< Yeremia 9 >
1 Kama kichwa changu kingetoa maji, na macho yangu kuwa chemichemi ya machozi! kwa kuwa natamani kulia usiku na mchana kwa ajili yao waliokuwa binti za watu wangu ambao wameuawa.
“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 Kama mtu anganipatia mahali pa wasafiri nyikani ili nikae, mahali ambapo ningeenda kuwatelekeza watu wangu. Kama ningewaacha, kwa kuwa wote ni wazinzi, kundi la wenye hiana!
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 asema BWANA, “Huupinda ulimi wao kana kwamba ni upinde ili wapate kuongea uongo, lakini si kwa uamiinifu wao kwamba wanapata nguvu duniani. Wanatoka uovu mmoja hadi mwiingine. Hawanijui mimi.”
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 Kila mmoja wenu, awe mlinzi wa jirani yake na usimwamini hata ndugu yako yeyote. kwa kuwa kila ndugu ni mwongo,
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 kila jirani anatembea akilaghai. Kila mwanamume anakejeli jirani yake na haongei ukweli. Ndimi zao hufundisha vitu vya uongo. Hujidhofisha ili kusema uongo.
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 Makazi yenu yako kati ya udanganyifu; kwa uongo 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 BWANA wa majeshi asema hivi, “Tazama, Niko tayari kuwajaribu. Nitawajaribu nione. Jinsi gani niwezavyo kufanya kwa binti za 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 mishale iliyochongoka; huongea vitu vya uasi. Kwa midomo yao wanatangaza amani pamoja na jirani zao, lakini katika mioyo yao wanadanganya wakati wa kusubri.
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 Kwa nini nisiwaadhibu kwa sababu ya mambo haya - asema BWANA na kwa nini nisijilipizie kisasi kwa taifa ambalo liko 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 Nitaimba wimbo wa kuomboleza na kulia kwa ajili ya milima, na wimbo wa mazishi utaimbwa nyikani. Kwa kuwa wameteketezwa kwa hiyo hakuna anAyeweza kupita kati kati yao. Hawatasikia sauti ya ng'ombe yeyote. Ndege wa angani na wanyama wote 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 Kwa hiyo nitaigeuza Yerusalemu kuwa vifusi vya ukiwa, maficho ya mbweha. Nitaifanya miji ya Yuda kuwa miji iliyoharibiwa isiyokaliwa na watu.
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 nani mwenye hekima anayeyaelewa haya? Je, kinywa cha BWANA kinatangaza nini kwake ili aweze kuyasema? Kwa nini nchi imepotea? Imeharibiwa kama jangwa, ambapo hakuna apitaye kati kati yake.
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 asema, “Ni kwa sababu wameziacha sheria zake ambazo niliwatengenezea, kwa sababu hawaisikilizi sauti yangu au kuishi kwa kuifuta.
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 Ni kwa sababu wameishi kwa ushupavu wa mioyo yao na wamewafuata Mabaali kama baba zao walivyowafundisha kufanya.
And they have gone after the depravity of their own heart, and after Baal, which they learned from their fathers.”
15 Kwa hiyo BWANA wa majeshi, Mungu wa Israeli, asema hivi, 'Tazama, Ninataka kuwafanya hawa watu wale pakanga na kunywa maji ya 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 Ndipo nitakapowasambaza kati ya mataifa ambayo hawajayajua, wao wala mababu zao. Nitatuma upanga kwa ajili yao mpaka nimewaangamiza wote 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 BWANA wa majeshi asema hivi, “Yafikirini haya: Waiteni waliaji; waje. Tumeni wanawake wenye taaluma ya kuomboleza, waje.
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 Waje haraka waimbe wimbo wa maombolezo juu yetu, ili macho yetu yatokwe na machozi na kope zetu zibubujikwe na maji.
‘Let them hasten to take up a lamentation over us. Let our eyes shed tears, and our eyelids run with water.’
19 Kwa kuwa sauti ya kilio imesikika Sayuni, 'Jinsi tulivyoharibiwa. Tumeaibishwa sana, kwa kuwa tumeitelekeza nchi tangu walIpoangusha nyumba zetu.'
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 Kwa hiyo ninyi wanawake, sikieni neno la BWANA; zingatieni ujumbe unaokuja toka kinywani mwake. Kisha wafundisheni binti zenu wimbo wa maombolezo, na kila mwanamke wa jirani wimbo wa kilio.
“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 Kwa kuwa vifo vimekuja kupitia dirishani; vinaelekea mahali petu. Vinawaharibu watoto kutoka nje na vijana kwenye 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 Uyatangaze haya, 'Asema BWANA - mizoga ya wanaume itaanguka kama mavi kwenye mashamba na kama mabua baada ya mvunaji, na hapatakuwa na mtu wa kuyakusanya.'”
“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 BWANA asema hivi, “Usimwache mtu mwenye busara ajivune kwa ajili ya hekima yake, au shujaa kwa sababu ya uwezo wake. Usimwache mtu tajiri ajivunie 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 Kwa kuwa kama mtu atajivunia chochote kile, acha iwe hivi, yeye awe na busra na kunijua mimi. Kwa kuwa mimi ni BWANA, atendaye katika agano la wema, haki, na hukumu duniani. Ni katika hili kwamba ninafurahia- 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 Tazama, siku zaja - asema BWANA wakati nitakapowaadhibu wote ambao hawajatahiriwa ambao wako hivyo hivyo katika miili yao.
Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will visit upon all who are uncircumcised:
26 Nitaiadhibu Misri na Yuda, Edomu, watu wa Amoni, Moabu, na watu wote wanaonyoa denge. Kwani mataifa yote haya hayajatahiriwa, na nyumba yote ya Israeli ina moyo ambao haujatahiriwa.”
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.”