Yeremia 5
1 “Pandeni na kushuka katika mitaa ya Yerusalemu, tazameni pande zote na mtafakari, tafuteni katika viwanja vyake. Kama mtaweza kumpata hata mtu mmoja tu atendaye kwa uaminifu na kutafuta kweli, nitausamehe mji huu.
Go to and fro in streets of Jerusalem, And see, I pray you, and know, And seek in her broad places, if ye find a man, If there be one doing judgment, seeking stedfastness — Then am I propitious to her.
2 Ingawa wanasema, ‘Kwa hakika kama Bwana aishivyo,’ bado wanaapa kwa uongo.”
And if they say, 'Jehovah liveth,' Surely to a falsehood they swear.
3 Ee Bwana, je, macho yako hayaitafuti kweli? Uliwapiga, lakini hawakusikia maumivu, uliwapondaponda, lakini walikataa maonyo. Walifanya nyuso zao kuwa ngumu kuliko jiwe nao walikataa kutubu.
Jehovah, Thine eyes, are they not on stedfastness? Thou hast smitten them, and they have not grieved, Thou hast consumed them, They have refused to receive instruction, They made their faces harder than a rock, They have refused to turn back.
4 Ndipo nikasema, “Hawa ni maskini tu; wao ni wapumbavu, kwa maana hawaijui njia ya Bwana, sheria ya Mungu wao.
And I — I said, 'Surely these [are] poor, They have been foolish, For they have not known the way of Jehovah, The judgment of their God.
5 Kwa hiyo nitakwenda kwa viongozi na kuzungumza nao, hakika wao wanaijua njia ya Bwana, sheria ya Mungu wao.” Lakini kwa nia moja nao pia walikuwa wameivunja nira na kuvivunja vifungo.
I get me to the great, and I speak with them, For they have known the way of Jehovah, The judgment of their God.' Surely they together have broken the yoke, They have drawn away the bands.
6 Kwa hiyo simba kutoka mwituni atawashambulia, mbwa mwitu kutoka jangwani atawaangamiza, chui atawavizia karibu na miji yao, ili kumrarua vipande vipande yeyote atakayethubutu kutoka nje, kwa maana maasi yao ni makubwa, na kukengeuka kwao kumekuwa ni kwingi.
Therefore smitten them hath a lion out of the forest, A wolf of the deserts doth spoil them, A leopard is watching over their cities, Every one who is going out of them is torn, For many have been their transgressions, Mighty have been their backslidings.
7 “Kwa nini niwasamehe? Watoto wenu wameniacha na kuapa kwa miungu ambayo si miungu. Niliwapatia mahitaji yao yote, lakini bado wamefanya uzinzi na kusongana katika nyumba za makahaba.
For this I am not propitious to thee, Thy sons have forsaken Me, And are satisfied by that which is not god, I satisfy them, and they commit adultery, And at the house of a harlot They gather themselves together.
8 Wamelishwa vizuri, kama farasi waume wenye tamaa nyingi, kila mmoja akimlilia mke wa mwanaume mwingine.
Fed horses — they have been early risers, Each to the wife of his neighbour they neigh.
9 Je, nisiwaadhibu kwa ajili ya hili?” asema Bwana. “Je, nisijilipizie kisasi juu ya taifa kama hili?
For these do I not lay a charge? An affirmation of Jehovah, And on a nation such as this, Doth not My soul avenge itself?
10 “Piteni katika mashamba yake ya mizabibu na kuyaharibu, lakini msiangamize kabisa. Pogoeni matawi yake, kwa kuwa watu hawa sio wa Bwana.
Go ye up on her walls, and destroy, And a completion make not, Turn aside her branches, for they [are] not Jehovah's,
11 Nyumba ya Israeli na nyumba ya Yuda wamekuwa si waaminifu kwangu kamwe,” asema Bwana.
For dealt treacherously against Me have the house of Israel, And the house of Judah, an affirmation of Jehovah.
12 Wamedanganya kuhusu Bwana. Wamesema, “Yeye hatafanya jambo lolote! Hakuna dhara litakalotupata; kamwe hatutaona upanga wala njaa.
They have lied against Jehovah, And they say, '[It is] not He, Nor come in against us doth evil, Yea, sword and famine we do not see.
13 Manabii ni upepo tu, wala neno halimo ndani yao, kwa hiyo hayo wayasemayo na yatendeke kwao.”
And the prophets become wind, And the word is not in them,' — thus it is done by them.
14 Kwa hiyo hili ndilo asemalo Bwana Mungu Mwenye Nguvu Zote: “Kwa sababu watu hawa wamesema maneno haya, nitayafanya maneno yangu vinywani mwenu kuwa moto, na watu hawa wawe kuni zinazoliwa na huo moto.
Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, Because of your speaking this word, Lo, I am making My words in thy mouth become fire, And this people wood, and it hath devoured them.
15 Ee nyumba ya Israeli,” asema Bwana, “Ninaleta taifa toka mbali dhidi yako, taifa la kale na linaloendelea kudumu, taifa ambalo lugha yao huijui, wala msemo wao huwezi kuuelewa.
Lo, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, an affirmation of Jehovah, A nation — strong it [is], a nation — from of old it [is], A nation — thou knowest not its tongue, Nor understandest what it speaketh.
16 Podo zao ni kama kaburi lililo wazi, wote ni mashujaa hodari wa vita.
Its quiver [is] as an open sepulchre, All of them — mighty ones.
17 Watayaangamiza mazao yenu na chakula chenu, wataangamiza wana wenu na mabinti zenu; wataangamiza makundi yenu ya kondoo na ya ngʼombe, wataangamiza mizabibu yenu na mitini yenu. Kwa upanga wataangamiza miji yenye maboma mliyoitumainia.
And it hath consumed thy harvest and thy bread, They consume thy sons, and thy daughters, It consumeth thy flock, and thy herd, It consumeth thy vine, and thy fig-tree, It maketh poor thy fenced cities, In which thou art trusting — by the sword.
18 “Hata hivyo katika siku hizo, sitakuangamiza kabisa,” asema Bwana.
And even in those days, an affirmation of Jehovah, I do not make you a completion.
19 “Nao watu watakapouliza, ‘Kwa nini Bwana, Mungu wetu ametufanyia mambo haya yote?’ utawaambia, ‘Kama vile mlivyoniacha mimi na kutumikia miungu migeni katika nchi yenu wenyewe, ndivyo sasa mtakavyowatumikia wageni katika nchi ambayo si yenu.’
And it hath come to pass, when ye say, 'For what hath Jehovah our God done to us all these?' That thou hast said unto them, 'As ye have forsaken Me, And serve the gods of a foreigner in your land, So do ye serve strangers in a land not yours.
20 “Itangazie nyumba ya Yakobo hili na ulipigie mbiu katika Yuda:
Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, And sound ye it in Judah, saying,
21 Sikieni hili, enyi watu wapumbavu, msio na akili, mlio na macho lakini hamwoni, mlio na masikio lakini hamsikii:
Hear ye, I pray you, this, O people, foolish and without heart, Eyes they have, and they see not, Ears they have, and they hear not.
22 Je, haiwapasi kuniogopa mimi?” asema Bwana. “Je, haiwapasi kutetemeka mbele zangu? Niliufanya mchanga kuwa mpaka wa bahari, kizuizi cha milele ambacho haiwezi kupita. Mawimbi yanaweza kuumuka, lakini hayawezi kuupita; yanaweza kunguruma, lakini hayawezi kuuvuka.
Me do ye not fear, an affirmation of Jehovah? From My presence are ye not pained? Who hath made sand the border of the sea, A limit age-during, and it passeth not over it, They shake themselves, and they are not able, Yea, sounded have its billows, and they pass not over.
23 Lakini watu hawa wana mioyo ya ukaidi na ya uasi, wamegeukia mbali na kwenda zao.
And this people hath an apostate and rebellious heart, They have turned aside, and they go on.
24 Wao hawaambiani wenyewe, ‘Sisi na tumwogope Bwana Mungu wetu, anayetupatia mvua za masika na za vuli kwa majira yake, anayetuhakikishia majuma ya mavuno kwa utaratibu.’
And they have not said in their heart, 'Let us fear, we pray you, Jehovah our God, who is giving rain, The sprinkling and the gathered, in its season, The appointed weeks of harvest He keepeth for us.'
25 Matendo yenu mabaya yamezuia haya yote, dhambi zenu zimewazuia msipate mema.
Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have kept the good from you.
26 “Miongoni mwa watu wangu wamo walio waovu wanaovizia kama watu wanaotega ndege, na kama wale wanaoweka mitego kuwakamata watu.
For the wicked have been found among My people. It looketh about the covering of snares, They have set up a trap — men they capture.
27 Kama vitundu vilivyojaa ndege, nyumba zao zimejaa udanganyifu; wamekuwa matajiri na wenye nguvu,
As a cage full of fowls, So their houses are full of deceit, Therefore they have been great, and are rich.
28 wamenenepa na kunawiri. Matendo yao maovu hayana kikomo; hawatetei mashauri ya yatima wapate kushinda, hawatetei haki za maskini.
They have been fat, they have shone, Yea, they have overpassed the acts of the evil, Judgment they have not judged, The judgment of the fatherless — and they prosper, And the judgment of the needy they have not judged.
29 Je, nisiwaadhibu kwa ajili ya hili?” asema Bwana. “Je, nisijilipizie kisasi juu ya taifa kama hili?
For these do not I inspect, an affirmation of Jehovah, On a nation such as this, Doth not My soul avenge itself?
30 “Jambo la kutisha na kushtusha limetokea katika nchi hii:
An astonishing and horrible thing hath been in the land.
31 Manabii wanatabiri uongo, makuhani wanatawala kwa mamlaka yao wenyewe, nao watu wangu wanapenda hivyo. Lakini mtafanya nini mwisho wake?
The prophets have prophesied falsely, And the priests bear rule by their means, And My people have loved [it] so, And what do they at its latter end?
