UJeremiya 12
1 Ulungile wena Nkosi, lapho ngiphikisana lawe; kanti ngizakhuluma lawe ngezahlulelo zakho. Kungani indlela yabakhohlakeleyo iphumelela? Kungani behlezi kuhle bonke abenza inkohliso ngenkohliso?
Yahweh, whenever I tell you that I am unhappy [about what is happening to me], you [always] act justly/fairly. So now allow me to ask about one more thing [that I do not understand]: Why are wicked people [often] very prosperous? Why do things go very well for dishonest/wicked people?
2 Ubahlanyele, yebo, bagxilile impande; bayaqhubeka, yebo, bathele izithelo; useduze emlonyeni wabo, kanti ukhatshana lezinso zabo.
You allow them to prosper like [MET] trees that grow tall and bear [a lot of] fruit. They [always] say [MTY] good things about you, but their hearts are [really] far from you.
3 Kodwa wena, Nkosi, uyangazi, ungibonile, wahlola inhliziyo yami ngakuwe. Bahudule njengezimvu zokuhlatshwa, ubehlukanisele usuku lokuhlatshwa.
But Yahweh, as for me, you know what is in my inner being. You see what I [do] and you are able to know what I am thinking. So drag away those [wicked] people, like [people drag away] sheep that they are going to butcher. Set them aside like sheep that are about to be slaughtered!
4 Koze kube nini ilizwe lilila, lohlaza lweganga lonke lubuna? Ngenxa yobubi babakhileyo kulo izinyamazana lenyoni ziyabhubha; ngoba bathi: Kayiyikubona isiphetho sethu.
This land is [RHQ] becoming very dry and even the grass is withering. The wild animals and the birds have [all] died because the people are [very] wicked. [All that has happened] because the people have said, “Yahweh does not know what we are doing (OR, what will happen to us)!”
5 Uba ugijime labezinyawo, bakudinisa, pho, ungancintisana njani lamabhiza? Uba uthembela elizweni elilokuthula, pho, uzakwenza njani ekukhukhumaleni kweJordani?
[Then to show me that I needed to be prepared to endure even greater difficulties, Yahweh said to me], [“It is as though] you have become exhausted from racing against men; so how will you be able to race against horses? If you [stumble and] fall when you are running on open/bare/smooth ground, what will happen to you when you are running through the thornbushes near the Jordan [River]?
6 Ngoba ngitsho abafowenu lendlu kayihlo, ngitsho labo bakuphatha ngenkohliso, yebo, bona bayamemeza emva kwakho ngokugcweleyo; ungabakholwa, loba bekhuluma izinto ezinhle kuwe.
[Already] your brothers and [other members of] your own family oppose you. They (plot against/plan to do evil things to) you and they say bad things about you. So even if they say nice things about you, do not trust them!
7 Ngiyidelile indlu yami, ngilitshiyile ilifa lami; nginikele othandiweyo womphefumulo wami esandleni sezitha zakhe.
I have abandoned my [Israeli] people, the people whom I chose to belong to me. I have allowed their enemies to conquer the Israeli people, whom I love.
8 Ilifa lami kimi linjengesilwane ehlathini; lingiphumisele ilizwi; ngakho-ke ngilizondile.
My people have become to me like [SIM] a lion in the forest. [It is as though] they roar at me like a lion, so now I hate them.
9 Ilifa lami kimi linjengenyoni elamabalabala edla inyama, inyoni ezidla inyama ziyihanqile zimelene layo; wozani, libuthe zonke izilo zeganga, lizilethe ukuthi zidle.
My chosen people have [RHQ] become like speckled hawks that are surrounded by vultures [waiting to eat their flesh after they are dead]. Tell all the wild animals to come and eat [the flesh of their corpses].
10 Abelusi abanengi basichithile isivini sami, banyathelele phansi isabelo sami, basenzile isabelo sami esiloyisekayo saba yinkangala elunxiwa.
Many rulers [from other countries have come with their armies and] devastated/destroyed my people [whom I care for like a farmer takes care of his] vineyard. They have caused my beautiful land to become a barren desert where no one lives.
11 Basenze saba lunxiwa, sililela kimi silunxiwa; ilizwe lonke lilunxiwa, ngoba kakulamuntu okubeka enhliziyweni.
They have caused it to become completely empty; [it is as though] I hear the land crying sadly/mournfully. The whole land is desolate, and no one (worries about/pays any attention to) it.
12 Abachithi bafikile phezu kwawo wonke amadundulu enkangala; ngoba inkemba yeNkosi izakudla kusukela komunye umkhawulo welizwe kusiya komunye umkhawulo welizwe; kakulakuthula kuyo yonke inyama.
The soldiers [of our enemies] have marched across all the barren hilltops. But [I], Yahweh, am using those armies [MTY] to punish your land from one end to the other, and no one will escape.
13 Bahlanyele ingqoloyi, kodwa bazavuna ameva; bazihluphe, kabayikuzuza; njalo lizakuba lenhloni ngezivuno zenu, ngenxa yokuvutha kolaka lweNkosi.
[It is as though] my people planted wheat, but now they are harvesting thorns. They have become very tired [because of much hard work], but they have gained nothing [from all that work]. They will be very disappointed because their harvests [will be very small], [and that will happen] because [I], Yahweh, am extremely angry [with them].”
14 Itsho njalo iNkosi: Mayelana labo bonke omakhelwane bami ababi abathinta ilifa engenze isizwe sami uIsrayeli ukuthi sidle ilifa lalo: Khangela, ngizabasiphuna elizweni labo, ngiyisiphune indlu yakoJuda isuke phakathi kwabo.
This is [also] what Yahweh said to me: “[I will punish] the evil nearby nations that have been trying to take away the land that I gave to my Israeli people, and I will force them to leave their own land. But I will throw the people of Judah out of their land, also.
15 Kuzakuthi-ke emva kokubasiphuna kwami, ngizabuya ngibe lesihawu kubo, ngibabuyise, kube ngulowo lalowo elifeni lakhe, langulowo lalowo elizweni lakhe.
But later I will act mercifully toward those nations again, and I will bring them back to their own lands again. Each [clan] will come back to its own land.
16 Kuzakuthi-ke uba bezazifunda ngokukhuthala izindlela zabantu bami, ukuthi bafunge ngebizo lami bathi: Kuphila kukaJehova; njengalokho bafundisa abantu bami ukufunga ngoBhali, khona bezakwakhiwa phakathi kwabantu bami.
And if the people [of the other nations whose armies have invaded Israel] learn the [religious] customs of my people, and if they learn that I [am listening] when they solemnly promise that they will do something good, like they taught my people to believe that [their god] Baal [was listening] when they made solemn promises, I will cause them to become prosperous, and they also will be my people.
17 Kodwa uba bengalaleli, ngizasisiphuna lesosizwe, ngisisiphune ngisibhubhise, itsho iNkosi.
But I will expel any nation whose people refuse to obey me, and I will destroy that nation and its people. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.”
