Jeremiah 5
1 “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.
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.
2 Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.”
Hata kama wanasema, 'Kama BWANA aishivyo,' wanaapa uongo.”
3 O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
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.
4 Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.
Kwa hiyo nilisema, “Hakika hawa ni watu masikini, Ni wapumbavu, Kwa kuwa hawazijui njia za BWANA, wala maagizo ya Mungu wao.
5 I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.
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.
6 Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.
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.
7 “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes.
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.
8 They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
Walikuwa farasi wanaotafuta kupandwa. Walitembea huku na huku wakitafutwa kupandwa. Kila mwanamume alimkaribia mke wa jirani yake.
9 Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
Kwa hiyo kwa nini nisiwaadhibu - asema BWANA - na kwa nini nisijilipizie kisasi juu ya taifa kama hili?
10 Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.
Nenda hadi kwenye kuta za shamba lake la mizabibu na zihariibuni. Lakini wao msiwaharibu kabisa. Ondoeni matawi kwa sababu hayatoki kwa BWANA.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,”
Kwa sababu nyumba ya Yuda na Israeli wamenisaliti kabisa - asema BWANA -
12 They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.
na wamenikataa. Wanasema, ''Yeye si halisi. Maovu hayawezi kutupata, wala hatutaona upanga wala njaa.
13 The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”
Kwa kuwa manabii wamekuwa si kitu kama upepo na hakuna mtu mwiingine wa kunena ujumbe wa BWANA kwetu. Vitisho vyao na viwjie wao wenyewe.”'
14 Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes.
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.
15 Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.
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.
16 Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men.
Podo lao ni kaburi wazi. Wote ni wanajeshi.
17 They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.”
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.
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.
Lakini hata katika siku hizo - asema BWANA - sikusudii kuwaharibu kabisa.
19 And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’”
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.'
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
Waambia haya watu wa nyumba ya Yakobo na yasikike katika Yuda. Waambie,
21 “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
'Sikilizeni hili, eny watu wapumbavu! Sanamu hazina matakwa; zina masikio lakini haziwawezi kusikia.
22 Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
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.
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.
Lakini hawa watu wana mioyo ya usumbufu. Hugeuka kuwa wapinzani na kuondoka.
24 They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
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.”
25 Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.
uovu wako umezuia haya yasitokee. Dhambi zako zimeyazuia mambo mema yasitokee.
26 For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.
Kwa watu waovu wamo kati ya watu wangu. Wanatazama kama mtu anayenyatia ili kukamata ndege; wanaweka mitego na kukamata watu;
27 Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.
Kama tundu la mtego lijaavyo ndege, nyumba zao zimejaa uongo. Kwa hiyo wanakua na kutajirika.
28 They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
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.
29 Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
Kwa nini nisiwadhibu kwa sababu ya haya - asema BWANA - sitajilipizia kisasi juu ya taifa la namna hii?
30 A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land.
Jambo la ajabu na la kuchukiza limetokea katika nchi hii.
31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
Mananbii wanatabiri kwa uongo, na makuhani wanatwala kwa msaada wa wa hao. Watu wangu wanapenda mambo ya hivyo, lakini mwisho kitatokea nini?
