UJeremiya 17
1 “Isono sikaJuda sidwetshwe ngensimbi, sabhalwa ngomcijo wedayimani ezicecedwini zenhliziyo zabo lasempondweni zama-alithare abo.
[Yahweh said, “It is as though a list of] the sins [committed by the people of] Judah is engraved with an iron chisel, or engraved using the fine point of a very hard stone, on the altars [where they worship idols]. And [it is as though] this list is engraved on their inner beings!
2 Labantwababo bayawakhumbula ama-alithare abo lezinsika zika-Ashera phansi kwezihlahla eziluhlaza laphezu kwamaqaqa aphakemeyo.
[Even] their children are happy to go to the altars [to worship their gods], and to the poles [that represent the goddess] Asherah [at which their parents worshiped], shrines that are underneath all the big trees and on [all] the high hills.
3 Intaba yami eselizweni lenotho yenu kanye lemfuyo yenu yonke ngizakunikela kube yimpango, ndawonye lezindawo zenu eziphakemeyo, ngenxa yokona kulolonke ilizwe lenu.
So, I will allow your enemies to capture [Zion], your holy hill, and all your wealth and your (treasures/valuable things), and [even] the shrines on all those hills, because of the sins that you people have committed throughout your land.
4 Ngenxa yezici zenu lizalahlekelwa yilifa engalinika lona. Ngizalenza libe yizigqili zezitha zenu elizweni elingalaziyo, ngoba livuse ulaka lwami, njalo luzavutha kuze kube nininini.”
The [wonderful] land that I gave to you will no longer belong to you. I will tell your enemies to take you to a land that you do not know about, and you will become their slaves. [I will do that] because I am extremely angry [with you]; my being angry is [like] a fire that will burn forever.”
5 UThixo uthi: “Uqalekisiwe lowo othemba umuntu, othembe ukuthi amandla akhe asenyameni, onhliziyo yakhe ihlamukela uThixo.
This is [also] what Yahweh says: “[I] will curse/condemn those who trust in human beings [to help them], those who rely on their own strength and turn away from me.
6 Uzakuba njengesihlahlanyana enkangala; ukuphumelela kayikukubona ekufikeni kwakho. Uzahlala ezindaweni ezomileyo enkangala, elizweni letswayi elingahlali muntu.
They are like [dry] bushes in the desert, they are people who will not experience any good things. Those people will live in the barren desert in a salty area, where nothing grows.
7 Kodwa ubusisiwe umuntu othemba uThixo, othemba lakhe likuye.
But I am pleased with those who trust in [me], Yahweh, and who confidently expect [me to take care of them].
8 Uzakuba njengesihlahla esihlanyelwe eduze lamanzi esinabisela impande zaso esifuleni. Kasesabi lapho ukutshisa kufika; amahlamvu aso ahlala eluhlaza. Kasikhathazeki ngomnyaka wokoma; kasiphuthi ukuthela izithelo.”
Those people are like [SIM] fruit trees that have been planted along a riverbank, trees that have roots that go down into the [wet ground beside] the water. They are trees whose leaves remain green when it becomes hot, trees that continue to bear fruit when there are many months in which there is no rain.
9 Inhliziyo iyakhohlisa okudlula izinto zonke njalo imbi kakhulu. Ngubani ongayizwisisa na?
Human minds are extremely corrupt/deceitful, and you cannot change that. It is also completely impossible [RHQ] for anyone to understand that.
10 “Mina Thixo ngiyayihlola inhliziyo ngihlole lengqondo, ukuba umuntu ngimnike okufanele ukwenza kwakhe mayelana lalokho okufanele izenzo zakhe.”
But I, Yahweh, search what is in everyone’s inner being, and I examine what they are thinking. I will give all people rewards, what they deserve for what they have done.”
11 Umuntu ozuza inotho ngezindlela ezimbi unjengesikhwehle esichamisela amaqanda esingawaqandelanga. Lapho ingxenye yokuphila kwakhe isidlule, izaphela, kuthi ekucineni abonakale eyisithutha.
[I, Jeremiah, agree, because I know that] people who become rich by doing things that are unjust are like birds that hatch eggs that they (did not lay/stole from another nest). So, when those people have lived only half of the years [that they expect to live], their wealth will disappear. Then [other people will realize that] those rich people have been foolish.
12 Isihlalo sobukhosi, esikhazimulayo esaphakanyiswayo kusukela ekuqaleni, siyindawo yethu yokuphephela.
Yahweh, your temple is [like] a glorious throne that is still on a high hill.
13 Awu Thixo, themba lika-Israyeli, bonke abakudelayo bazayangiswa. Labo abakuhlamukelayo bazabhalwa othulini ngoba bedele uThixo, umthombo wamanzi okuphila.
You are the one whom [we] Israeli people confidently expect [to bless us], and all those who turn away from you will be disgraced. Their names will be written [only] in the dust, [and will soon disappear], because they have abandoned you, [who are like] [MET] a fountain where people obtain fresh water.
14 Ngisilisa, Thixo, njalo ngizasiliswa; ungikhulule, ngizakhululeka, ngoba nguwe engimdumisayo.
Yahweh, [please] heal me, because [if you heal me], I will truly be healed. [If you] rescue me, I will truly be safe, because you are the [only] one whom I praise.
15 Bahlala besithi kimi, “Lingaphi ilizwi likaThixo na? Kaligcwaliseke khathesi!”
People often ridicule me and say, “You tell us messages that you say came from Yahweh, but (why have the things that you predicted not happened?/those predictions have not come true!)” [RHQ]
16 Angibalekanga ekubeni ngumelusi wenu; liyakwazi ukuthi angilufisanga usuku lokuphela ithemba. Okudlula endebeni zami kusobala kini.
Yahweh, you [appointed me to take care of your people like] a shepherd [takes care of his sheep] [MET]; I have not abandoned that work, and you know that I have not [previously] wanted this time of disaster [to come to people who ridicule me]. And you know everything that I have said [MTY] [to your people].
17 Ungabi ngowesabekayo kimi; uyisiphephelo sami ngosuku lokuhlupheka.
Do not cause me to be terrified! When disasters come/occur, you are the one to whom I will go to be safe.
18 Abangihluphayo kabayangiswe, kodwa mina ungivikele ehlazweni; kababe lokwesaba, kodwa mina ungivikele ekwesabeni. Balethele usuku lobubi. Ubabhubhise ngokuqothula okuphindiweyo.
[So now], cause those who (persecute me/cause me to suffer) to be ashamed and dismayed, but do not [do things to me that will] cause me to be ashamed and dismayed. Cause them to be terrified! Do to them many things that will completely destroy them!
19 UThixo wathi kimi: “Hamba uyekuma esangweni labantu, amakhosi akoJuda angena ngalo njalo aphume ngalo; ume futhi lakuwo wonke amanye amasango aseJerusalema.
This is what Yahweh said to me: “Go to the city gates in Jerusalem. [First] go to the gate where the kings of Judah go in and out of the city, and [then] go to each of the [other] gates.
20 Uthi kubo, ‘Zwanini ilizwi likaThixo, lina makhosi akoJuda labo bonke abantu abahlala koJuda kanye labantu bonke abahlala eJerusalema abangena ngala amasango.
Say to the people [at each gate], ‘You kings of Judah and everyone [else] who is living in Jerusalem and all [you other people of] Judah who enter these gates, listen to this message from Yahweh!
21 UThixo uthi: Qaphelani lingathwali mthwalo ngosuku lweSabatha loba liwungenise ngamasango aseJerusalema.
He says, “Listen to this warning carefully! [Stop doing work] on (Sabbath/our rest) days! Stop carrying loads through these gates [on those days]!
22 Lingaphumisi mthwalo ezindlini zenu kumbe lenze loba yiwuphi umsebenzi ngosuku lweSabatha, kodwa ligcine iSabatha lingcwele, njengokulaya kwami okhokho benu.
Do not carry loads out of your houses or do any [other] work on Sabbath days! Instead, cause Sabbath days to be (holy/set apart for me). I commanded your ancestors to do that,
23 Kodwa kabalalelanga loba banake; izintamo zabo zazilukhuni njalo kabalalelanga kumbe bamukele ukulaywa.
but they did not listen to me or obey me. When I did things to correct them, they stubbornly [IDM] refused to pay attention to what I said or to accept it.
24 UThixo uthi: Kodwa nxa liqaphele ukungilalela, lingangenisi mthwalo ngamasango edolobho leli ngeSabatha, kodwa ligcina usuku lweSabatha lungcwele ngokungenzi msebenzi ngalo,
But I say that if you obey me, and if you do not carry loads through these gates [on Sabbath days] or do any other work on Sabbath days, and if you dedicate the Sabbath days to me,
25 lapho-ke amakhosi ahlezi esihlalweni sobukhosi sikaDavida azangena lezikhulu zawo ngamasango edolobho leli. Wona lezikhulu zawo bazafika begade izinqola zempi lamabhiza, belabantu bakoJuda lalabo abahlala eJerusalema; bahlale kulo idolobho kuze kube nininini.
kings of Judah [MTY] and [their] officials will [continue to] go in and out of these gates. There will [always] be someone who is a descendant of [MTY] [King] David ruling [here] [MTY] in Jerusalem. Kings and their officials will go in and out of these gates, riding in chariots and on horses, and there will be people living in this city forever.
26 Abantu bazakuza bevela emadolobheni akoJuda lasemizini egqagqele iJerusalema, bevela elizweni lakoBhenjamini lasezintatshaneni zangasentshonalanga, bevela elizweni lamaqaqa laseNegebi, beletha iminikelo yokutshiswa lemihlatshelo, iminikelo yamabele, impepha kanye leminikelo yokubonga endlini kaThixo.
And people will come [to Jerusalem] bringing offerings to be completely burned [on the altar] and [other] offerings. They will bring to the temple grain offerings and incense and offerings to thank [me]. People will bring those offerings from the towns in Judah and the villages near Jerusalem and from the land [where the tribe] of Benjamin [lives] and from the western foothills and from the desert in the south.
27 Kodwa nxa lingangilaleli ekuthini ligcine usuku lweSabatha lungcwele ngokungathwali mthwalo lapho lingena ngamasango aseJerusalema ngosuku lweSabatha, lapho-ke ngizaphemba umlilo ongacitshekiyo emasangweni eJerusalema ozaqothula izinqaba zalo.’”
But if you do not pay attention to what I say, and if you refuse to dedicate the Sabbath days to me, and if you [continue to] carry loads through these gates into the city on Sabbath days, I will burn these gates completely. The fire will spread to the palaces, and no one will be able to put out that fire.”’”
