< Jeremi 12 >
1 Byen dwat, se Ou menm, O SENYÈ, lè m plede ka m avèk Ou. Anverite, mwen ta diskite yon ka lajistis avèk Ou. Poukisa chemen mechan an byen reyisi konsa? Poukisa tout sa ki aji nan manti yo rete alèz konsa?
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?
2 Ou te plante yo. Wi, konsa yo fin pran rasin. Yo grandi. Wi, yo fè fwi. Ou toupre nan lèv yo, men lespri yo lwen W.
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.
3 Men Ou konnen mwen, O SENYÈ. Ou wè mwen. Ou fè egzamen pou wè kè m vè Ou menm. Rale yo akote, tankou mouton k ap prale labatwa; mete yo apa pou jou gwo masak la.
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!
4 Depi kilè peyi a va gen dèy konsa, e vèdi chan an vin sèch konsa? Akoz mechanste a sila ki rete ladann yo, ni bèt ni zwazo detwi nèt; akoz yo te di: “Li p ap wè dènye fen nou an.”
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)!”
5 Si ou te kouri ak moun apye yo, e yo fè ou bouke, kijan ou ka fè kous ak cheval? Malgre, nan yon peyi lapè, ou gen sekirite, men kijan ou va reyisi nan vye rakbwa Jourdain an?
[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]?
6 Paske menm frè ou yo ak lakay papa ou a; menm yo menm, te fè trèt avèk ou! Menm yo menm, te rele dèyè ou. Pa kwè yo, malgre bèl pawòl dous.
[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!
7 “Mwen te abandone lakay Mwen an, Mwen te abandone eritaj Mwen an; Mwen fin bay fi byeneme a nanm Mwen an pou antre nan men lènmi li yo.
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.
8 Eritaj Mwen an te vini pou Mwen, kon yon lyon k ap gwonde nan forè a. Li te gwonde kont Mwen. Akoz sa, Mwen te vin rayi li.
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.
9 Èske eritaj Mwen an gen tan vin tankou yon zwazo takte nan lachas? Èske gen zwazo voras kont li tout kote? Ale, rasanble tout bèt sovaj nan chan yo. Mennen yo pou yo ka devore!
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].
10 Anpil bèje fin gate chan rezen Mwen yo. Yo te foule chan Mwen an anba pye; yo te fè bèl chan Mwen an vin yon savann dezole.
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.
11 Li te vin yon dezè. Abandonen, li plenyen devan M. Tout latè vin dezole, akoz pèsòn pa pran sa an kè.
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.
12 Sou tout do mòn sèch nan dezè yo, destriktè yo vin parèt, paske yon nepe SENYÈ a ap devore soti nan yon pwent peyi a jis rive nan lòt la. Nanpwen lapè pou pèsòn.
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.
13 Se ble yo te simen e yo rekòlte pikan. Yo te fè gwo efò, san ke yo pa reyisi anyen. Men se pou nou vin wont rekòlt nou an akoz gwo kòlè SENYÈ a.”
[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].”
14 Konsa pale SENYÈ a de tout vwazen mechan k ap atake eritaj ke Mwen te bay a pèp Mwen an, Israël: “Gade byen, Mwen prèt pou dechouke yo depi nan peyi pa yo. Anplis, Mwen va dechouke lakay Juda soti nan mitan yo.
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.
15 Epi li va vin rive ke apre Mwen dechouke yo, Mwen va ankò gen konpasyon pou yo. Mwen va mennen yo retounen, yo chak a eritaj pa yo, e yo chak nan pwòp peyi pa yo.
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.
16 Epi si, anverite, yo va aprann chemen a pèp Mwen an, pou sèmante pa non Mwen: ‘Kon SENYÈ a viv la’, menm jan ke yo menm te enstwi pèp Mwen an pou sèmante pa Baal yo, yo va vin etabli nan mitan pèp Mwen an.
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.
17 Men si yo pa koute, alò, Mwen va dechouke nasyon sa a, dechouke e detwi li,” deklare SENYÈ a.
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.”