, even though they cause the [people of other] nations to be terrified.
Itsho njalo INkosi: Lingafundi indlela yabahedeni, lingatshaywa luvalo ngezibonakaliso zamazulu, ngenxa yokuthi abahedeni bayazesaba.
3 The customs of the people [of other nations] are worthless. [For example], they cut down a tree in the forest. Then a [skilled] worker/craftsman [cuts a section of it and] uses his chisel to carve an idol from that section.
Ngoba imikhuba yabantu iyize; ngoba kuganyulwa isihlahla ehlathini, umsebenzi wezandla zengcitshi, ngehloka.
4 [Then] people decorate the idol with silver and gold. [Then] they fasten it securely with nails in order that it will not topple/fall over.
Basicecisa ngesiliva langegolide, basiqinisa ngezipikili langezando, ukuze singazamazami.
5 [Then] the idol [stands there] like [SIM] a scarecrow in a field of cucumbers/melons! It cannot speak, and people must carry it, because it cannot walk. Do not be afraid of idols, because they cannot harm [anyone], and they cannot do [anything] good [to help anyone].”
Zinjengesihlahla selala somsebenzi obaziweyo, kodwa kazikhulumi; kusweleka zithwalwe, ngoba zingehambe; lingazesabi, ngoba zingelakwenza okubi, futhi kakukho ukwenza okuhle kuzo.
6 Yahweh, there is no one like you. You [MTY] are great, and you are very powerful.
Njengoba kungekho onjengawe, Nkosi; umkhulu, lebizo lakho likhulu ngobuqhawe.
7 You are the king of all the nations! Everyone should [RHQ] revere you, because that is what you deserve. Among all the wise people on the earth and in all the kingdoms where they live, (there is no one like you./who can compare with you?)
Ngubani ongekwesabe, wena Nkosi yezizwe? ngoba kukufanele. Ngoba phakathi kwabo bonke abahlakaniphileyo bezizwe, lakuyo yonke imibuso yabo, kakho onjengawe.
8 Those people who [think that they are] very wise [IRO] are stupid and foolish [DOU]. The idols that they worship are only made of wood! Those idols certainly cannot teach them anything.
Kodwa kanyekanye banjengezinyamazana bayiziphukuphuku; isigodo siyimfundiso sokuyize.
9 People hammer into thin sheets silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, and then they give those sheets of silver and gold to skilled workers/craftsmen to cover the idols. Then they put on those idols expensive purple robes that are made by skilled workers.
Isiliva esikhandiweyo silethwa sivela eTarshishi, legolide livela eUfazi, umsebenzi wengcitshi, lowezandla zomkhandi wegolide; ziluhlaza okwesibhakabhaka lokuyibubende izigqoko zabo; konke kungumsebenzi wabahlakaniphileyo.
10 But Yahweh is the [only] true God; he is the all-powerful God, the king [who rules] forever. When he is angry, [all] the earth shakes/quakes; and [the people of] the nations cannot endure [what he does] when he is angry [with them].
Kodwa iNkosi inguNkulunkulu weqiniso, inguNkulunkulu ophilayo lenkosi yaphakade. Ekuthukutheleni kwayo umhlaba uyazamazama, lezizwe kazilakulumela ulaka lwayo.
11 [You Israeli people], tell this to those people: “Those idols did not make the sky and the earth, and they will disappear from the earth.”
Lizakutsho njalo kubo: Onkulunkulu abangenzanga amazulu lomhlaba bazabhubha basuke emhlabeni langaphansi kwala amazulu.
12 But [Yahweh] made the earth by his power; he established it [firmly] by his wisdom and stretched out the sky by his understanding.
Owenza umhlaba ngamandla akhe, wamisa ilizwe ngenhlakanipho yakhe, langokuqedisisa kwakhe wendlala amazulu.
13 When he speaks [loudly], there is thunder in the sky; he causes clouds to form over every part of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and releases the winds from his storehouses.
Lapho ekhupha ilizwi, kulenhlokomo yamanzi emazulwini; wenza inkungu yenyuke emkhawulweni womhlaba, wenza imibane lezulu, akhuphe umoya eziphaleni zakhe.
14 People are senseless and know very little [HYP]; those who make idols are always disappointed because their idols do nothing for them. The images/statues that they make are not real [gods]; they are lifeless.
Wonke umuntu unjengenyamazana elwazini; wonke umkhandi wegolide uyangiswa yisithombe esibaziweyo; ngoba isithombe sakhe esibunjwe ngokuncibilikisa siyinkohliso, njalo kakulamphefumulo kuzo.
15 Idols are worthless; they deserve to be ridiculed; there will be a time when they [all] will be destroyed.
Ziyize, umsebenzi wezinkohliso; ngesikhathi sempindiselo yazo zizabhubha.
16 But the God whom we Israelis worship is not like those idols; he is the one who created everything [that exists]; we, the tribe/people of Israel, belong to him; he is the Commander of the armies of angels.
Isabelo sikaJakobe kasinjengazo, ngoba ungumbumbi wakho konke, loIsrayeli uyintonga yelifa lakhe; iNkosi yamabandla libizo layo.
17 [Yahweh says this to the people of Jerusalem]: “The army of your enemies surrounds your city, so gather up your possessions [and prepare] to leave the city.
Qoqa impahla yakho uyikhuphe elizweni, wena mhlalikazi wenqaba.
18 I will soon throw you out of this land and cause you to experience great troubles, with the result that you will have severe pain (OR, none of you will be left here).”
Ngoba itsho njalo iNkosi: Khangela, ngizabajikijela ngaphandle abahlali belizwe ngalesisikhathi, ngibacindezele ukuze bakuthole.
19 [The people replied, “It is as though] we have been [badly] wounded, and we are very grieved; [It is as though] we have a very serious illness, and we must endure the pain.
Maye kimi ngenxa yokwephuka kwami! Inxeba lami linzima; kodwa mina ngathi: Isibili lokhu yinhlupheko yami engizayithwala.
20 [It is as though] our [great] tent is destroyed; the ropes [that held it up] have been cut; our children have gone away from us and will not return; there are no people left to rebuild our great tent.
Ithente lami lidiliziwe, lentambo zami zonke ziqamukile; abantwana bami basukile kimi, njalo kabakho; kakho ongelula ithente lami futhi, amise amakhetheni ami.
21 Our leaders [MET] no [longer] have any sense; they no [longer] ask Yahweh [to (guide them/tell them what to do)], so they will no [longer] prosper, and all those over whom they rule [MET] will be scattered.
Ngoba abelusi sebenjengenyamazana, kabadinganga iNkosi; ngakho-ke kabaphumelelanga, lomhlambi wabo wonke uhlakazekile.
22 Listen! [Our enemies’ armies] in the north are making a [very] big noise/commotion [as they march toward us]. The towns in Judah will be destroyed, [and they will become] a place where jackals/wolves live.”
Khangela, umsindo wombiko ufikile, lokuzamazama okukhulu okuvela elizweni lenyakatho, okuzakwenza imizi yakoJuda ibe lunxiwa, indawo yokuhlala yemigobho.
23 Yahweh, I know that no person controls what will happen to him; no one is able to direct the events that he will experience.
Nkosi, ngiyazi ukuthi indlela yomuntu kayikho kuye; kakukho emuntwini ohambayo ukuthi aqondise ukunyathela kwakhe.
24 [So] correct/discipline us, but do it gently. Do not correct/punish us when you are angry, because we would die if you did that.
Nkosi, ngilaya, kodwa ngesahlulelo, hatshi olakeni lwakho, hlezi unginciphise.
25 Punish [MTY] [all] the nations whose people do not acknowledge/say that you are God; punish all the nations whose people do not worship you, because they are completely destroying [DOU] [us people of] Israel and they are causing our land to soon be only a desert.
Thululela ulaka lwakho phezu kwabahedeni abangakwaziyo, laphezu kwensendo ezingabizi ibizo lakho; ngoba bamdlile uJakobe, bamginya, bamqeda, bachitha indawo yakhe yokuhlala.
