< Yeremia 22 >
1 Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana: “Shuka kwenye jumba la kifalme la mfalme wa Yuda, utangaze ujumbe huu huko:
Thus says the Lord; Go you, and go down to the house of the king of Juda, and you shall speak there this word,
2 ‘Sikia neno la Bwana, ee mfalme wa Yuda, wewe uketiye kwenye kiti cha enzi cha Daudi: wewe, maafisa wako na watu wako mnaopitia malango haya.
and you shall say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Juda, that sit on the throne of David, you, and your house, and your people, and they that go in at these gates:
3 Hili ndilo Bwana asemalo: Tenda haki na adili. Mwokoe mkononi mwa mdhalimu yeye aliyetekwa nyara. Usimtendee mabaya wala ukatili mgeni, yatima au mjane, wala usimwage damu isiyo na hatia mahali hapa.
thus says the Lord; Execute you judgment and justice, and rescue the spoiled out of the hand of him that wrongs him: and oppress not the stranger, and orphan, and widow, and sin not, and shed no innocent blood in this place.
4 Kwa kuwa ukiwa mwangalifu kushika maagizo haya, ndipo wafalme watakaokalia kiti cha enzi cha Daudi watakapoingia kupitia malango ya jumba hili la kifalme, wakiwa wamepanda magari na farasi, huku wakifuatana na maafisa wao na watu wao.
For if you will indeed perform this word, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, and riding on chariots and horses, they, and their servants, and their people.
5 Lakini kama hutayatii maagizo haya, asema Bwana, ninaapa kwa nafsi yangu kwamba jumba hili litakuwa gofu.’”
But if you will not perform these words, by myself have I sworn, says the Lord, that this house shall be [brought] to desolation.
6 Kwa kuwa hili ndilo Bwana asemalo kuhusu jumba la kifalme la mfalme wa Yuda: “Ingawa uko kama Gileadi kwangu, kama kilele cha Lebanoni, hakika nitakufanya uwe kama jangwa, kama miji ambayo haijakaliwa na watu.
For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Juda; You are Galaad to me, [and] the head of Libanus: [yet] surely I will make you a desert, [even] cities that shall not be inhabited:
7 Nitawatuma waharabu dhidi yako, kila mtu akiwa na silaha zake, nao watazikata boriti zako nzuri za mierezi na kuzitupa motoni.
and I will bring upon you a destroying man, and his axe: and they shall cut down your choice cedars, and cast [them] into the fire.
8 “Watu kutoka mataifa mengi watapitia karibu na mji huu na kuulizana, ‘Kwa nini Bwana amefanya jambo la namna hii juu ya mji huu mkubwa?’
And nations shall pass through this city, and each shall say to his neighbor, Why has the Lord done thus to this great city?
9 Nalo jibu litakuwa: ‘Kwa sababu wameliacha agano la Bwana, Mungu wao, na wameabudu na kuitumikia miungu mingine.’”
And they shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped strange gods, and served them.
10 Usimlilie yeye aliyekufa, wala usimwombolezee; badala yake, afadhali umlilie kwa uchungu yule aliyepelekwa uhamishoni, kwa sababu kamwe hatairudia wala kuiona tena nchi yake alikozaliwa.
Weep not for the dead, nor lament for him: weep bitterly for him that goes away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native land.
11 Kwa kuwa hili ndilo asemalo Bwana kuhusu Shalumu mwana wa Yosia, aliyeingia mahali pa baba yake kuwa mfalme wa Yuda, lakini ameondoka mahali hapa: “Yeye kamwe hatarudi tena.
For thus says the Lord concerning Sellem the son of Josias, who reigns in the place of Josias his father, who has gone forth out of this place; He shall not return there any more:
12 Atafia huko mahali walipompeleka kuwa mateka; hataiona tena nchi hii.”
but in that place whither I have carried him captive, there shall he die, and shall see this land no more.
13 “Ole wake yeye ajengaye jumba lake la kifalme kwa njia ya dhuluma, vyumba vyake vya juu kwa udhalimu, akiwatumikisha watu wa nchi yake pasipo malipo, bila kuwalipa kwa utumishi wao.
He that builds his house not with justice, and his upper chambers not with judgment, who works by means of his neighbor for nothing, and will by no means give him his reward.
14 Asema, ‘Nitajijengea jumba kuu la kifalme, na vyumba vya juu vyenye nafasi kubwa.’ Hivyo anaweka ndani yake madirisha makubwa, huweka kuta za mbao za mierezi, na kuipamba kwa rangi nyekundu.
You have built for yourself a well-proportioned house, airy chambers, fitted with windows, and wainscoted with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15 “Je, inakufanya kuwa mfalme huko kuongeza idadi ya mierezi? Je, baba yako hakuwa na chakula na kinywaji? Alifanya yaliyo sawa na haki, hivyo yeye akafanikiwa katika yote.
Shall you reign, because you are provoked with your father Achaz? they shall not eat, and they shall not drink: it is better for you to execute judgment and justice.
16 Aliwatetea maskini na wahitaji, hivyo yeye akafanikiwa katika yote. Je, hiyo si ndiyo maana ya kunijua mimi?” asema Bwana.
They understood not, they judged not the cause of the afflicted, nor the cause of the poor: is not this your not knowing me? says the Lord.
17 “Lakini macho yako na moyo wako vimeelekezwa tu katika mapato ya udhalimu, kwa kumwaga damu isiyo na hatia, kwa uonevu na ukatili.”
Behold, your eyes are not good, nor your heart, but [they go] after your covetousness, and after the innocent blood to shed it, and after acts of injustice and slaughter, to commit them.
18 Kwa hiyo hili ndilo asemalo Bwana kuhusu Yehoyakimu mwana wa Yosia mfalme wa Yuda: “Hawatamwombolezea wakisema: ‘Ole, ndugu yangu! Ole, umbu langu!’ Hawatamwombolezea wakisema: ‘Ole, bwana wangu! Ole, fahari yake!’
Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Joakim son of Josias, king of Juda, even concerning this man; they shall not bewail him, [saying], Ah brother! neither shall they at all weep for him, [saying], Alas Lord.
19 Atazikwa maziko ya punda: ataburutwa na kutupwa nje ya malango ya Yerusalemu.”
He shall be buried with the burial of an ass; he shall be dragged roughly along and cast outside the gate of Jerusalem.
20 “Panda Lebanoni ukapige kelele, sauti yako na isikike huko Bashani, piga kelele toka Abarimu, kwa kuwa wote waliojiunga nawe wameangamizwa.
Go up to Libanus, and cry; and utter your voice to Basan, and cry aloud to the extremity of the sea: for all your lovers are destroyed.
21 Nilikuonya wakati ulipojisikia kwamba uko salama, lakini ulisema, ‘Mimi sitasikiliza!’ Hii imekuwa kawaida yako tangu ujana wako; hujanitii mimi.
I spoke to you on [occasion of] your trespass, but you said, I will not listen. This [has been] your way from your youth, you have not listened to my voice.
22 Upepo utawaondoa wachungaji wako wote, na wale ulioungana nao wataenda uhamishoni. Kisha utaaibika na kufedheheka kwa sababu ya uovu wako wote.
The wind shall tend all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity; for then shall you be ashamed and disgraced because of all your lovers.
23 Wewe uishiye Lebanoni, wewe uliyetulia kwenye majengo ya mierezi, tazama jinsi utakavyoomboleza maumivu makali yatakapokupata, maumivu kama yale ya mwanamke mwenye utungu wa kuzaa!
O you that dwell in Libanus, making your nest in the cedars, you shall groan heavily, when pangs as of a travailing woman are come upon you.
24 “Hakika kama niishivyo,” asema Bwana, “hata kama wewe, Yekonia mwana wa Yehoyakimu mfalme wa Yuda, ungekuwa pete yangu ya muhuri katika mkono wangu wa kuume, bado ningekungʼoa hapo.
[As] I live, says the Lord, though Jechonias son of Joakim king of Juda were indeed the seal upon my right hand, thence would I pluck you;
25 Nitakutia mikononi mwa wale wanaotafuta uhai wako, wale unaowaogopa, yaani Nebukadneza mfalme wa Babeli na kwa Wakaldayo.
and I will deliver you into the hands of them that seek your life, before whom you are afraid, into the hands of the Chaldeans.
26 Nitakutupa mbali wewe na mama aliyekuzaa mwende katika nchi nyingine, ambayo hakuna hata mmoja wenu aliyezaliwa huko, nanyi mtafia huko.
And I will cast forth you, and your mother that bore you, into a land where you were not born; and there you shall die.
27 Kamwe hamtarudi katika nchi mliyotamani kuirudia.”
But they shall by no means return to the land which they long for in their souls.
28 Je, huyu mtu Yekonia ni chungu kilichodharauliwa, chungu kilichovunjika, chombo kisichotakiwa na mtu yeyote? Kwa nini yeye na watoto wake watupwe nje kwa nguvu, na kutupwa kwenye nchi wasioijua?
Jechonias is dishonored as a good-for-nothing vessel; for he is thrown out and cast forth into a land which he knew not.
29 Ee nchi, nchi, nchi, sikia neno la Bwana!
Land, land, hear the word of the Lord.
30 Hili ndilo Bwana asemalo: “Mwandike huyu mtu kama asiye na mtoto, mtu ambaye hatafanikiwa maisha yake yote, kwa maana hakuna mtoto wake atakayefanikiwa, wala kukaa kwenye kiti cha enzi cha Daudi wala kuendelea kutawala katika Yuda.”
Write you this man an outcast: for there shall none of his seed at all grow up to sit on the throne of David, [or as] a prince yet in Juda.