Yeremia 12
1 Wewe ni mwenye haki, Bwana, wakati wowote ninapoleta mashitaka kwako. Lazima nikuambie sababu yangu ya kulalamika: Kwa nini njia za waovu hufanikiwa? Watu wote wasiokuwa na imani wanafanikiwa.
Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
2 Wewe uliwapanda nao wakawa na mizizi. Wanaendelea kuzaa matunda. Wewe upo karibu nao katika vinywa vyao, lakini mbali na mioyo yao.
You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts.
3 Lakini wewe mwenyewe unanijua, Bwana. Umeona mimi na kuchunguza moyo wangu. Waondoe kama kondoo wa kuchinjwa. Ukakaweke tayari kwa siku ya kuchinjwa.
But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage.
4 Je! Nchi itakauka kwa muda gani, na mimea katika kila shamba itaota kwa sababu ya uovu wa wenyeji wake? Wanyama na ndege wameondolewa. Hakika, watu wanasema, “Mungu hajui nini kitatokea kwetu.”
How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”
5 Bwana akasema, “Kweli, wewe, Yeremia, umetembea na askari wa miguu na wamechoka, unawezaje kushindana dhidi ya farasi? Ikiwa unashuka chini ya nchi iliyo salama, utafanyaje katika misitu karibu na Yordani?
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
6 Kwa maana hata ndugu zako na familia ya baba yako wamekudharau na kukukemea kwa sauti kubwa. Usiwaamini, hata kama wanasema mambo mazuri kwako.
Even your brothers— your own father’s household— even they have betrayed you; even they have cried aloud against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you.
7 Nimeiacha nyumba yangu; Nimeacha urithi wangu. Nimewatia watu wangu wapendwa mikononi mwa adui zake.
I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My inheritance. I have given the love of My life into the hands of her enemies.
8 Urithi wangu umekuwa kwangu kama simba katika tundu; yeye hujiweka juu yangu kwa sauti yake mwenyewe, hivyo nimemchukia.
My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against Me; therefore I hate her.
9 Malipo yangu ya thamani ni fisi, na ndege wenye madoadoa karibu na kichwa chake. Nenda, ukakusanye viumbe vyote vilivyomo katika mashamba, na uwalete ili wale.
Is not My inheritance to Me like a speckled bird of prey with other birds of prey circling against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; bring them to devour her.
10 Wachungaji wengi wameharibu shamba langu la mizabibu. Wameipoteza sehemu yangu yote ya ardhi; Waligeuza sehemu yangu nzuri kuwa jangwa, ukiwa.
Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.
11 Wamemfanya kuwa ukiwa. Ninaomboleza kwa ajili yake; yeye ni ukiwa. Nchi yote imefanywa kuwa ukiwa, kwa maana hakuna mtu aliyeweka haya moyoni mwake.
They have made it a desolation; desolate before Me, it mourns. All the land is laid waste, but no man takes it to heart.
12 Waangamizi wamekuja juu ya maeneo yote yaliyo wazi jangwani, kwa maana upanga wa Bwana unakula kutoka upande mmoja wa nchi hadi mwingine. Hakuna usalama katika nchi kwa kiumbe chochote kilicho hai.
Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the earth to the other. No flesh has peace.
13 Walipanda ngano lakini mavuno ya miiba. Wao wamechoka kutokana na kazi lakini hawajapata chochote. Basi muaibike kwa faida yenu kwa sababu ya ghadhabu ya Bwana.”
They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
14 Bwana asema hivi dhidi ya majirani zangu wote, waovu wanaopiga milki niliyowarithisha watu wangu Israeli, “Tazama, mimi ndimi ambaye nitawafukuza kutoka nchi yao wenyewe, nami nitaifuta nyumba ya Yuda kutoka kati yao.
This is what the LORD says: “As for all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.
15 Ndipo baada ya kuangamiza mataifa hayo, itatokea kwamba nitakuwa na huruma juu yao na kuwaleta tena; Nitawarudi-kila mtu kwa urithi wake na nchi yake.
But after I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.
16 Kisha itakuwa ikiwa mataifa hayo yatajifunza kwa makini njia za watu wangu, kuapa kwa jina langu 'Kama Bwana anaishivyo!' vile vile kama walivyowafundishwa watu wangu kuapa kwa Baali, basi watajengwa katikati ya watu wangu.
And if they will diligently learn the ways of My people and swear by My name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’—just as they once taught My people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among My people.
17 Lakini kama hakuna yeyote anayesikiliza, basi nitaling'oa taifa hilo. Kwa hakika litang'olewa na kuharibiwa-hili ndilo tamko la Bwana.”
But if they will not obey, then I will uproot that nation; I will uproot it and destroy it, declares the LORD.”
