UJeremiya 9
1 Awu, sengathi ngabe ikhanda lami lingumthombo wamanzi, lamehlo ami angumthombo wezinyembezi! Kade ngizakhala emini lebusuku ngikhalela abantu bami ababuleweyo.
How I wish my head was a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! Then I would weep day and night over all my people who have been killed.
2 Awu, sengathi ngabe enkangala ngilendawo engahlala izihambi, ukuba ngisuke ebantwini bami ngisuke kubo, ngoba bonke bayizifebe, ixuku labantu abangathembekanga.
I wish I had a temporary shelter in the desert—I would give up on my people and leave them, because they're all adulterers, a bunch of traitors!
3 “Benza izindimi zabo zilunge njengesavutha ukuba batshoke amanga, ukuthi bayanqoba elizweni akusikho ngeqiniso. Basuka kokunye ukona baye kokunye; kabangamukeli,” kutsho uThixo.
Their words are like arrows shot from a bow. Lies win out over the truth throughout the country. They go from one evil thing to the next, forgetting all about me, declares the Lord.
4 “Qaphela abangane bakho, ungabathembi abafowenu. Ngoba wonke umfowenu ungumkhohlisi, njalo wonke umngane ungumhlebi.
Everyone, watch out for your friends! Don't even trust your brother! Every brother is deceitful, and every friend slanders other people.
5 Umngane ukhohlisa umngane, njalo kakho okhuluma iqiniso. Sebafundisa izindimi zabo ukuqamba amanga, bayazidinisa ngokona.
Everyone betrays their friends; no one tells the truth. They've made themselves into expert liars; they tire themselves out doing wrong.
6 Lihlala phakathi kwenkohliso, ngenkohliso yabo bayala ukungamukela,” kutsho uThixo.
Everyone exploits each other, and in all their lies they don't want to know me, declares the Lord.
7 Ngakho uThixo uSomandla uthi: “Khangelani, ngizabacolisa ngibahlole, ngoba kuyini okunye engingakwenza ngenxa yesono sabantu bami?
So this is what the Lord Almighty says: Look, I'm going to test them and purify them like metal in a furnace. What else can I do because of what my people have done?
8 Ulimi lwabo lungumtshoko olobuthi, lukhuluma inkohliso. Lowo lalowo ukhuluma kuhle kubomakhelwane bakhe, kodwa enhliziyweni zabo bebathiya ngemijibila.
Their words are arrows that kill; they always tell lies. They're nice to their friends on the outside while plotting against them inside.
9 Kakufanele ngibajezisele lokhu na?” kubuza uThixo. “Kakufanele ngiphindisele esizweni esinjengalesi na?”
Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
10 Ngizakhala ngililele izintaba ngibuye ngililele lamadlelo asenkangala. Atshabalele njalo kakho ohambela kuwo, lokubhonsa kwezinkomo akuzwakali. Izinyoni zasemoyeni sezibalekile, lezinyamazana kazisekho.
I will weep and wail for the mountains, I will sing a funeral song over the pastures in the countryside, because they have been so badly burned that no one can pass through, and there are no cattle to make any noise. The birds have flown and the wild animals have run away.
11 “IJerusalema ngizalenza libe yinqumbi yonxiwa, isikhundla samakhanka, njalo ngizawadiliza amadolobho akoJuda ukuze kungabikhona ohlala kuwo.”
I'm going to make Jerusalem into a heap of rubble, a place where jackals live. I will destroy the towns of Judah, leaving them empty.
12 Nguphi umuntu ohlakaniphileyo ukuba akuzwisise lokhu? Ngubani ofundiswe nguThixo ongakuchaza? Kungani ilizwe litshabalalisiwe lachithwa njengenkangala ukuze kungadluli muntu kulo?
Who is wise enough to understand this? Has the Lord told anyone so they can explain what's happened? Why has the land been destroyed and burned so it's like a desert, so no one can pass through it?
13 UThixo wathi, “Kungenxa yokuthi sebelahle umthetho wami engababekela wona; kabangilalelanga, lomthetho wami kabawulandelanga.
The Lord replied, It's because they have given up keeping my laws that I placed before them. They haven't followed them; they haven't done what I told them.
14 Esikhundleni salokho, bona balandele ubulukhuni bezinhliziyo zabo; balandele oBhali, njengokufundiswa kwabo ngoyise.”
On the contrary, they have followed their own stubborn way of thinking, and went to worship the Baals, just as their forefathers taught them.
15 Ngakho-ke, uThixo uSomandla, uNkulunkulu ka-Israyeli uthi: “Khangelani, abantu laba ngizabadlisa ukudla okubabayo ngibanathise lamanzi alobuthi.
So this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Watch out! I will give these people wormwood to eat and poisoned water to drink.
16 Ngizabahlakazela ezizweni bona kanye laboyise abangazange bazazi, njalo ngizabalandela ngenkemba ngize ngibaqede du.”
I'm about to scatter them among nations unfamiliar to them and their forefathers, and I will send enemies with swords to chase after them until I have wiped them out.
17 UThixo uSomandla uthi: “Cabangani khathesi! Bizani abesifazane abalilayo beze, libize labo abalobuciko obumangalisayo.
This is what the Lord Almighty says: Be aware of what's happening! Call for the professional women mourners, ask for the best of them.
18 Kabeze ngokuphangisa, bazesililela amehlo ethu aze ehlise inyembezi lempophoma zamanzi zigeleze, ziphuma enkopheni zethu.”
Have them come as quickly as possible, and sing a funeral song about us, so we can cry our eyes out, so our tears will flow like streams.
19 Ilizwi lokukhala liyezwakala livela eZiyoni: “Yeka kunganani ukuchithakala kwethu! Yeka ubukhulu behlazo lethu! Kumele sisuke elizweni lethu ngoba izindlu zethu zidiliziwe.”
The sound of weeping comes from Zion, “We're completely devastated! We're totally ashamed, because we've had to abandon our country, because our houses have been demolished.”
20 Khathesi, lina abesifazane, zwanini ilizwi likaThixo, vulani indlebe zenu lizwe amazwi omlomo wakhe. Fundisani amadodakazi enu ukulila, lifundisane amazwi okukhala.
Women, listen to the Lord's message, hear what he has to say. Teach your daughters to mourn and sing songs of sadness.
21 Ukufa kukhwele kwangena ngamafastela ethu, njalo kungenile lasezinqabeni zethu, sekususe abantwana emigwaqweni kanye lamajaha ezindaweni zikazulu.
Death has slipped in through our windows; it has come into our fortresses. It has killed the children playing in the streets and the young people gathering in the town squares.
22 Tshono uthi, uThixo uthi, “‘izidumbu zabafileyo zizalala njengezibi egangeni, njengamabele aqunywe ngemva kovunayo, okungekho ozawabutha.’”
Tell everyone this is what the Lord says: Dead bodies will be left where they fall like manure in the fields, lying there like stalks of freshly-cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to collect them.
23 UThixo uthi: “Ohlakaniphileyo kangazincomi ngokuhlakanipha kwakhe, loba indoda elamandla izincome ngamandla ayo, loba indoda enothileyo izincome ngenotho yayo,
This is what the Lord says: The wise shouldn't boast about their wisdom. The strong shouldn't boast about their strength. The rich shouldn't boast about their riches.
24 kodwa lowo ozincomayo, kazincome ngokuthi uyaqedisisa njalo uyangazi, ukuthi mina nginguThixo, osebenzisa umusa, imfanelo lokulunga emhlabeni, ngoba lezizinto ziyangithokozisa,” kutsho uThixo.
Anyone who wants to boast should boast that they really know and understand me, recognizing that I am the Lord who acts with trustworthy love, who shows fairness, and who does what is right everywhere on earth, because these mean the most to me, declares the Lord.
25 UThixo uthi, “Insuku ziyeza, lapho engizabajezisa khona bonke abasoke enyameni kuphela,
Watch out, for the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all who are only physically circumcised.
26 iGibhithe, loJuda, lo-Edomi, lo-Amoni loMowabi labo bonke abahlala enkangala ezindaweni ezikhatshana. Ngoba izizwe zonke lezi kazisokanga, njalo lendlu yonke ka-Israyeli kayisokanga enhliziyweni.”
Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the desert people who trim their hair on the sides of their heads—all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the Israelites are spiritually uncircumcised.
