UJeremiya 16
1 Ilizwi likaThixo lafika kimi futhi lisithi:
The word of Jehovah came to me, saying:
2 “Ungathathi mfazi ube lamadodana loba amadodakazi kule indawo.”
Take thee not a wife; Have no sons or daughters in this place!
3 Ngoba mayelana lamadodana lamadodakazi azalelwe kulelilizwe kanye labesifazane abangonina lamadoda angoyise uThixo uthi:
For thus saith Jehovah concerning the sons and the daughters That are born in this place, And concerning their mothers that bore them, And concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
4 “Bazakufa bebulawa yimikhuhlane eyesabekayo. Kabayikukhalelwa loba bangcwatshwe, kodwa bazakuba njengezibi emhlabathini. Bazabhubha ngenkemba langendlala, njalo izidumbu zabo zizakuba yikudla kwezinyoni zasemoyeni lezinyamazana zeganga.”
By deadly diseases shall they die; They shall not be lamented nor buried; They shall become dung upon the face of the earth; By the sword also and by famine shall they be consumed, And their carcasses shall be food for the birds of heaven And the beasts of the earth.
5 Ngoba nanku akutshoyo uThixo: “Ungangeni endlini elokudla kwesililo; ungayilila kumbe utshengisele uzwelo, ngoba isibusiso sami, lothando lwami kanye lesihawu sami, sengikususile kulababantu,” kutsho uThixo.
For thus saith Jehovah: Enter not into the house of wailing; Go not to lament; Comfort them not! For I have taken away my peace from this people, saith Jehovah, My kindness and mercy.
6 “Bonke abaphakemeyo labantukazana bazakufa kulelilizwe. Kabayikungcwatshwa kumbe bakhalelwe, njalo kakho ozazisika kumbe aphuce ikhanda lakhe ngenxa yabo.
The great and the small in this land shall die; They shall not be buried nor lamented; No one shall cut himself for them, Nor shall any one make himself bald for them.
7 Kakho ozabanika ukudla ukuba abaduduze labo abalilela ofileyo, loba kunguyise kumbe unina, kakho lozabanika amanzi ukuba abaduduze.
Men shall not break bread for them in their grief, To comfort them for the dead, Nor give them the cup of consolation to drink, On account of a lost father or mother.
8 Njalo ungangeni endlini eledili ukuba uhlale phansi udle unathe.
Neither enter thou into the house of feasting, To sit down with them to eat and to drink!
9 Ngoba uThixo uSomandla, uNkulunkulu ka-Israyeli, uthi: Phambi kobuso bakho njalo ensukwini zakho ngizawuqeda umsindo wentokozo lokuthaba kanye lamazwi abalobokazi labayeni kule indawo.
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am about to cause to cease from this place, Before your eyes, in your days, The voice of joy and the voice of mirth, The voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
10 Lapho abantu laba ubatshela konke lokhu besebekubuza besithi, ‘Kungani uThixo esemise ukusehlisela inkemenkeme engaka na? Senze bubi bani na? Sono bani esisenze kuThixo uNkulunkulu wethu?’
And when thou shalt have declared to this people all these things, and they shall say to thee, “Why hath Jehovah pronounced against us all this great evil? What is our iniquity, and what our sin, which we have committed against Jehovah our God?”
11 wena wothi kubo, ‘Kungenxa yokuthi okhokho benu bangifulathela,’ kutsho uThixo, ‘njalo balandela abanye onkulunkulu babasebenzela, babakhonza. Bangifulathela njalo kabayigcinanga imithetho yami.
Then shalt thou say to them: Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith Jehovah, And have walked after strange gods, And have served them and worshipped them, And have forsaken me, and not kept my law.
12 Kodwa lina selenze okubi kakhulu kulabokhokho benu. Khangelani ukuthi lowo lalowo wenu uyilandela njani inkani yenhliziyo yakhe embi esikhundleni sokuthi angilalele.
And ye yourselves have done worse than your fathers; For, behold, ye walk every one after the perverseness of his evil heart, And do not hearken to me.
13 Ngakho ngizalilahlela ngaphandle kwalelilizwe elizweni lina loba oyihlo abangazange balazi, lapho elizakhonza khona abanye onkulunkulu emini lebusuku, ngoba angiyikuba lomusa kini.’”
Therefore will I cast you forth from this land Into a land unknown to you and to your fathers; And there shall ye serve strange gods day and night; For I will show you no favor.
14 UThixo uthi, “Kodwa insuku ziyeza lapho abantu bengayikuthi, ‘Ngeqiniso elinjengokuthi uThixo ukhona, yena owakhupha abako-Israyeli eGibhithe,’
Yet behold the days shall come, saith Jehovah, When men shall no more say, “As Jehovah liveth Who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,”
15 kodwa bazakuthi, ‘Ngeqiniso elinjengokuthi uThixo ukhona, yena owakhupha abako-Israyeli elizweni lasenyakatho lakuwo wonke amazwe ayebaxotshele kuwo.’ Ngoba ngizababuyisela elizweni engalinika okhokho babo.”
But, “As Jehovah liveth Who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the North, And from all the lands whither he had driven them.” For I will bring them again into their own land, Which I gave to their fathers.
16 UThixo uthi, “Kodwa khathesi ngizathumela abagoli benhlanzi abanengi, bazababamba. Emva kwalokho ngizathumela abazingeli abanengi, bazabazingela ezintabeni zonke lasemaqaqeni wonke njalo lasezingoxweni zamadwala.
Behold, I will send many fishers, saith Jehovah, who shall fish them, And then will I send many hunters who shall hunt them From every mountain, and from every hill, and from the holes of the rocks.
17 Amehlo ami akuzo zonke izindlela zabo; kabafihlakalanga kimi, lesono sabo kasiwacatshelanga amehlo ami.
For mine eyes are upon all their ways; They are not concealed from my view, Nor is their iniquity hidden from mine eyes.
18 Ngizaphindisela ngokuphindiweyo ububi babo lesono sabo, ngoba bangcolise ilizwe lami ngezinto ezingaphiliyo zezifanekiso zabo ezingamanyala, bagcwalisa lelifa lami ngezithombe zabo ezinengekayo.”
And I will requite their former and their repeated iniquities and sins, Because they have polluted my land with carcasses offered to their idols, And filled my inheritance with their abominable things.
19 Awu Thixo, mandla ami lenqaba yami, siphephelo sami ngesikhathi sokuhlupheka, izizwe zizakuza kuwe zivela emikhawulweni yomhlaba zithi, “Okhokho babengelalutho kodwa onkulunkulu bamanga, izithombe eziyize ezingabasizanga ngalutho.
O Jehovah, my strength and my fortress, My refuge in the day of distress! To thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, And shall say, “Truly our fathers inherited delusion, Vain and unprofitable things.
20 Kambe abantu bayazenzela onkulunkulu babo na? Ye, kodwa kayisibo onkulunkulu!”
Shall one make for himself gods Which are no gods?”
21 “Ngakho ngizabafundisa, khathesi ngizabafundisa amandla ami lobukhulu bami. Lapho-ke bazakwazi ukuthi ibizo lami nguThixo.”
Therefore, behold, I will this time cause them to feel, I will cause them to feel my hand and my might, And they shall know that my name is Jehovah.
