UJeremiya 12
1 Wena ulungile izikhathi zonke, Oh Thixo, lapho ngiletha indaba kuwe. Ikanti ngingakhuluma lawe ngokulunga kwakho: Kungani indlela yababi iphumelela na? Kungani abangathembekanga behlezi kuhle na?
Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
2 Ubahlanyele, njalo sebemilile; bayakhula bathele izithelo. Bahlezi bekhuluma ngawe, kodwa ezinhliziyweni zabo ukhatshana.
You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts.
3 Kodwa mina, Oh Thixo, uyangazi; uyangibona uhlole imicabango yami ngawe. Bahudule njengezimvu eziyahlatshwa! Bamisele usuku lokubulawa!
But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage.
4 Koze kube nini ilizwe lomile lotshani iganga lonke bubunile? Ngenxa yokuthi labo abahlala kulo babi, izinyamazana lezinyoni sezibhubhile. Kanti futhi abantu bathi, “Kasoze akubone okwenzakala kithi.”
How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”
5 “Nxa ugijime labantu ngezinyawo bakudinisa, ungancintisana njani lamabhiza na? Nxa ukhubeka elizweni elingelangozi, pho uzakwanelisa njani ezixukwini zaseJodani na?
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
6 Abafowenu, abendlu yakwenu labo futhi bakunikele; baklabalale batsho okubi ngawe. Ungabathembi, lanxa bekhuluma kuhle ngawe.
Even your brothers— your own father’s household— even they have betrayed you; even they have cried aloud against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you.
7 Indlu yami ngizayitshiya, ngilidele ilifa lami; lowo engimthandayo ngizamnikela ezandleni zezitha zakhe.
I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My inheritance. I have given the love of My life into the hands of her enemies.
8 Ilifa lami kimi selibe njengesilwane ehlathini. Liyangihwabhela; ngakho ngiyalizonda.
My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against Me; therefore I hate her.
9 Ilifa lami kimi kaselibe njengenyoni emabalabala edla inyama ehanqwa ngezinye izinyoni ezidla inyama, ziyihlasela na? Hamba uyebutha zonke izinyamazana zeganga; uzilethe ukuba zidle.
Is not My inheritance to Me like a speckled bird of prey with other birds of prey circling against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; bring them to devour her.
10 Abelusi abanengi bazasichitha isivini sami bagandele insimu yami; bazaguqula insimu yami enhle ibe lugwadule oluphundlekileyo.
Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.
11 Izakwenziwa ugwadule, yome iphundlekile phambi kwami; ilizwe lonke lizachitheka ngoba kakho olinakayo.
They have made it a desolation; desolate before Me, it mourns. All the land is laid waste, but no man takes it to heart.
12 Emiqolweni yonke engelalutho enkangala abachithi bazaphithizela, ngoba inkemba kaThixo izakudla kusukela komunye umkhawulo welizwe kusiya komunye; kakho ozavikeleka.
Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the earth to the other. No flesh has peace.
13 Bazahlanyela ingqoloyi kodwa bavune ameva; bazazidinisa kodwa bangazuzi lutho. Ngakho wobani lenhloni ngesivuno senu ngenxa yolaka olwesabekayo lukaThixo.”
They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
14 UThixo uthi: “Bonke omakhelwane bami ababi abathumba ilifa engalinika abantu bami bako-Israyeli, ngizabasusa emazweni abo ngisuse lendlu kaJuda phakathi kwabo.
This is what the LORD says: “As for all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.
15 Kodwa emva kokubasusa kwami, ngizaphinda ngibe lesihawu ngibuyisele omunye lomunye wabo endaweni eyilifa lakhe elizweni lakhe.
But after I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.
16 Bangazifunda kuhle izindlela zabantu bami njalo bafunge ngebizo lami besithi, ‘Ngeqiniso elinjengoba uThixo ephila’ lanxa nje bake bafundisa abantu bami ukufunga ngoBhali, bazahlaliswa phakathi kwabantu bami.
And if they will diligently learn the ways of My people and swear by My name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’—just as they once taught My people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among My people.
17 Kodwa nxa isizwe singalaleli, ngizasisusa ngokupheleleyo ngisibhubhise,” kutsho uThixo.
But if they will not obey, then I will uproot that nation; I will uproot it and destroy it, declares the LORD.”
