Jeremiah 12
1 Yahweh, whenever I tell you that I am unhappy [about what is happening to me], you [always] act justly/fairly. So now allow me to ask about one more thing [that I do not understand]: Why are wicked people [often] very prosperous? Why do things go very well for dishonest/wicked people?
Tika tonu koe, e Ihowa, ina totohe ahau ki a koe; otiia kia korerotia e ahau ki a koe nga whakaritenga: He aha i whai pai ai te ara o te hunga kino? he aha i noho humarie ai te hunga katoa he nui rawa nei to ratou tinihanga?
2 You allow them to prosper like [MET] trees that grow tall and bear [a lot of] fruit. They [always] say [MTY] good things about you, but their hearts are [really] far from you.
Whakatokia ana ratou e koe, ae ra kua whai pakiaka ratou; kei te tupu ake, ae ra kua whai hua; i o ratou manga i e tata ana koe; i o ratou whatumanawa ia kei tawhiti koe.
3 But Yahweh, as for me, you know what is in my inner being. You see what I [do] and you are able to know what I am thinking. So drag away those [wicked] people, like [people drag away] sheep that they are going to butcher. Set them aside like sheep that are about to be slaughtered!
Otiia e mohio ana koe ki ahau, e Ihowa, kua kite koe i ahau, e whakamatautau ana hoki koe i toku ngakau ki a koe: toia mai ratou ano he hipi e patua ana, motuhia atu ratou mo te ra o te parekura.
4 This land is [RHQ] becoming very dry and even the grass is withering. The wild animals and the birds have [all] died because the people are [very] wicked. [All that has happened] because the people have said, “Yahweh does not know what we are doing (OR, what will happen to us)!”
Kia pehea te roa o te whenua ka tangi nei, o te otaota o nga mara katoa ka maroke nei? hei mea mo te kino o ona tangata, kua pau ona kararehe me nga manu; no te mea i ki ratou, E kore ia e kite i to tatou mutunga iho.
5 [Then to show me that I needed to be prepared to endure even greater difficulties, Yahweh said to me], [“It is as though] you have become exhausted from racing against men; so how will you be able to race against horses? If you [stumble and] fall when you are running on open/bare/smooth ground, what will happen to you when you are running through the thornbushes near the Jordan [River]?
Na, mehemea i rere koe i roto i te hunga haere i raro, a ka ngenge i a ratou, ka pehea ra tau whakataetae ki nga hoiho? na ahakoa u tou noho i te whenua rangatira, ka pehea ra koe i te whakapehapeha o Horona?
6 [Already] your brothers and [other members of] your own family oppose you. They (plot against/plan to do evil things to) you and they say bad things about you. So even if they say nice things about you, do not trust them!
Ko ou tuakana nei hoki, ko ou teina, me te whare o tou papa, kei te tinihanga ki a koe, ko ratou ano kei te karanga nui i muri i a koe: kaua e whakapono ki ta ratou, ina korero pai ki a koe.
7 I have abandoned my [Israeli] people, the people whom I chose to belong to me. I have allowed their enemies to conquer the Israeli people, whom I love.
Kua mahue i ahau toku whare, whakarerea ake toku kainga pumau; tukua ana e ahau te wahine i arohaina e toku wairua ki te ringa o ona hoariri.
8 My people have become to me like [SIM] a lion in the forest. [It is as though] they roar at me like a lion, so now I hate them.
Ko toku kainga tupu, tona rite ki ahau kei te raiona i roto i te ngahere: hamama ana ia ki ahau, na reira kino iho ahau ki a ia.
9 My chosen people have [RHQ] become like speckled hawks that are surrounded by vultures [waiting to eat their flesh after they are dead]. Tell all the wild animals to come and eat [the flesh of their corpses].
Ko toku kainga tupu, ki ahau he rite ki te manu kotingotingo; hei hoariri mona nga manu i tetahi taha, i tetahi taha. Haere mai koutou, huihuia mai nga kirehe katoa o te parae, mauria mai ki te horo kai.
10 Many rulers [from other countries have come with their armies and] devastated/destroyed my people [whom I care for like a farmer takes care of his] vineyard. They have caused my beautiful land to become a barren desert where no one lives.
Moti ake taku mara waina i nga hepara tokomaha, kua takatakahia e ratou toku wahi, kua meinga hoki e ratou taku wahi i matenui ai hei koraha, ururua rawa.
11 They have caused it to become completely empty; [it is as though] I hear the land crying sadly/mournfully. The whole land is desolate, and no one (worries about/pays any attention to) it.
Kua meinga e ratou hei ururua, a i a ia e ururua nei, tangi ana ia ki ahau; kua ururua katoa te whenua, no te mea kahore he tangata e mahara ake ana tona ngakau.
12 The soldiers [of our enemies] have marched across all the barren hilltops. But [I], Yahweh, am using those armies [MTY] to punish your land from one end to the other, and no one will escape.
Kua tae nga kaipahua ki nga wahi tiketike katoa o te koraha; ka kai hoki te hoari a Ihowa i tetahi pito o te whenua a tae noa ki tetahi pito o te whenua: ki nga kikokiko katoa kahore he maunga rongo.
13 [It is as though] my people planted wheat, but now they are harvesting thorns. They have become very tired [because of much hard work], but they have gained nothing [from all that work]. They will be very disappointed because their harvests [will be very small], [and that will happen] because [I], Yahweh, am extremely angry [with them].”
He witi ta ratou i rui ai, he tataramoa ta ratou i kokoti ai; kua whakamamae ratou i a ratou, a kahore he pai ki a ratou: ka whakama ano koutou ki a koutou hua i te riri o Ihowa ka mura nei.
14 This is [also] what Yahweh said to me: “[I will punish] the evil nearby nations that have been trying to take away the land that I gave to my Israeli people, and I will force them to leave their own land. But I will throw the people of Judah out of their land, also.
Ko te kupu tenei a Ihowa mo oku hoa tata katoa e kino nei, kua pa nei ki te wahi tupu i hoatu e ahau mo taku iwi, mo Iharaira, Tenei ahau te huhuti atu nei i a ratou i runga i to ratou whenua, ka hutia atu ano e ahau te whare o Hura i waenganui i a ratou.
15 But later I will act mercifully toward those nations again, and I will bring them back to their own lands again. Each [clan] will come back to its own land.
A tenei ake, kua mutu taku huhuti atu i a ratou, ka hoki ahau, ka aroha ki a ratou, ka whakahoki ano i a ratou ki tona wahi, ki tona wahi, ki tona whenua, ki tona whenua.
16 And if the people [of the other nations whose armies have invaded Israel] learn the [religious] customs of my people, and if they learn that I [am listening] when they solemnly promise that they will do something good, like they taught my people to believe that [their god] Baal [was listening] when they made solemn promises, I will cause them to become prosperous, and they also will be my people.
A tenei ake, ki te ako marie ratou ki nga ara o taku iwi, a ka oatitia toku ingoa, ara, E ora ana a Ihowa; ki te pera ratou me ratou i whakaako ra i taku iwi kia oatitia a Paara; katahi ka hanga ratou ki waenganui i taku iwi.
17 But I will expel any nation whose people refuse to obey me, and I will destroy that nation and its people. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.”
Tena ko tenei e kore ratou e rongo, katahi taua iwi ka hutia rawatia atu e ahau, ka whakangaromia, e ai ta Ihowa.
