Jeremiah 12
1 You are righteous, Yahweh, whenever I bring disputes to you. I must certainly tell you of my reason to complain: Why do the ways of the wicked succeed? All the faithless people are successful.
Wewe daima u mwenye haki, Ee Bwana, niletapo mashtaka mbele yako. Hata hivyo nitazungumza nawe kuhusu hukumu yako: Kwa nini njia ya waovu inafanikiwa? Kwa nini wasio waaminifu wote wanaishi kwa raha?
2 You planted them and they took root. They continue to produce fruit. You are near to them in their mouths, but far away from their hearts.
Umewapanda, nao wameota, wanakua na kuzaa matunda. Daima u midomoni mwao, lakini mbali na mioyo yao.
3 Yet you, Yahweh, know me. You see me and you test my heart toward you. Take them away like sheep to the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter!
Hata hivyo unanijua mimi, Ee Bwana; unaniona na kuyachunguza mawazo yangu kukuhusu wewe. Wakokote kama kondoo wanaokwenda kuchinjwa! Watenge kwa ajili ya siku ya kuchinjwa!
4 How long will the land go on drying up, and the plants in every field wither because of the wickedness of its inhabitants? The animals and the birds have been taken away. Indeed, the people say, “God will not see what happens to us.”
Je, nchi itakaa katika hali ya kuomboleza mpaka lini, na majani katika kila shamba kunyauka? Kwa sababu wale waishio ndani yake ni waovu, wanyama na ndege wameangamia. Zaidi ya hayo, watu wanasema, “Bwana hataona yatakayotupata sisi.”
5 Yahweh said, “Indeed, if you, Jeremiah, have run with foot soldiers and they have tired you out, how can you compete against horses? If you fall down in the safe countryside, how will you do in the thickets along the Jordan?
“Ikiwa umeshindana mbio na watu kwa mguu na wakakushinda, unawezaje kushindana na farasi? Ikiwa unajikwaa kwenye nchi ambayo ni salama, utawezaje kwenye vichaka kando ya Yordani?
6 For even your brothers and your father's family have betrayed you and have loudly denounced you. Do not trust in them, even if they say nice things to you.
Ndugu zako, watu wa jamaa yako mwenyewe: hata wao wamekusaliti; wameinua kilio kikubwa dhidi yako. Usiwaamini, ingawa wanazungumza mema juu yako.
7 I have abandoned my house; I have forsaken my inheritance. I have given my beloved into the hands of her enemies.
“Nitaiacha nyumba yangu, nitupe urithi wangu; nitamtia yeye nimpendaye mikononi mwa adui zake.
8 My inheritance has become to me like a lion in a thicket; she sets herself against me with her own voice, so I hate her.
Urithi wangu umekuwa kwangu kama simba wa msituni. Huningurumia mimi, kwa hiyo ninamchukia.
9 Has not my prized possession become a speckled bird, that other birds of prey go against her all around? Go and gather all the wild beasts and bring them to devour her.
Je, urithi wangu haukuwa kama ndege wa mawindo wa madoadoa ambaye ndege wengine wawindao humzunguka na kumshambulia? Nenda ukawakusanye pamoja wanyama wote wa mwituni; walete ili wale.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard. They have stomped all over my portion of land; they turned my delightful portion into a wilderness, a desolation.
Wachungaji wengi wataliharibu shamba langu la mizabibu na kulikanyaga shamba langu; watalifanya shamba langu zuri kuwa jangwa la ukiwa.
11 They have made her a desolation. I mourn for her; she is desolate. All the land has been made desolate, for there is no one who takes it to heart.
Litafanywa kuwa jangwa, lililokauka na kuachwa ukiwa mbele zangu; nchi yote itafanywa jangwa kwa sababu hakuna hata mmoja anayejali.
12 Destroyers have come against all the bare places in the wilderness, for Yahweh's sword is devouring from one end of the land to the other. There is no safety in the land for any living creature.
Juu ya miinuko yote ilivyo kama jangwani mharabu atajaa, kwa maana upanga wa Bwana utawala, kuanzia ncha moja ya nchi hadi nyingine; hakuna hata mmoja atakayekuwa salama.
13 They have sown wheat but harvest thornbushes. They are exhausted from work but have gained nothing. So be ashamed of your gain because of Yahweh's anger.”
Watapanda ngano lakini watavuna miiba; watajitaabisha lakini hawatafaidi chochote. Kwa hiyo beba aibu ya mavuno yako kwa sababu ya hasira kali ya Bwana Mungu.”
14 Yahweh says this against all my neighbors, the wicked ones who strike at the possession that I made my people Israel inherit, “See, I am the one who is about to uproot them from their own ground, and I will pull up the house of Judah from among them.
Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana: “Kwa habari ya majirani zangu wote wabaya wanaonyangʼanya urithi ambao ninawapa watu wangu Israeli, nitawangʼoa kutoka nchi zao, nami nitaingʼoa nyumba ya Yuda kutoka katikati yao.
15 Then after I uproot those nations, it will happen that I will have compassion on them and bring them back; I will return them—each man to his inheritance and his land.
Lakini baada ya kuwangʼoa, nitawahurumia tena na kumrudisha kila mmoja wao kwenye urithi wake mwenyewe na kwenye nchi yake mwenyewe.
16 It will come about that if those nations carefully learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name 'As Yahweh lives' just as they have taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.
Ikiwa watajifunza vyema njia za watu wangu na kuapa kwa Jina langu, wakisema, ‘Hakika kama Bwana aishivyo,’ hata kama wakati fulani walifundisha watu wangu kuapa kwa Baali, ndipo watakapofanywa imara katikati ya watu wangu.
17 But if any do not listen, then I will uproot that nation. It will certainly be uprooted and destroyed—this is Yahweh's declaration.”
Lakini kama taifa lolote halitasikiliza na kutii, nitalingʼoa kabisa na kuliangamiza,” asema Bwana.
