< Yeremia 22 >

1 Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana: “Shuka kwenye jumba la kifalme la mfalme wa Yuda, utangaze ujumbe huu huko:
The LORD said, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak this word there:
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.
‘Hear the LORD’s word, king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne—you, your servants, and your people who enter in by 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.
The LORD says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed 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 do this thing indeed, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter in by the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses—they, 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 hear these words, I swear by myself,” says the LORD, “that this house will become a 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 the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are Gilead to me, the head of Lebanon. Yet surely I will make you a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited.
7 Nitawatuma waharabu dhidi yako, kila mtu akiwa na silaha zake, nao watazikata boriti zako nzuri za mierezi na kuzitupa motoni.
I will prepare destroyers against you, everyone with his weapons, and they will 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?’
“Many nations will pass by this city, and they will each ask his neighbour, ‘Why has the LORD done this to this great city?’
9 Nalo jibu litakuwa: ‘Kwa sababu wameliacha agano la Bwana, Mungu wao, na wameabudu na kuitumikia miungu mingine.’”
Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD their God, worshipped other 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.
Don’t weep for the dead. Don’t bemoan him; but weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he will return no more, and not see his native country.
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 the LORD says touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went out of this place: “He won’t return there any more.
12 Atafia huko mahali walipompeleka kuwa mateka; hataiona tena nchi hii.”
But he will die in the place where they have led him captive. He will 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.
“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbour’s service without wages, and doesn’t give him his hire;
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.
who says, ‘I will build myself a wide house and spacious rooms,’ and cuts out windows for himself, with a cedar ceiling, and painted with red.
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.
“Should you reign because you strive to excel in cedar? Didn’t your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
16 Aliwatetea maskini na wahitaji, hivyo yeye akafanikiwa katika yote. Je, hiyo si ndiyo maana ya kunijua mimi?” asema Bwana.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; so then it was well. Wasn’t this to know 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.”
But your eyes and your heart are only for your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, for oppression, and for doing violence.”
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 the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “They won’t lament for him, saying, ‘Ah my brother!’ or, ‘Ah sister!’ They won’t lament for him, saying ‘Ah lord!’ or, ‘Ah his glory!’
19 Atazikwa maziko ya punda: ataburutwa na kutupwa nje ya malango ya Yerusalemu.”
He will be buried with the burial of a donkey, drawn and cast out beyond the gates 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 Lebanon, and cry out. Lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry from Abarim; for all your lovers have been 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 in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from your youth, that you didn’t obey 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 will feed all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. Surely then you will be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness.
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!
Inhabitant of Lebanon, who makes your nest in the cedars, how greatly to be pitied you will be when pangs come on you, the pain as of a woman in travail!
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 Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, I would still pluck you from there.
25 Nitakutia mikononi mwa wale wanaotafuta uhai wako, wale unaowaogopa, yaani Nebukadneza mfalme wa Babeli na kwa Wakaldayo.
I would give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of them of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Kasdim.
26 Nitakutupa mbali wewe na mama aliyekuzaa mwende katika nchi nyingine, ambayo hakuna hata mmoja wenu aliyezaliwa huko, nanyi mtafia huko.
I will cast you out with your mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born; and there you will die.
27 Kamwe hamtarudi katika nchi mliyotamani kuirudia.”
But to the land to which their soul longs to return, there they will not return.”
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?
Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? Is he a vessel in which no one delights? Why are they cast out, he and his offspring, and cast into a land which they don’t know?
29 Ee nchi, nchi, nchi, sikia neno la Bwana!
O earth, earth, earth, hear the LORD’s word!
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.”
The LORD says, “Record this man as childless, a man who will not prosper in his days; for no more will a man of his offspring prosper, sitting on David’s throne and ruling in Judah.”

< Yeremia 22 >