UJeremiya 9
1 Kungathi ngabe ikhanda lami lingamanzi, lamehlo ami umthombo wezinyembezi, ukuze ngikhalele ababuleweyo bendodakazi yabantu bami emini lebusuku!
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 Kungathi ngabe ngilendawo yokulala yezihambi enkangala, ukuze ngitshiye abantu bami, ngisuke kubo! Ngoba bonke bayizifebe, ixuku labakhohlisayo.
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 Njalo bagobisa ulimi lwabo njengedandili labo besenzela amanga; kodwa kabaliqineli iqiniso elizweni; ngoba baqhubeka kusukela kokubi kusiya kokubi, mina-ke kabangazi, itsho iNkosi.
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 Qaphelani, ngulowo lalowo umakhelwane wakhe, lingathembi lawuphi umfowenu, ngoba wonke umfowenu uzakhohlisa lokukhohlisa, laye wonke umakhelwane uzahamba ngokuhleba.
Everyone, watch out for your friends! Don't even trust your brother! Every brother is deceitful, and every friend slanders other people.
5 Njalo bazakhohlisa, ngulowo lalowo umakhelwane wakhe, bengakhulumi iqiniso; balufundisile ulimi lwabo ukukhuluma amanga, bezidinisa ngokwenza okubi.
Everyone betrays their friends; no one tells the truth. They've made themselves into expert liars; they tire themselves out doing wrong.
6 Indawo yakho yokuhlala iphakathi kwenkohliso; ngenkohliso bayala ukungazi, itsho iNkosi.
Everyone exploits each other, and in all their lies they don't want to know me, declares the Lord.
7 Ngakho itsho njalo iNkosi yamabandla: Khangela, ngizabancibilikisa, ngibahlole; ngoba ngizakwenza njani ngenxa yendodakazi yabantu 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 wokubulala, lukhuluma inkohliso; ngulowo lalowo ukhuluma ukuthula ngomlomo wakhe kumakhelwane wakhe, kodwa ngaphakathi kwakhe uyamcathamela.
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 Kangiyikubajezisa yini ngenxa yalezizinto? itsho iNkosi; umphefumulo wami kawuyikuphindisela yini esizweni esinjengalesi?
Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
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 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 Ngizayenza iJerusalema ibe zinqumbi, umlindi wemigobho; lemizi yakoJuda ngizayenza ibe lunxiwa, ingabi lamhlali.
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 Ngubani umuntu ohlakaniphileyo ongaqedisisa lokhu? Njalo ngubani umlomo weNkosi okhulume kuye, ukuze akubike? Kungani ilizwe libhubhile litshiswe njengenkangala, kuze kungabikho odlulayo?
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 INkosi yasisithi: Ngoba bedelile umlayo wami engawubeka phambi kwabo, njalo bengalilalelanga ilizwi lami, bengahambanga ngalo;
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 kodwa balandela inkani yenhliziyo yabo, belandela oBhali, oyise ababafundisa khona.
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 Ngalokho itsho njalo iNkosi yamabandla, uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli: Khangela, ngizabondla lababantu ngomhlonyane, ngibanathise amanzi enyongo.
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 Njalo ngizabahlakaza phakathi kwezizwe abangazanga bazazi bona laboyise, ngithume inkemba emva kwabo, ngize ngibaqede.
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 Itsho njalo INkosi yamabandla: Qaphelani, libize abesifazana abalilayo ukuthi beze; lithumele kwabesifazana abahlakaniphileyo, ukuthi beze.
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 Kabaphangise, basiphakamisele isililo, ukuze amehlo ethu ehlise inyembezi, lenkophe zethu zimpompoze amanzi.
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 Ngoba ilizwi lokulila liyezwakala liphuma eZiyoni lisithi: Yeka ukuchitheka kwethu! Silenhloni kakhulu, ngoba silitshiyile ilizwe, ngoba babhidlizile izindawo zethu zokuhlala.
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 Kanti zwanini ilizwi leNkosi, lina besifazana, lendlebe zenu zilemukele ilizwi lomlomo wayo; lifundise amadodakazi enu ukuqhinqa isililo, kube ngulowo lalowo umakhelwane wakhe ingoma yokulila.
Women, listen to the Lord's message, hear what he has to say. Teach your daughters to mourn and sing songs of sadness.
21 Ngoba ukufa kwenyukele emawindini ethu, kwangena ezigodlweni zethu, ukuquma abantwana ezitaladeni, amajaha emidangeni.
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 Khuluma uthi: Itsho njalo iNkosi: Ngitsho isidumbu somuntu sizakuwa njengamalongwe ebusweni bensimu, lanjengomzila wamabele asikiweyo emva komvuni, njalo kungabi lobuthayo.
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 Itsho njalo iNkosi: Ohlakaniphileyo kangazincomi ngenhlakanipho yakhe, leqhawe lingazincomi ngobuqhawe balo, isinothi singazincomi ngenotho yaso;
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 ozincomayo kazincome ngalokhu, ukuthi uyaqedisisa uyangazi mina, ukuthi ngiyiNkosi esebenzisa uthandolomusa, isahlulelo, lokulunga emhlabeni; ngoba kulezizinto ngiyathokoza, itsho iNkosi.
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 Khangela, insuku ziyeza, itsho iNkosi, lapho ngizajezisa bonke abasokileyo ekungasokini:
Watch out, for the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all who are only physically circumcised.
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 desert people who trim their hair on the sides of their heads—all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the Israelites are spiritually uncircumcised.
