Yeremia 9
1 Laiti kichwa changu kingekuwa chemchemi ya maji na macho yangu yangekuwa kisima cha machozi! Ningelia usiku na mchana kwa kuuawa kwa watu wangu.
“Who will provide water for my head, and a fount of tears for my eyes? And then I will weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.
2 Laiti ningekuwa na nyumba ya kukaa wasafiri jangwani, ningewaacha watu wangu na kwenda mbali nao, kwa kuwa wote ni wazinzi, kundi la watu wadanganyifu.
Who will provide me, in the wilderness, with a lodging place along the road? And then I will forsake my people, and withdraw from them. For they are all adulterers, a union of transgressors.
3 “Huweka tayari ndimi zao kama upinde, ili kurusha uongo; wamekuwa na nguvu katika nchi lakini si katika ukweli. Wanatoka dhambi moja hadi nyingine, hawanitambui mimi,” asema Bwana.
And they have bent their tongue, like a bow, to send forth lies and not the truth. They have been strengthened upon the earth. And they have gone from one evil to another. But they have not known me, says the Lord.
4 “Jihadhari na rafiki zako; usiwaamini ndugu zako. Kwa kuwa kila ndugu ni mdanganyifu, na kila rafiki ni msingiziaji.
Let each one guard himself against his neighbor, and let him have no trust in any brother of his. For every brother will utterly overthrow, and every friend will advance deceitfully.
5 Rafiki humdanganya rafiki, hakuna yeyote asemaye kweli. Wamefundisha ndimi zao kudanganya, wanajichosha wenyewe katika kutenda dhambi.
And a man will deride his brother, and they will not speak the truth. For they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they have labored to commit iniquity.
6 Unakaa katikati ya udanganyifu; katika udanganyifu wao wanakataa kunitambua mimi,” asema Bwana.
Your habitation is in the midst of deceit. In their deceitfulness, they have refused to know me, says the Lord.”
7 Kwa hiyo hili ndilo asemalo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote: “Tazama, nitawasafisha na kuwajaribu, kwani ni nini kingine niwezacho kufanya kwa sababu ya dhambi ya watu wangu?
Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them, and I will test them. For what else can I do before the face of the daughter of my people?
8 Ndimi zao ni mshale wenye sumu, hunena kwa udanganyifu. Kwa kinywa chake kila mmoja huzungumza maneno mazuri na jirani yake, lakini moyoni mwake humtegea mtego.
Their tongue is a wounding arrow; it has spoken deceit. With his mouth, he speaks peace with his friend, and then he secretly lies in ambush for him.
9 Je, nisiwaadhibu kwa ajili ya jambo hili?” asema Bwana. “Je, nisijilipizie kisasi kwa taifa kama hili?”
Shall I not visit upon them concerning these things, says the Lord? Or shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation of this kind?
10 Nitalia na kuomboleza kwa ajili ya milima na kuomboleza kuhusu malisho ya jangwani. Yamekuwa ukiwa, wala hakuna apitaye humo, milio ya ngʼombe haisikiki. Ndege wa angani wametoroka na wanyama wamekimbia.
I will take up weeping and lamentation over the mountains, and mourning over the beautiful places in the desert. For they have been scorched because no man is passing through them. And they have not heard the voice of any occupant. From the birds of the air, even to the cattle, they have migrated and withdrawn.
11 “Nitaifanya Yerusalemu lundo la magofu, makao ya mbweha; nami nitaifanya miji ya Yuda kuwa ukiwa ili asiwepo atakayeishi humo.”
And I will make Jerusalem into piles of sand and into a lair for serpents. And I will make the cities of Judah desolate, so much so that there will be no inhabitant.
12 Ni mtu yupi aliye na hekima ya kutosha ayaelewe haya? Ni nani aliyefundishwa na Bwana awezaye kuyaeleza haya? Kwa nini nchi imeharibiwa na kufanywa ukiwa kama jangwa ambapo hakuna awezaye kupita?
Who is the wise man who understands this, and to whom a word from the mouth of the Lord may be given, so that he may announce this: why the land has perished, and has been scorched like a desert, so much so that no one passes through it?”
13 Bwana akasema, “Ni kwa sababu wameiacha sheria yangu, niliyoiweka mbele yao: hawajaniheshimu mimi wala kufuata sheria yangu.
And the Lord said: “It is because they have abandoned my law, which I gave to them, and they have not listened to my voice, and they have not walked by it.
14 Badala yake wamefuata ukaidi wa mioyo yao, wamefuata Mabaali, kama vile baba zao walivyowafundisha.”
And they have gone after the depravity of their own heart, and after Baal, which they learned from their fathers.”
15 Kwa hiyo, hivi ndivyo asemavyo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote, Mungu wa Israeli: “Tazama, nitawafanya watu hawa wale chakula kichungu na kunywa maji yenye sumu.
For this reason, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will feed this people with absinthe, and I will give them the water of gall to drink.
16 Nitawatawanya katika mataifa ambayo wao wala baba zao hawakuwajua, nikiwafuata kwa upanga mpaka niwe nimewaangamiza kabisa.”
And I will disperse them among nations, which they and their fathers have not known. And I will send the sword after them, until they are consumed.”
17 Hivi ndivyo asemavyo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote: “Fikiri sasa! Waite wanawake waombolezao waje, waite wale walio na ustadi kuliko wote.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Consider and call upon the women mourners, and let them approach. And send to those women who are wise, and let them hurry.
18 Nao waje upesi na kutuombolezea, mpaka macho yetu yafurike machozi na vijito vya maji vitoke kwenye kope zetu.
‘Let them hasten to take up a lamentation over us. Let our eyes shed tears, and our eyelids run with water.’
19 Sauti ya kuomboleza imesikika kutoka Sayuni: ‘Tazama jinsi tulivyoangamizwa! Tazama jinsi aibu yetu ilivyo kubwa! Ni lazima tuihame nchi yetu kwa sababu nyumba zetu zimekuwa magofu.’”
For a voice of lamentation has been heard from Zion: ‘How is it that we have been devastated and greatly confounded? Our tabernacles have been thrown down because we have forsaken the land.’”
20 Basi, enyi wanawake, sikieni neno la Bwana; fungueni masikio yenu msikie maneno ya kinywa chake. Wafundisheni binti zenu kuomboleza; fundishaneni kila mmoja na mwenzake maombolezo.
“Therefore, listen, O women, to the word of the Lord! And let your ears take up the word of his mouth. And teach your daughters to lament. And let each one teach her neighbor to mourn:
21 Mauti imeingia ndani kupitia madirishani, imeingia kwenye majumba yetu ya fahari; imewakatilia mbali watoto katika barabara na vijana waume kutoka viwanja vya miji.
‘For death has climbed through our windows. It has entered our houses to perish the little children from the outdoors, the youths from the streets.’”
22 Sema, “Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana: “‘Maiti za wanaume zitalala kama mavi katika mashamba, kama malundo ya nafaka nyuma ya mvunaji, wala hakuna anayekusanya.’”
“Speak: Thus says the Lord: And the corpses of men will fall like manure over the face of the countryside, and like hay behind the back of the reaper, and there will be no one to gather it.”
23 Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana: “Mwenye hekima asijisifu katika hekima yake, au mwenye nguvu ajisifu katika nguvu zake, wala tajiri ajisifu katika utajiri wake,
Thus says the Lord: “The wise man should not glory in his wisdom, and the strong man should not glory in his strength, and the rich man should not glory in his riches.
24 lakini yeye ajisifuye, na ajisifu kwa sababu hili: kwamba ananifahamu na kunijua mimi, kwamba mimi ndimi Bwana, nitendaye wema, hukumu na haki duniani, kwa kuwa napendezwa na haya,” asema Bwana.
But he who glories should glory in this: to know me and to know me well. For I am the Lord, who accomplishes mercy and judgment and justice upon the earth. For these things are pleasing to me, says the Lord.
25 “Siku zinakuja, nitakapowaadhibu wale wote ambao wametahiriwa kimwili tu, asema Bwana,
Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will visit upon all who are uncircumcised:
26 yaani Misri, Yuda, Edomu, Amoni, Moabu na wote wanaoishi jangwani sehemu za mbali. Kwa maana mataifa haya yote hayakutahiriwa mioyo yao, nayo nyumba yote ya Israeli haikutahiriwa.”
upon Egypt, and upon Judah, and upon Edom, and upon the sons of Ammon, and upon Moab, and upon all who have shaved off their hair, living in the desert. For all the nations are uncircumcised in body, but all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
