Jeremiah 12
1 Yahweh, whenever I tell you that I am unhappy [about what is happening to me], you [always] act justly/fairly. So now allow me to ask about one more thing [that I do not understand]: Why are wicked people [often] very prosperous? Why do things go very well for dishonest/wicked people?
Ou menm Seyè, ou pa nan patipri. Mwen pa ka nan plede avè ou. Men, mwen ta renmen mande ou yon bagay sou sa w'ap fè a. Poukisa zafè mechan yo mache byen konsa? Poukisa tout moun malonèt yo alèz konsa?
2 You allow them to prosper like [MET] trees that grow tall and bear [a lot of] fruit. They [always] say [MTY] good things about you, but their hearts are [really] far from you.
Ou plante yo, yo pran rasin. Yo grandi, yo donnen. Non ou toujou nan bouch yo! Men, nan kè yo, yo pa sou bò ou.
3 But Yahweh, as for me, you know what is in my inner being. You see what I [do] and you are able to know what I am thinking. So drag away those [wicked] people, like [people drag away] sheep that they are going to butcher. Set them aside like sheep that are about to be slaughtered!
Men, ou menm Seyè, ou konn ki moun mwen ye, ou wè sa m'ap fè, ou wè jan m' renmen ou. Pote mechan yo ale tankou mouton y'ap mennen labatwa! Kenbe yo la jouk lè a va rive pou yo touye yo!
4 This land is [RHQ] becoming very dry and even the grass is withering. The wild animals and the birds have [all] died because the people are [very] wicked. [All that has happened] because the people have said, “Yahweh does not know what we are doing (OR, what will happen to us)!”
Kilè n'a sispann wè tè a sèk? Kilè n'a sispann wè zèb nan jaden yo ap fennen? Zannimo yo ap mouri, zwezo yo ap depafini. Tou sa, akòz mechanste pèp la k'ap plede di Bondye pa wè sa n'ap fè.
5 [Then to show me that I needed to be prepared to endure even greater difficulties, Yahweh said to me], [“It is as though] you have become exhausted from racing against men; so how will you be able to race against horses? If you [stumble and] fall when you are running on open/bare/smooth ground, what will happen to you when you are running through the thornbushes near the Jordan [River]?
Seyè a di: -Jeremi, si ou pèdi souf lè w'ap kouri ak moun, ki jan ou ka fè kouri ak chwal? Si kè ou pa poze lè tout bagay ap mache byen, si se lè peyi a pa an danje, ou gen kè poze, kisa w'a fè lè larivyè Jouden ap desann?
6 [Already] your brothers and [other members of] your own family oppose you. They (plot against/plan to do evil things to) you and they say bad things about you. So even if they say nice things about you, do not trust them!
Ata frè ou yo, pwòp fanmi ou yo, ap trayi ou. Yo mete tèt yo ansanm ak lòt moun sou do ou. Pa fè yo konfyans, menm lè ou wè yo ap pale byen avè ou.
7 I have abandoned my [Israeli] people, the people whom I chose to belong to me. I have allowed their enemies to conquer the Israeli people, whom I love.
Seyè a di ankò: -Mwen lage pèp Izrayèl la, mwen voye pèp mwen te chwazi a jete, mwen lage pèp mwen te renmen anpil la nan men lènmi yo.
8 My people have become to me like [SIM] a lion in the forest. [It is as though] they roar at me like a lion, so now I hate them.
Pèp ki te rele m' pa m' lan vire do ban mwen. Tankou yon lyon nan gwo rakbwa, y'ap gwonde sou mwen. Se poutèt sa mwen pa vle wè yo ankò!
9 My chosen people have [RHQ] become like speckled hawks that are surrounded by vultures [waiting to eat their flesh after they are dead]. Tell all the wild animals to come and eat [the flesh of their corpses].
Pèp ki te rele m' pa m' lan tankou yon zwazo tout koulè, malfini sènen l' toupatou. Ale non! Sanble tout bèt nan bwa. Fè yo vini pran pa yo nan manje a!
10 Many rulers [from other countries have come with their armies and] devastated/destroyed my people [whom I care for like a farmer takes care of his] vineyard. They have caused my beautiful land to become a barren desert where no one lives.
Yon bann chèf lòt nasyon ap sakaje jaden rezen mwen an. Yo kraze jaden m' lan anba pye yo. Yo fè bèl peyi mwen an tounen yon dezè kote moun pa rete.
11 They have caused it to become completely empty; [it is as though] I hear the land crying sadly/mournfully. The whole land is desolate, and no one (worries about/pays any attention to) it.
Yo fè l' tounen yon savann. Men, li la devan je m'. Li fini, san anyen ladan l'. Tout peyi a tounen yon dezè, san pesonn pa di anyen.
12 The soldiers [of our enemies] have marched across all the barren hilltops. But [I], Yahweh, am using those armies [MTY] to punish your land from one end to the other, and no one will escape.
Moun soti lòt bò mòn ki nan dezè a vin piye. Paske Seyè a voye lagè pou detwi tout peyi a nèt. Pesonn pa ka viv ak kè poze.
13 [It is as though] my people planted wheat, but now they are harvesting thorns. They have become very tired [because of much hard work], but they have gained nothing [from all that work]. They will be very disappointed because their harvests [will be very small], [and that will happen] because [I], Yahweh, am extremely angry [with them].”
Yo plante ble, yo rekòlte pikan. Yo travay di, sa pa rapòte yo anyen. Yo wont, rekòt la pa bay anyen paske Seyè a move anpil.
14 This is [also] what Yahweh said to me: “[I will punish] the evil nearby nations that have been trying to take away the land that I gave to my Israeli people, and I will force them to leave their own land. But I will throw the people of Judah out of their land, also.
Seyè a di ankò: -Men sa Seyè a di sou move vwazen pèp li a ki leve men yo sou peyi li te bay pèp Izrayèl la pou rele l' pa l' la: Mwen pral rache yo soti nan peyi yo a, tankou pyebwa y'ap derasinen. M'a wete moun peyi Jida yo nan mitan yo.
15 But later I will act mercifully toward those nations again, and I will bring them back to their own lands again. Each [clan] will come back to its own land.
Men, lè m'a fin rache yo, m'a gen pitye pou yo. M'a fè yo tounen lakay yo, nan peyi yo.
16 And if the people [of the other nations whose armies have invaded Israel] learn the [religious] customs of my people, and if they learn that I [am listening] when they solemnly promise that they will do something good, like they taught my people to believe that [their god] Baal [was listening] when they made solemn promises, I will cause them to become prosperous, and they also will be my people.
Si lè sa a yo aprann viv byen tankou pèp mwen, si yo pran non m' pou fè sèman sa a: Nan non Seyè ki vivan an!, menm jan yo te moutre pèp mwen an pou li fè sèman nan non Baal, enben, lè sa a yo menm tou, y'a fè pati pèp mwen an, epi zafè yo va mache byen.
17 But I will expel any nation whose people refuse to obey me, and I will destroy that nation and its people. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.”
Men, si yon nasyon pa koute m', m'ap rache l', m'ap derasinen l', m'ap detwi li nèt. Se mwen menm Seyè a ki di sa.
