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.
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 Laiti ningekuwa na nyumba ya kukaa wasafiri jangwani, ningewaacha watu wangu na kwenda mbali nao, kwa kuwa wote ni wazinzi, kundi la watu wadanganyifu.
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 “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.
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 “Jihadhari na rafiki zako; usiwaamini ndugu zako. Kwa kuwa kila ndugu ni mdanganyifu, na kila rafiki ni msingiziaji.
Everyone, watch out for your friends! Don't even trust your brother! Every brother is deceitful, and every friend slanders other people.
5 Rafiki humdanganya rafiki, hakuna yeyote asemaye kweli. Wamefundisha ndimi zao kudanganya, wanajichosha wenyewe katika kutenda dhambi.
Everyone betrays their friends; no one tells the truth. They've made themselves into expert liars; they tire themselves out doing wrong.
6 Unakaa katikati ya udanganyifu; katika udanganyifu wao wanakataa kunitambua mimi,” asema Bwana.
Everyone exploits each other, and in all their lies they don't want to know me, declares 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?
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 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 words are arrows that kill; they always tell lies. They're nice to their friends on the outside while plotting against them inside.
9 Je, nisiwaadhibu kwa ajili ya jambo hili?” asema Bwana. “Je, nisijilipizie kisasi kwa taifa kama hili?”
Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
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 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 “Nitaifanya Yerusalemu lundo la magofu, makao ya mbweha; nami nitaifanya miji ya Yuda kuwa ukiwa ili asiwepo atakayeishi humo.”
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 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 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 Bwana akasema, “Ni kwa sababu wameiacha sheria yangu, niliyoiweka mbele yao: hawajaniheshimu mimi wala kufuata sheria yangu.
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 Badala yake wamefuata ukaidi wa mioyo yao, wamefuata Mabaali, kama vile baba zao walivyowafundisha.”
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 Kwa hiyo, hivi ndivyo asemavyo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote, Mungu wa Israeli: “Tazama, nitawafanya watu hawa wale chakula kichungu na kunywa maji yenye sumu.
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 Nitawatawanya katika mataifa ambayo wao wala baba zao hawakuwajua, nikiwafuata kwa upanga mpaka niwe nimewaangamiza kabisa.”
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 Hivi ndivyo asemavyo Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote: “Fikiri sasa! Waite wanawake waombolezao waje, waite wale walio na ustadi kuliko wote.
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 Nao waje upesi na kutuombolezea, mpaka macho yetu yafurike machozi na vijito vya maji vitoke kwenye kope zetu.
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 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.’”
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 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.
Women, listen to the Lord's message, hear what he has to say. Teach your daughters to mourn and sing songs of sadness.
21 Mauti imeingia ndani kupitia madirishani, imeingia kwenye majumba yetu ya fahari; imewakatilia mbali watoto katika barabara na vijana waume kutoka viwanja vya miji.
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 Sema, “Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana: “‘Maiti za wanaume zitalala kama mavi katika mashamba, kama malundo ya nafaka nyuma ya mvunaji, wala hakuna anayekusanya.’”
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 Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana: “Mwenye hekima asijisifu katika hekima yake, au mwenye nguvu ajisifu katika nguvu zake, wala tajiri ajisifu katika utajiri wake,
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 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.
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 “Siku zinakuja, nitakapowaadhibu wale wote ambao wametahiriwa kimwili tu, asema Bwana,
Watch out, for the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all who are only physically circumcised.
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.”
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.
