Yeremia 5
1 Kimbieni mkapite katika mitaa ya Yerusalemu, Tafuteni katika viwanja vyake. Kama mtaweza kumpata hata mtu mmoja anayetenda kwa haki na kufanya kwa uaminifu, basi nitaisamehe Yerusalemu.
[Yahweh said to the people of Jerusalem], “Go up and down every street. Search in the marketplaces to find people who do what is fair/right, who try to be faithful to me. [If you find even one person like that], I will forgive [the people of Jerusalem and not destroy] their city.
2 Hata kama wanasema, 'Kama BWANA aishivyo,' wanaapa uongo.”
But when people there say, ‘I solemnly declare that as surely as Yahweh lives, [I will do what he says],’ they are lying.”
3 BWANA, macho yako hayatazami uaminifu? Unawapiga watu, lakini hawasikii maumivu. Umewaangsmiza kabisa, lakini bado wanakataa kuwa waadilifu. Wanafanya nyuso zao kuwa ngumu kama mwamba. kwa kuwa wanakataa kutubu.
Yahweh, you are certainly [RHQ] searching for [people who tell the] truth. You struck/punished your people, but they did not pay any attention. You crushed them, but they ignored what you were telling them to do. They were extremely stubborn [IDM] and refused to return to you.
4 Kwa hiyo nilisema, “Hakika hawa ni watu masikini, Ni wapumbavu, Kwa kuwa hawazijui njia za BWANA, wala maagizo ya Mungu wao.
I thought, “[We cannot expect] these [people to act righteously, because they] are poor; they do not have any sense. They do not know the way Yahweh wants them to conduct their lives; they do not know what God requires them to do.
5 Nitaenda kwa watu wa muhimu na kutangaza ujumbe wa Mungu kwao, kwa kuwa angalau wanazijua njia za BWANA, maagizo ya Mungu wao. Lakini wote wanavunja nira yao pamoja; wote wanaivunja ile minyororo inayowafunga kwa ajili ya Mungu.
So, I will go and talk to their leaders, because they [surely] know how God wants them to conduct their lives.” But they also have stopped obeying Yahweh [MET], and they will not allow him to lead them.
6 Kwa hiyo simba kutoka mwituni atawavamia. Mbweha kutoka Arabaha atawaangamiza. Chui ataivunja miji yao. Mtu yeyota anayeenda nje ya mji wake atavunjwavunjwa. Kwa kuwa maovu yao yameongezeka. Matendo yao ya uasi hayana ukomo.
Because of that, lions will come out of the forests and kill them; wolves from the desert will attack them; leopards that lurk/wait outside their cities will maul anyone who walks outside the cities. [Those things will happen] because the people have sinned very much against God and have turned away from him very frequently.
7 Kwa nini niwasamehe hawa watu? Wana wenu wameniacha na wamefanya viapo na wale ambao si miungu. Niliwalisha vya kutosha, lakini wamefanya uasherati na kuchukua alama za nyumba ya uzinzi.
Yahweh says, “I cannot [RHQ] forgive these people; [even] their children have abandoned me. When they solemnly declare something, they ask their gods [to show that what they say is true]. I gave my people everything that they needed, but they often went to [the shrines of their idols] and committed adultery there.
8 Walikuwa farasi wanaotafuta kupandwa. Walitembea huku na huku wakitafutwa kupandwa. Kila mwanamume alimkaribia mke wa jirani yake.
[Just like] [MET] well-fed male horses neigh, wanting sex with female horses, each of the men desires to have sex with his neighbor’s wife.
9 Kwa hiyo kwa nini nisiwaadhibu - asema BWANA - na kwa nini nisijilipizie kisasi juu ya taifa kama hili?
(Should I not punish them for this [RHQ]?/I will certainly get revenge on this nation for this!) I will certainly get revenge [RHQ] on this nation whose people behave like that!
10 Nenda hadi kwenye kuta za shamba lake la mizabibu na zihariibuni. Lakini wao msiwaharibu kabisa. Ondoeni matawi kwa sababu hayatoki kwa BWANA.
[I will say to your enemies], ‘The people [of Judah and Israel are like a vineyard]. Go along the rows in their vineyards and get rid of [most of] the people, but do not kill all of them. These people do not belong to me, [so get rid of them], [like a gardener] [MET] lops/cuts off branches from a vine.
11 Kwa sababu nyumba ya Yuda na Israeli wamenisaliti kabisa - asema BWANA -
The people of Israel and Judah have turned away from me completely.’
12 na wamenikataa. Wanasema, ''Yeye si halisi. Maovu hayawezi kutupata, wala hatutaona upanga wala njaa.
They have lied about me and said, ‘He will not punish us! He will not cause us to experience disasters! We will not experience wars or famines!
13 Kwa kuwa manabii wamekuwa si kitu kama upepo na hakuna mtu mwiingine wa kunena ujumbe wa BWANA kwetu. Vitisho vyao na viwjie wao wenyewe.”'
What [God’s] prophets say is nothing but hot air! They do not have messages [from God]! We would like [the disasters that they predict] to happen to them!’”
14 Kwa hiyo BWANA, Mungu wa majeshi asema hivi, tazama nataka kuweka maneno yangu katika kinywa chako. Yatakuwa kama moto na watu hawa watakuwa kama kuni! Kwa kuwa utawaramba.
So, this is what Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels in heaven, has said to me: “Because my people are saying those things, I will give you a message to tell them [MTY] that will be [like] [MET] a fire, and [these people will be like] [MET] wood that the fire will burn up.
15 Tazama nataka kuleta taifa dhidi yenu kutoka mbali, enyi nyumba ya Israeli - asema BWANA - ni taifa linalodumu, taifa la kale! Ni taifa ambalo lugha yake hamuijui, wala hamtaelewa wasemacho.
Listen to this, you people of Israel: I will bring [the army of] a distant nation to attack you. It is a very powerful nation that has existed for a long time. They speak a language that you do not know and which you will not be able to understand.
16 Podo lao ni kaburi wazi. Wote ni wanajeshi.
Their soldiers are all very strong, and the arrows from their quivers [MET] will (send many Israeli men to their graves/cause many Israeli people to die).
17 Kwa hiyo mavuno yako yataliwa, wana wako na binti zako pia, na chakula chako. Watakula kondoo wako na ng'ombe wako, watakula matunda ya zabibu zako na ya mitiini. Wataiangusha chini miji yenu na boma zake ambazo mnazitumainia.
They will eat the food that you have harvested from your fields, and eat your bread. They will kill your sons and daughters, and they will kill your flocks [of sheep] and herds [of cattle]. They will eat your grapes and your figs. They will [also] destroy your cities that have high walls around them and kill the people with their swords.
18 Lakini hata katika siku hizo - asema BWANA - sikusudii kuwaharibu kabisa.
But even when those things happen, I will not get rid of all of you.
19 Itatokea kwenu, ninyi Yuda na Israeli, mkisema, 'Kwa nini BWANA, Mungu wetu ametufanyia haya yote?' kwamba wewe Yeremia, utawaambia, 'Kama vile mlivyomwacha BWANA na kuabudu miungu mingine katika nchi yenu, vivyo hivyo mtawatumikia wageni katika nchi ambayo si yenu.'
And when the survivors ask, ‘Why is Yahweh our God doing this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘You rejected him and worshiped foreign gods in your [own] land, so [now] you will become slaves of foreigners in a land that is not your land.’”
20 Waambia haya watu wa nyumba ya Yakobo na yasikike katika Yuda. Waambie,
[Yahweh said to me], “Proclaim this to the people of Israel and Judah:
21 'Sikilizeni hili, eny watu wapumbavu! Sanamu hazina matakwa; zina masikio lakini haziwawezi kusikia.
Listen to this, you people who are foolish and who do not have any sense: You have eyes, but [it is as though] you cannot see; you have ears, but [it is as though] you cannot hear.
22 Je, hamnihofu mimi - asema BWANA - au kutetemeka mbele ya uso wangu? Nimeweka mpaka wa mchanga kwenye bahari, ambao ni agizo la kudumu ambalo halibomoki - hata kama bahari ina kupwa na kujaa, bado hauwenzi kubomoka. Hata kama mawimbi yake yanaunguruma, hayawezi kuvuka.
Why do you not revere me [RHQ]? You should [RHQ] tremble when you are in my presence! I, Yahweh, am the one who put a barrier along the shores so that the waters of the ocean cannot cross it [and flood the land]. The waves roll and roar, but they cannot go past that barrier.
23 Lakini hawa watu wana mioyo ya usumbufu. Hugeuka kuwa wapinzani na kuondoka.
But you people [are not like the waves that obey me]. You people are very stubborn and rebellious. You have constantly turned away from me.
24 Kwa kuwa hawasemi mioyoni mwao, “basi na tumche BWANA, Mungu wetu, yeye aletaye mvua za awali na mvua za vuli - kwa wakati wake, ambaye hutuzna majuma ya mavuno kwa ajili yetu.”
You do not say to yourselves, ‘We should revere Yahweh our God, the one who sends us rain at the times when we need it, the one who causes the grain to become ripe at the harvest season.’
25 uovu wako umezuia haya yasitokee. Dhambi zako zimeyazuia mambo mema yasitokee.
It is because of the wrong things that you have done, that those good things have not happened; it is because of the sins that you have committed that you have been prevented from receiving those blessings.
26 Kwa watu waovu wamo kati ya watu wangu. Wanatazama kama mtu anayenyatia ili kukamata ndege; wanaweka mitego na kukamata watu;
Among my people are wicked people who hide along the roads to ambush/attack people like [SIM] men who hunt birds (put out nets/set traps) to catch them.
27 Kama tundu la mtego lijaavyo ndege, nyumba zao zimejaa uongo. Kwa hiyo wanakua na kutajirika.
Like [a hunter has] a cage full of birds [that he has captured], their homes are full of things that they have gotten by deceiving others. So now they are [very] rich and powerful.
28 Wamenenepa; wanang'aa na kupendeza. Wamepitiliza hata mipika ya maovu. Wala hawajali sababu ya kuwepo kwa watu na wala uwepo wa yatima. Wanafanikiwa hata kama hawatoi hukumu ya haki kwa yatima.
They are big and fat, and there is no limit to the evil things that they have done. They do not try to defend orphans in the courtrooms, and they do not help poor people to get what they have a right to receive.
29 Kwa nini nisiwadhibu kwa sababu ya haya - asema BWANA - sitajilipizia kisasi juu ya taifa la namna hii?
So I will certainly [RHQ] punish them for doing those things. I will certainly [RHQ] (get revenge on their nation/do to their nation what they deserve).
30 Jambo la ajabu na la kuchukiza limetokea katika nchi hii.
Very appalling/horrible and terrible [DOU] things are happening in this country:
31 Mananbii wanatabiri kwa uongo, na makuhani wanatwala kwa msaada wa wa hao. Watu wangu wanapenda mambo ya hivyo, lakini mwisho kitatokea nini?
Prophets speak [only] lies and priests rule by their own authority, and you people like that! But when you [start to] experience disasters, what will you do [RHQ]?”
