UJeremiya 22
1 Nanku akutshoyo uThixo: “Hamba wehlele endlini yenkosi yakoJuda umemezele khona ilizwi leli uthi,
Thus says the Lord: “Descend to the house of the king of Judah, and there you shall speak this word.
2 ‘Zwana ilizwi likaThixo, we nkosi yakoJuda, wena ohlala esihlalweni sobukhosi sikaDavida, wena lezikhulu zakho kanye labantu bakho abangena ngamasango la.
And you shall say: Listen to the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits upon the throne of David: you and your servants, and your people, who enter through these gates.
3 UThixo uthi: Yenzani okulungileyo lokuqondileyo. Mhlenge esandleni somncindezeli wakhe lowo ophangiweyo. Lingenzi okubi loba udlakela kowezizweni, intandane loba umfelokazi, njalo lingachithi igazi elingelacala kule indawo.
Thus says the Lord: Exercise judgment and justice, and free anyone who is oppressed by violence from the hand of a false accuser. And do not be willing to sadden the new arrival, or the orphan, or the widow, nor should you burden them unfairly. And you shall not shed innocent blood in this place.
4 Ngoba nxa linanzelela ukulandela imilayo le, amakhosi ahlala esihlalweni sobukhosi sikaDavida azangena ngamasango ale indawo, egade izinqola zempi lamabhiza, elezikhulu zawo kanye labantu bawo.
For if you will indeed accomplish this word, then there will enter through the gates of this house kings from the stock of David, sitting on his throne, and riding on chariots and on horses: they, and their servants, and their people.
5 Kodwa nxa imilayo le lingayilaleli, kutsho uThixo, ngifunga ngami ukuthi indawo le izakuba lunxiwa.’”
But if you will not listen to these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house will be in desolation.
6 Ngoba mayelana lendawo yenkosi yakoJuda uThixo uthi: “Lanxa unjengeGiliyadi kimi, lanjengengqongo yeLebhanoni, ngeqiniso ngizakwenza ufane lenkangala, lanjengamadolobho angahlali muntu.
For thus says the Lord about the house of the king of Judah: You are to me like Gilead, the head of Lebanon. Certainly, I will make you desolate, with uninhabitable cities.
7 Ngizakuthumela abachithi, indoda nganye ilezikhali zayo, njalo bazaquma imijabo yenu emihle yemisedari bayiphosele emlilweni.
And I will sanctify over you the destroying man and his weapons. And they will cut down your select cedars and throw them violently into the fire.
8 Abantu abavela ezizweni ezinengi bazadlula kulelidolobho babuzane besithi, ‘Kungani uThixo enze into enje kulelidolobho elikhulu na?’
And many nations will pass through this city. And each one will say to his neighbor: ‘Why has the Lord acted in this way toward this great city?’
9 Impendulo izakuthi: ‘Ngoba basidelile isivumelwano sikaThixo uNkulunkulu wabo bakhonza abanye onkulunkulu njalo babasebenzela.’”
And they will answer: ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God, and they adored strange gods and served them.’
10 Lingayikhaleli inkosi efileyo loba lililele ukulilahlekela kwayo; kodwa, khalelani kakhulu othunjiweyo, ngoba kasayikubuya njalo loba abone ilizwe lakibo futhi.
You should not choose to weep for the dead, nor should you mourn over them with tears. Lament for him who is departing, for he will return no more, nor will he see his native land again.
11 Ngoba mayelana loShalumi indodana kaJosiya, owangena esikhundleni sikayise esiba yinkosi yakoJuda kodwa osesukile kule indawo: UThixo uthi, “Kasoze abuye futhi.
For thus says the Lord to Shallum, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who reigned in place of his father, who has departed from this place: He will not return here again.
12 Uzafela kuleyondawo asiwa kuyo ethunjiwe; ilizwe leli kasoze alibone futhi.”
Instead, he will die in the place to which I have transferred him, and he will not see this land anymore.
13 “Maye kuye owakha indlu yakhe yobukhosi ngokungalungi, lezindlu zakhe zangaphezulu ngokungafanelanga, esenza abantu bakibo basebenzele ize, engabaholisi lutho ngokusebenza kwabo.
Woe to one who builds his house with injustice and his upper rooms without judgment, who oppresses his friend without cause and does not pay him his wages.
14 Uthi, ‘Ngizazakhela indlu enkulu yobukhosi elezitezi ezibanzi.’ Ngakho uyenza ibe lamawindi amakhulu, ayinameke ngemisidari, ayicombe ngokubomvu.
And he says: ‘I will build a broad house for myself, with spacious upper rooms.’ He makes windows for himself, and he builds the roof out of cedar, and he paints it with red ocher.
15 Ukuba lemisedari eminenginengi kukwenza ube yinkosi na? Uyihlo kazange abe lokudla lokunathwayo na? Wenza okuqondileyo lokulungileyo, ngakho konke kwamlungela.
Will you reign because you compare yourself to the cedar? Did your father not eat and drink, and act with judgment and justice, so that it would be well with him?
16 Wavikela amalungelo abayanga labaswelayo, ngakho konke kwamlungela. Lokho akusikho okutsho ukungazi na?” kutsho uThixo.
He judged the case of the poor and the indigent for their good. Was this not because he knew me, says the Lord?
17 “Kodwa amehlo akho lenhliziyo yakho kukhangele inzuzo yenkohliso, lokuchitha igazi elingelacala, ukuncindezela kanye lodlakela.”
Yet truly, your eyes and your heart are toward avarice and the shedding of innocent blood, and toward false accusations and the pursuit of evil deeds.
18 Ngakho mayelana loJehoyakhimi indodana kaJosiya, inkosi yakoJuda, uThixo uthi: “Kabayikumkhalela besithi: ‘Maye ngomfowethu! Maye ngodadewethu!’ Kabayikumkhalela besithi: ‘Maye ngenkosi yami! Maye ngobuhle bayo obukhulu!’
Because of this, thus says the Lord toward Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah: They will not mourn for him by saying, ‘Alas,’ to a brother, or, ‘Alas,’ to a sister. They will not make a noise for him and say, ‘Alas,’ to a master, or, ‘Alas,’ to a nobleman.
19 Uzangcwatshwa njengobabhemi, ahudulwe aphoselwe ngaphandle kwamasango aseJerusalema.”
He will be buried with the burial of a donkey, having rotted and been thrown out of the gates of Jerusalem.
20 “Qansa uye eLebhanoni umemeze, wenze ilizwi lakho lizwakale eBhashani; memeza use-Abharimi, ngoba bonke abamanyane lawe banqotshiwe.
Ascend to Lebanon and cry out! And utter your voice in Bashan, and cry out to those passing by. For all your lovers have been crushed.
21 Ngakuxwayisa uzibona uvikelekile, kodwa wena wathi, ‘Angiyikulalela!’ Le ibe iyindlela yakho kusukela ebutsheni bakho; kawungilalelanga.
I spoke to you in your abundance, and you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from your youth, for you have not listened to my voice.
22 Umoya uzabaxotshela khatshana bonke abelusi bakho, labamanyene lawe bazathunjwa. Lapho-ke uzayangeka ube lenhloni ngenxa yobubi bakho bonke.
The wind will feed all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. And then you will be confounded, and you will be ashamed of all your wickedness.
23 Lina abahlala ‘eLebhanoni,’ eligcineke kuhle ezindlini zemisedari, lizabubula kakhulu lapho inhlungu zilehlela, ubuhlungu obunjengowesifazane ehelelwa!”
You who sit in Lebanon, and who nest in the cedars, in what way did you mourn when suffering came to you, like the suffering of a woman giving birth?
24 UThixo uthi, “Ngeqiniso njengoba ngikhona, lanxa ngabe wena, Jehoyakhini ndodana kaJehoyakhimi inkosi yakoJuda, wawuyindandatho ebukekayo esandleni sami sokunene, ngangizakukhupha.
As I live, says the Lord, if Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a ring on my right hand, I would remove him from there.
25 Ngizakunikela kulabo abafuna ukukubulala, labo obesabayo, uNebhukhadineza inkosi yaseBhabhiloni lakumaKhaladiya.
And I will deliver you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you dread, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 Wena kanye lonyoko owakuzalayo ngizaliphosela kwelinye ilizwe, lapho elingazalelwanga khona, lapho elizafela khona lobabili.
And I will send you, and your mother who conceived you, into a foreign land, in which you were not born, and there you shall die.
27 Kaliyikuphinda libuye elizweni elifisa ukuza kulo.”
And to the land about which they lift up their mind, thinking to return there, they shall not return.
28 Umuntu lo, uJehoyakhini, uyimbiza efileyo, edelelwayo, into engafunwa muntu na? Kungani yena labantwabakhe bezaphoselwa ngaphandle, balahlelwe elizweni abangalaziyo na?
Is this man, Jeconiah, a broken earthenware vessel? Is he a vessel which is entirely unpleasing? Why have they been cast out, he and his offspring, cast out even into a land that they have not known?
29 Wena lizwe, lizwe, lizwe, zwana ilizwi likaThixo!
O earth, O earth, O earth! Listen to the word of the Lord!
30 UThixo uthi: “Bhalani umuntu lo njengongelabantwana, umuntu ongayikuphumelela empilweni yakhe, ngoba kakho owenzalo yakhe ozaphumelela, kakho ozahlala esihlalweni sobukhosi sikaDavida loba abuse futhi koJuda.”
Thus says the Lord: Write: this man is barren; he is a man who will not prosper in his days. For there will not be a man from among his offspring who will sit upon the throne of David, or have authority in Judah, anymore.”
