Jeremi 29

1 Alò, sila yo se pawòl a lèt ke Jérémie, pwofèt la, te voye soti Jérusalem bay lòt ansyen an egzil yo, ansanm ak prèt yo, pwofèt yo ak tout moun ke Nebucadnetsar te pran pou fè antre an egzil soti Jérusalem pou rive Babylone yo,

After King Jehoiachin, his mother, his palace officials, other officials in Judah, and all the various kinds of craftsmen [DOU] had been exiled to Babylon, I wrote a letter to the elders, the priests, the prophets and all the other people who had been taken from Jerusalem to Babylon by [soldiers of] Nebuchadnezzar.

2 ( lè Wa Jeconia ak manman rèn nan, ofisye tribinal yo, prens a Juda yo, gwo bòs atizan yo, ak sila ki travay nan metal yo te fin pati Jérusalem.)

3 Lèt la te voye pa men Éleasa, fis a Schaphan ak Guemaria a, fis a Hilkija a, ke Sédécias, fis wa Juda a, te voye Babylone kote wa Nebucadnetsar. Li te di:

[I gave] the letter to Elasah the son of Shaphan, and to Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, when they were about to go to Babylon to be ambassadors from King Zedekiah to King Nebuchadnezzar. This is what I wrote in the letter:

4 Konsa pale SENYÈ dèzame yo, Bondye Israël la, a tout egzile ke m te voye an egzil soti Jérusalem pou rive Babylone yo:

This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says to all you people who were captured [here] in Jerusalem and taken [there] to Babylon:

5 “Bati kay e viv nan yo. Plante jaden e manje pwodwi yo.

“Build houses [there], and plan to stay there [because you will be there for many years]. Plant gardens, and eat the food that is produced in the gardens.

6 Pran madanm e vin papa a fis ak fi. Pran madanm pou fis nou yo e bay a fi nou yo mari yo, epi vin miltipliye la e pa diminye.

Get married and have children. Then [when they grow up], choose wives for your sons, and husbands for your daughters, in order that they [also] may have children. [In that way], the number of you people will increase, not decrease.

7 Chache bonè a peyi sa a kote Mwen te voye nou an egzil la, e priye a SENYÈ a pou li; paske nan bonè pa li, ou va jwenn bonè.”

Also, do things that will cause things to go well [for the other people there] in the city where I sent you. Pray that things will go well for [the people in] that city, because if things go well for them, things will go well for you, [also].”

8 Paske konsa pale SENYÈ dèzame yo, Bondye Israël la: “Pa kite pwofèt ki rete nan mitan nou yo ak divinò nou yo twonpe nou, ni pa koute rèv ke yo fè.

This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israeli people [worship], says: “There are [false] prophets and fortune-tellers among you. Do not allow them to deceive you. Do not pay attention to [them when they tell you] their dreams,

9 Paske yo fè fo pwofesi bannou nan non Mwen. Mwen pa t voye yo,” deklare SENYÈ a.

because they are telling you lies, saying that [MTY] [I have given them the messages that they are telling you]. But, I have not appointed them.”

10 Paske konsa pale SENYÈ a: “Lè swasann-dizan yo fin ekoule pou Babylone, Mwen va vizite nou, e ranpli nou ak bon pawòl Mwen a nou menm, pou mennen nou retounen nan plas sa a.

This is [also] what Yahweh says: “After you [and your children] have been in Babylon for seventy years, I will help you, and do for you the things that I promised, and I will enable you to return here [to Jerusalem].

11 Paske Mwen konnen plan ke M genyen pou nou yo,” deklare SENYÈ a, “plan pou bonè e pa pou malè, pou bay nou yon bon avni ak espwa.

I, Yahweh, know what I have planned for you. I am planning to cause things to go well for you, not to cause you to experience disasters. I am planning to give you many things that you confidently expect to receive in the future.

12 Epi nou va rele Mwen, vin kote Mwen pou priye, e Mwen va koute nou.

At that time, when you pray, I will heed you.

13 Nou va chache Mwen e nou va jwenn Mwen lè nou chache M ak tout kè nou.

If you earnestly desire for me [to bless you], you will experience me [blessing you].

14 Mwen va vin twouve pa nou menm” deklare SENYÈ a: “Epi Mwen va restore bonte nou e ranmase nou soti nan tout nasyon yo ak plas kote Mwen te chase fè nou rive yo,” deklare SENYÈ a. “Epi Mwen va mennen nou fè nou retounen rive nan plas ke Mwen te fè nou pòte ale kon kaptif yo.”

I will make my help available to you [IDM]. I will cause you to no longer be slaves [in Babylon]. I will gather you from all the nations to which I have exiled you, and I will bring you back [here to your own land], to the place from which you were taken.”

15 Akoz nou te di: “SENYÈ a te fè leve pwofèt yo pou nou Babylone”—

[Some of] you say that Yahweh has appointed prophets for you [there] in Babylon.

16 Pou sa, pale SENYÈ a konsènan wa ki chita sou twòn David la, e konsènan tout moun ki rete nan vil sa yo, frè nou yo ki pa t antre ak nou an egzil yo—

But this is what Yahweh says about the king who rules [here] in Jerusalem, and about all the other people who are [still] living here—your relatives who were not taken to Babylon with you.

17 Konsa pale SENYÈ dèzame yo: “Gade byen, Mwen ap voye sou yo nepe ak gwo grangou, ensèk ak maladi pou ravaje chan yo, Mwen va fè yo tankou fig etranje ki louvri pete fann, e ki pa ka manje akoz yo pouri nèt.

The Commander of the armies of angels says this: “I will cause them to experience wars and famines and diseases. I will cause them to become like [SIM] bad figs that are very rotten, with the result that no one can eat them.

18 Mwen va kouri dèyè yo ak nepe, ak gwo grangou, ak ensèk ak maladi pou ravaje chan yo. Mwen va fè yo jete ale retou pami tout wayòm latè yo, pou yo kapab vin yon gwo laperèz pou tout wayòm sou latè yo, pou yo kapab vin yon madichon, yon bagay lèd e degoutan, yon objè k ap fè moun sifle anlè kon koulèv, yon repwòch pami tout nasyon kote Mwen te chase fè yo ale yo,

I will not stop causing them to experience wars and famines and diseases. And I will scatter them all around the world. In every country where I (force them to be taken/exile them), I will cause them to be people whom [others] curse and be horrified about and make fun of [DOU].

19 akoz yo pa t koute pawòl Mwen yo,” deklare SENYÈ a: “ke Mwen te voye bay yo ankò e ankò pa sèvitè Mwen yo, pwofèt yo. Men nou pa t koute”, deklare SENYÈ a.

[That will happen] because they have refused to pay attention to my messages, messages that I gave to the prophets whom I sent to them. And you [who have been exiled to Babylon] have not paid attention to them, [either].” [That is what] Yahweh says.

20 Pou sa, nou menm, koute pawòl SENYÈ a, nou menm ki ekzile yo, ke M te voye ale kite Jérusalem pou rive Babylone yo.

[Therefore], you people who have been (exiled/forced to go) from Jerusalem to Babylon, listen to this message from Yahweh.

21 “Konsa pale SENYÈ dèzame yo, Bondye Israël la, konsènan Achab, fis a Kolaja a, e konsènan Sédécias, fis a Maaséja a, k ap fè fo pwofesi bannou nan non Mwen, ‘Gade Byen, Mwen va livre yo nan men Nebucadnetsar, wa Babylone nan e li va touye yo devan zye nou.

This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says about Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and about Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are telling lies to you, saying that they are giving messages [MTY] from him: “They will be seized and taken to [MTY] King Nebuchadnezzar, who will cause them to be executed while you are watching.

22 Akoz yo menm, yon madichon va vin itilize pa tout egzile Juda ki Babylone yo, ki va di: “Ke SENYÈ a fè ou tankou Sédécias ak tankou Achab, ke wa Babylone nan te boukannen nan dife a,

Because of [what will happen to] them, all you people who have been taken from Judah to Babylon will say this when they curse someone: ‘I hope/wish that Yahweh will do to you the same thing that he did to Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the King of Babylon caused to be [killed by being] burned in a fire.’

23 akoz yo te aji ak foli an Israël. Yo te komèt adiltè ak madanm a vwazen yo, e yo te pale manti nan non Mwen, ke M pa t janm kòmande yo fè. Mwen se Sila ki konnen, e Mwen se temwen,” deklare SENYÈ a.’”

They have done terrible things to [my] Israeli people. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and they have spoken lies, saying that they were messages [MTY] from me. They have said things that I did not tell them to say, and I, Yahweh, have heard them [say those things].”

24 A Schemaeja, Nechelamit lan, ou va di:

[Yahweh told me to] send this message to Shemaiah, a man from Nehelam [town who was living in Babylon]:

25 “Konsa pale SENYÈ dèzame yo, Bondye Israël la: ‘Akoz ou te voye lèt nan pwòp non pa w a tout pèp Jérusalem nan, a Sophonie, fis a Maaséja a, prèt la, epi a tout prèt yo, epi di:

This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says: “You wrote a letter that no one told you to write. You sent it to Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, and [you sent copies] to the other priests and all the [other] people here in Jerusalem. [This is what] you wrote to him:

26 “SENYÈ a te fè nou prèt olye Johojada, prèt la, pou vin chèf lakay SENYÈ a sou chak moun fou ki pwofetize, pou mete li nan sèp ak nan kolye an fè.

[Zephaniah], Yahweh has appointed you to be the priest instead of Jehoiada, to supervise those who work in the temple. Anyone who acts like a crazy man and who claims that he is a prophet, you should put his arms and legs and head into (stocks/a wooden frame [so that he cannot move)].

27 Alò, konsa, poukisa ou pa t repwoche Jérémie a Anathoth ki fè pwop tèt li pwofet ou menm nan?

So why have you not done anything to stop Jeremiah, the man from Anathoth [town], who [pretends that he] is a prophet among you?

28 Paske, li te voye nou Babylone e li te di: Egzil la va byen long. Bati kay pou viv. Plante jaden pou manje pwodwi yo.”’”

He sent a letter to us [who are here] in Babylon, saying that [we will be here for] a long time. He said that [therefore] we should build houses and plan to stay here, and plant gardens, and eat the food that is produced in the gardens.”

29 Sophonie, prèt la, te li lèt sa a bay Jérémie, pwofèt la.

[But when] Zephaniah the priest [received] the letter from you, he [brought it to me and] read it to me.

30 Epi pawòl a SENYÈ a te vini a Jérémie ki te di:

Then Yahweh gave me this message:

31 “Voye kote tout egzile yo e di: ‘Konsa pale SENYÈ a konsènan Schemaeja, Nechelamit lan: “Akoz Schemaeja te pwofetize a nou menm, malgre Mwen pa t voye l e li te fè nou kwè nan yon manti,”

“Send this message to all the people [from Judah] who are there [in Babylon]. Say that this is what Yahweh says about Shemaiah, the man from Nehelam: ‘I did not appoint him, but he has deceived you and caused you to believe the lies that he prophesied.

32 Akoz sa, pale SENYÈ a: “Gade byen, Mwen prèt pou pini Schemaeja, Nechelamit lan, ak desandan li yo. Li p ap gen pèsòn k ap viv pami pèp sa a, ni li p ap wè bonte ke Mwen prèt pou fè pou pèp Mwen an,” deklare SENYÈ a: “akoz li te preche rebelyon kont SENYÈ a.”’”

So, I will punish him and his family. He has incited you to rebel against me. Because of that, all of his descendants will soon die. I will do [many] good things for [you], my people, but he and his descendants will not see those things, [because they will be dead]. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it!’”