< Jeremiah 9 >

1 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.
‌ʻAmusiaange ʻeau ko e vai ʻa hoku ʻulu, mo e matavai ʻoe loʻimata ʻa hoku mata, ke u tangi ʻi he ʻaho mo e pō, koeʻuhi ko kinautolu kuo mate ʻi he ʻofefine ʻo hoku kakai?
2 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!
‌ʻAmusiaange ʻeau ke u maʻu ʻi he toafa, ʻae fale tali fononga; koeʻuhi ke u tukuange hoku kakai, pea ʻalu ʻiate kinautolu! He ko e kau angahala ʻakinautolu kotoa pē, ko e fakataha ʻoe kau tangata kākā.
3 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.
“Pea ʻoku nau teke honau ʻelelo, ke loi ʻo hangē ko ʻenau kaufana; ka ʻoku ʻikai te nau toʻa, koeʻuhi ko e moʻoni ʻi māmani; he kuo nau ʻalu mei he kovi ki he kovi, pea ʻoku ʻikai te nau ʻilo au,” ʻoku pehē ʻe Sihova.
4 Everyone, watch out for your friends! Don't even trust your brother! Every brother is deceitful, and every friend slanders other people.
“Mou taki taha vakai ki hono kaungāʻapi, pea ʻoua naʻa mou tui ki ha tokoua: koeʻuhi ʻe fai fakakākā ʻae tokoua kotoa pē, pea ko e kaungāʻapi kotoa pē ʻe ʻalu fano mo e fakakovi.”
5 Everyone betrays their friends; no one tells the truth. They've made themselves into expert liars; they tire themselves out doing wrong.
Pea te nau taki taha kākaaʻi hono kaungāʻapi, pea ʻikai te nau lea ki he moʻoni; kuo nau ako honau ʻelelo ke lea loi, pea ʻoku nau fakaongosiaʻi ʻakinautolu ʻi he fai kovi.
6 Everyone exploits each other, and in all their lies they don't want to know me, declares the Lord.
Pea ko ho nofoʻanga ʻoku ʻi he lotolotonga ʻoe kākā; koeʻuhi ko e kākā ʻoku ʻikai te nau fie ʻilo au, ʻoku pehē ʻe Sihova.
7 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?
Ko ia ʻoku pehē ʻe Sihova ʻoe ngaahi kautau, “Vakai, Te u fakavela ke vai ʻakinautolu, pea ʻahiʻahiʻi ʻakinautolu; he ko e hā te u fai koeʻuhi ko e ʻofefine ʻo hoku kakai?
8 Their words are arrows that kill; they always tell lies. They're nice to their friends on the outside while plotting against them inside.
‌ʻOku tatau honau ʻelelo mo e ngahau kuo fanaʻi; ʻoku ne lea ʻaki ʻae kākā: ʻoku ne lea fakafiemālie ʻi hono ngutu ki hono kaungāʻapi, ka ko hono loto ʻoku toka malumu ki ai.”
9 Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
Pea ʻoku pehē ʻe Sihova, “ʻIkai te u tautea koeʻuhi ko e ngaahi meʻa ni? Pea ʻikai ʻe totongi ʻe hoku laumālie ki he puleʻanga pehē?
10 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.
Te u tangi mo tangilāulau koeʻuhi ko e ngaahi moʻunga, pea te u tangi koeʻuhi ko e ngaahi nofoʻanga ʻi he toafa, he kuo nau vela ʻo ʻosi, ko ia ʻoku ʻikai ʻalu atu ai ha taha; pea ʻoku ʻikai fanongo ʻi ai ki he leʻo ʻoe fanga manu; kuo puna ʻo mole mei ai ʻae manu ʻoe ʻatā mo e manu ʻoe fonua; kuo nau ʻalu.
11 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.
“Pea te u ngaohi ʻa Selūsalema, Ko e tuʻunga ʻotoʻota, pea ko e ʻana ʻoe fanga talākoni; pea te u fakalala ʻae ngaahi kolo ʻo Siuta, ke taʻehakakai ʻi ai.”
12 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?
Ko hai ha tangata poto, te ne ʻilo eni? Pea ko hai ia kuo folofola ki ai ʻae folofola ʻa Sihova, ke ne fakahā pe ko e hā hono ʻuhinga ʻoe ʻauha ʻae fonua, pea ʻoku vela ʻo ʻosi ia ʻo hangē ko e toafa, ko ia ʻoku ʻikai ʻalu atu ai ha taha?”
13 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.
Pea ʻoku pehē ʻe Sihova, “Koeʻuhi kuo nau liʻaki ʻeku fono ʻaia naʻaku tuku ʻi honau ʻao, pea ʻoku ʻikai te nau talangofua ki hoku leʻo, pe ʻeveʻeva ai;
14 On the contrary, they have followed their own stubborn way of thinking, and went to worship the Baals, just as their forefathers taught them.
Ka kuo nau muimui ki he mahalo ʻa honau loto, pea ʻia Peali, ʻaia naʻe ako ʻe heʻenau ngaahi tamai kiate kinautolu.”
15 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.
Ko ia ʻoku pehē ʻe Sihova ʻoe ngaahi kautau, ko e ʻOtua ʻo ʻIsileli: “Vakai, Te u fafanga ʻaki ʻae kakai ni ʻae meʻa kona, pea te u foaki kiate kinautolu ʻae huhuʻa kona ʻoe ʻahu ke nau inu.
16 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.
Pea te u fakamovetevete ʻakinautolu ʻi he kakai hiteni, ʻaia naʻe ʻikai te nau ʻilo ki ai pe ko ʻenau ngaahi tamai: pea te u fekau ʻae heletā ke muimui ʻiate kinautolu kaeʻoua ke u fakaʻosi ʻakinautolu.”
17 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.
ʻOku pehē ʻe Sihova ʻoe ngaahi kautau, “Mou fakakaukau, pea ui ki he kau fefine tangi ke nau haʻu, pea mo e kau fefine poto ke nau omi:
18 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.
Pea ke nau fakatoʻotoʻo, mo tangi koeʻuhi ko kitautolu, koeʻuhi ke tafe ʻae loʻimata ʻi hotau mata, pea ha ʻae vai ʻi hotau laumata.
19 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.”
He ʻoku ongo mai mei Saione ʻae leʻo ʻoe tangi, ʻo pehē, ‘Kuo vetea ʻakitautolu, kuo tau puputuʻu lahi, koeʻuhi kuo tau tukuange ʻae fonua, pea kuo kapusi ʻakitautolu ʻi hotau ʻapi.’”
20 Women, listen to the Lord's message, hear what he has to say. Teach your daughters to mourn and sing songs of sadness.
Ka neongo ia, ke mou fanongo, ʻakimoutolu ʻae kau fefine ki he folofola ʻa Sihova, pea ongoʻi ʻe homou telinga ʻae folofola ʻa hono fofonga, pea ako ʻae tangi ki hoʻomou fānau fefine, pea ako ke taki taha tangi ʻa hono kaungāʻapi.
21 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.
He kuo hake ʻae mate ki he ngaahi kātupa; pea kuo hū ia ki he ngaahi fale fakaʻeiʻeiki, ke tutuʻu ʻae fānau mei tuʻa, pea mo e kau talavou ʻi he ngaahi hala.”
22 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.
‌ʻOku pehē ʻe Sihova, “Ke ke lea,” ʻo pehē, “Naʻa mo e ngaahi ʻangaʻanga ʻoe kau tangata ʻe tō ia ki he ʻataʻatā ʻoe ngoue, ʻo hangē ko ha kinohaʻa, pea tatau mo e falukunga ʻoku toe, ʻoka hili ʻae ututaʻu, koeʻuhi ʻe ʻikai tānaki ʻakinautolu ʻe ha taha.”
23 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.
ʻOku pehē ʻe Sihova, “ʻOua naʻa polepole ʻae tangata poto ʻi heʻene poto, pe ko e tangata mālohi ʻi heʻene mālohi, pea ʻoua naʻa polepole ʻae tangata maʻu meʻa ʻi heʻene koloa.
24 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.
Ka ko ia ʻoku polepole ke polepole ʻi he meʻa ni, koeʻuhi ʻoku ne poto mo ʻiloʻi au, Ko au ko Sihova ʻoku ou faʻa manavaʻofa, mo fakamaau, mo angatonu ʻi māmani:” he ʻoku pehē ʻe Sihova, “ʻOku ou fiefia ʻi he ngaahi meʻa ni.”
25 Watch out, for the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all who are only physically circumcised.
ʻOku pehē ʻe Sihova, “Vakai, ʻoku haʻu ʻae ngaahi ʻaho te u tautea ai ʻae kamu fakataha mo e taʻekamu;
26 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.
Ko ʻIsipite, mo Siuta, mo ʻItomi, pea mo e fānau ʻa ʻAmoni, mo Moape, mo kinautolu ʻoku ʻi he ngaahi potu mamaʻo, mo kinautolu ʻoku nofo ʻi he toafa: he ʻoku taʻekamu ʻae ngaahi kakai ni kotoa pē, pea ʻoku taʻekamu ʻae loto ʻo ʻIsileli kotoa pē.”

< Jeremiah 9 >