UJeremiya 9
1 Kungathi ngabe ikhanda lami lingamanzi, lamehlo ami umthombo wezinyembezi, ukuze ngikhalele ababuleweyo bendodakazi yabantu bami emini lebusuku!
Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
2 Kungathi ngabe ngilendawo yokulala yezihambi enkangala, ukuze ngitshiye abantu bami, ngisuke kubo! Ngoba bonke bayizifebe, ixuku labakhohlisayo.
If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.
3 Njalo bagobisa ulimi lwabo njengedandili labo besenzela amanga; kodwa kabaliqineli iqiniso elizweni; ngoba baqhubeka kusukela kokubi kusiya kokubi, mina-ke kabangazi, itsho iNkosi.
“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,”
4 Qaphelani, ngulowo lalowo umakhelwane wakhe, lingathembi lawuphi umfowenu, ngoba wonke umfowenu uzakhohlisa lokukhohlisa, laye wonke umakhelwane uzahamba ngokuhleba.
“Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander.
5 Njalo bazakhohlisa, ngulowo lalowo umakhelwane wakhe, bengakhulumi iqiniso; balufundisile ulimi lwabo ukukhuluma amanga, bezidinisa ngokwenza okubi.
Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.
6 Indawo yakho yokuhlala iphakathi kwenkohliso; ngenkohliso bayala ukungazi, itsho iNkosi.
You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,”
7 Ngakho itsho njalo iNkosi yamabandla: Khangela, ngizabancibilikisa, ngibahlole; ngoba ngizakwenza njani ngenxa yendodakazi yabantu bami?
Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of the daughter of My people?
8 Ulimi lwabo lungumtshoko wokubulala, lukhuluma inkohliso; ngulowo lalowo ukhuluma ukuthula ngomlomo wakhe kumakhelwane wakhe, kodwa ngaphakathi kwakhe uyamcathamela.
Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
9 Kangiyikubajezisa yini ngenxa yalezizinto? itsho iNkosi; umphefumulo wami kawuyikuphindisela yini esizweni esinjengalesi?
Should I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
10 Ngizaphakamisa ukukhala lesililo phezu kwezintaba, laphezu kwezindawo zokuhlala zenkangala ingoma yokulila, ngoba kutshisiwe, okokuthi kungekho odlulayo; njalo bangezwa ilizwi lezifuyo; kusukela enyonini zamazulu kusiya enyamazaneni kubalekile, kuhambile.
I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.
11 Ngizayenza iJerusalema ibe zinqumbi, umlindi wemigobho; lemizi yakoJuda ngizayenza ibe lunxiwa, ingabi lamhlali.
“And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
12 Ngubani umuntu ohlakaniphileyo ongaqedisisa lokhu? Njalo ngubani umlomo weNkosi okhulume kuye, ukuze akubike? Kungani ilizwe libhubhile litshiswe njengenkangala, kuze kungabikho odlulayo?
Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it?
13 INkosi yasisithi: Ngoba bedelile umlayo wami engawubeka phambi kwabo, njalo bengalilalelanga ilizwi lami, bengahambanga ngalo;
And the LORD answered, “It is because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them; they have not walked in it or obeyed My voice.
14 kodwa balandela inkani yenhliziyo yabo, belandela oBhali, oyise ababafundisa khona.
Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
15 Ngalokho itsho njalo iNkosi yamabandla, uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli: Khangela, ngizabondla lababantu ngomhlonyane, ngibanathise amanzi enyongo.
Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
16 Njalo ngizabahlakaza phakathi kwezizwe abangazanga bazazi bona laboyise, ngithume inkemba emva kwabo, ngize ngibaqede.
I will scatter them among the nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.”
17 Itsho njalo INkosi yamabandla: Qaphelani, libize abesifazana abalilayo ukuthi beze; lithumele kwabesifazana abahlakaniphileyo, ukuthi beze.
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.
18 Kabaphangise, basiphakamisele isililo, ukuze amehlo ethu ehlise inyembezi, lenkophe zethu zimpompoze amanzi.
Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water.
19 Ngoba ilizwi lokulila liyezwakala liphuma eZiyoni lisithi: Yeka ukuchitheka kwethu! Silenhloni kakhulu, ngoba silitshiyile ilizwe, ngoba babhidlizile izindawo zethu zokuhlala.
For the sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How devastated we are! How great is our shame! For we have abandoned the land because our dwellings have been torn down.’”
20 Kanti zwanini ilizwi leNkosi, lina besifazana, lendlebe zenu zilemukele ilizwi lomlomo wayo; lifundise amadodakazi enu ukuqhinqa isililo, kube ngulowo lalowo umakhelwane wakhe ingoma yokulila.
Now, O women, hear the word of the LORD. Open your ears to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters to wail, and one another to lament.
21 Ngoba ukufa kwenyukele emawindini ethu, kwangena ezigodlweni zethu, ukuquma abantwana ezitaladeni, amajaha emidangeni.
For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.
22 Khuluma uthi: Itsho njalo iNkosi: Ngitsho isidumbu somuntu sizakuwa njengamalongwe ebusweni bensimu, lanjengomzila wamabele asikiweyo emva komvuni, njalo kungabi lobuthayo.
Declare that this is what the LORD says: “The corpses of men will fall like dung upon the open field, like newly cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather it.”
23 Itsho njalo iNkosi: Ohlakaniphileyo kangazincomi ngenhlakanipho yakhe, leqhawe lingazincomi ngobuqhawe balo, isinothi singazincomi ngenotho yaso;
This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
24 kodwa ozincomayo kazincome ngalokhu, ukuthi uyaqedisisa uyangazi mina, ukuthi ngiyiNkosi esebenzisa uthandolomusa, isahlulelo, lokulunga emhlabeni; ngoba kulezizinto ngiyathokoza, itsho iNkosi.
But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth— for I delight in these things,”
25 Khangela, insuku ziyeza, itsho iNkosi, lapho ngizajezisa bonke abasokileyo ekungasokini:
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised yet uncircumcised:
26 IGibhithe, loJuda, loEdoma, labantwana bakoAmoni, loMowabi, labo bonke abaphoselwe engonsini, abahlala enkangala; ngoba zonke izizwe kazisokwanga, layo yonke indlu kaIsrayeli kayisokwanga enhliziyweni.
Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
