Slaves of Nebuchadnezzar
1-2 Not long after Zedekiah became king of Judah, the Lord told me:
Jeremiah, make a wooden yoke with leather straps, and place it on your neck. 3 Then send a message to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. Some officials from these countries are in Jerusalem, meeting with Zedekiah. 4 So have them tell their kings that I have said:
I am the All-Powerful Lord God of Israel, 5 and with my power I created the earth, its people, and all animals. I decide who will rule the earth, 6-7 and I have chosen my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to rule all nations, including yours. I will even let him rule the wild animals. All nations will be slaves of Nebuchadnezzar, his son, and his grandson. Then many nations will join together, and their kings will make slaves of the Babylonians.
8 This yoke stands for the power of King Nebuchadnezzar, and I will destroy any nation that refuses to obey him. Nebuchadnezzar will attack, and many will die in battle or from hunger and disease. 9 You might have people in your kingdom who claim they can tell the future by magic or by talking with the dead or by dreams or messages from a god. But don't pay attention if any of them tell you not to obey Nebuchadnezzar. 10 If you listen to such lies, I will have you dragged far from your country and killed. 11 But if you and your nation are willing to obey Nebuchadnezzar, I will let you stay in your country, and your people will continue to live and work on their farms.
12 After I had spoken to the officials from the nearby kingdoms, I went to King Zedekiah and told him the same thing. Then I said:
Zedekiah, if you and the people of Judah want to stay alive, you must obey Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. 13 But if you refuse, then you and your people will die from war, hunger, and disease, just as the Lord has warned. 14 Your prophets have told you that you don't need to obey Nebuchadnezzar, but don't listen to their lies. 15 Those prophets claim to be speaking for the Lord, but he didn't send them. They are lying! If you do what they say, he will have both you and them dragged off to another country and killed. The Lord has spoken.
16 When I finished talking to the king, I told the priests and everyone else that the Lord had said:
Don't listen to the prophets when they say that very soon the Babylonians will return the things they took from my temple. Those prophets are lying! 17 If you choose to obey the king of Babylonia, you will live. But if you listen to those prophets, this whole city will be nothing but a pile of rubble.
18 If I really had spoken to those prophets, they would know what I am going to do. Then they would be begging me not to let everything else be taken from the temple and the king's palace and the rest of Jerusalem. 19-21 After all, when Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin to Babylonia as a prisoner, he didn't take everything of value from Jerusalem. He left the bronze pillars, the huge bronze bowl called the Sea, and the movable bronze stands in the temple, and he left a lot of other valuable things in the palace and in the rest of Jerusalem.
But now I, the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, say that all these things 22 will be taken to Babylonia, where they will remain until I decide to bring them back to Jerusalem. I, the Lord, have spoken.
Jeremia ta kumaida ve liyandje mepangelo laBabilon
1 Pehovelo lepangelo laSedekia yaJosia, ohamba yaJuda, Jeremia okwa hangika kondjovo ei ya dja kOmwene, 2 Omwene okwa lombwela nge ndele ta ti ngaha: “Liningila ondjoko pamwe neestropa, u i litwike kofingo. 3 I tumina ohamba yaEdom nohamba yaMoab, nohamba yaAmmoni, nohamba yaTirus, nohamba yaSidon, pamwe novatumwa vavo ve uya kuSedekia, ohamba yaJuda, kuJerusalem. 4 Ndele va lombwela va ka lombwele oovene vavo va tye: ‘Omwene womatanga ovakwaita, Kalunga kaIsrael, osho ta ti: Oovene veni omu noku va lombwela mu tye: 5 “Neenghono dange dinene nokwooko kwange kwa yeluka, Ame onda shita edu novanhu noifitukuti i li kombada yedu, nohandi li pe keshe tuu nda hala oku li mu pa. 6 Ndele paife oilongo ei aishe onde i yandja meke lomupiya wange Nebukadnesar, ohamba yaBabilon noifitukuti yo aishe yomofuka ohandi i mu pe i mu longele. 7 Noiwana aishe oi noku mu longela, oye mwene nomona waye nomutekulu waye fiyo efimbo loshilongo shaye tali uya yo, opo nee oilongo ihapu neehamba di neenghono otadi mu longifa yo.
8 “ ‘ “Nakeshe oshiwana nouhamba tashi anye oku mu longela, oye tuu ou Nebukadnesar, ohamba yaBabilon, ndele tashi anye okutula ofingo yasho mondjoko yohamba yaBabilon, oshilongo tuu osho ohandi shi dengifa eongamukonda nondjala noudu wolutapo, Omwene osho ta ti, fiyo ohandi shi manifa po sheke keke laye. 9 Hano nye, inamu pwilikina ovaxunganeki veni neendudu deni neendjodi deni neemhule deni, ava tave mu lombwele tava ti: Ahowe, nye kamu na apa tamu longela ohamba yaBabilon. 10 Osheshi vo otave mu xunganekele oipupulu ndele tave mu twalifa kokule nedu leni, ndele handi mu te mo, nye tamu ka nyonauka po. 11 Ndelenee oshiwana tashi eta ofingo yasho mondjoko yohamba yaBabilon, ndele tashi mu longele, ohandi shi efele medu lasho, Omwene ta ti. Eshi otashi itavelwa okukala mo noku li longa.” ’ ”
12 Nohamba yaJuda Sedekia onde mu lombwela eendjovo odo tuu odo, ndele nda tya: “Ngeenge tamu eta eefingo deni mondjoko yohamba yaBabilon, notamu mu longele, oye mwene noshiwana shaye, otamu kala mu nomwenyo. 13 Omolwashike ngeno nye mwa hala okufya, ove novanhu voye, keongamukonda nokondjala nokoudu wolutapo, ngaashi Omwene a lombwela ovanhu venya inava hala okulongela ohamba yaBabilon? 14 Inamu pwilikina eendjovo dovaxunganeki ava tave mu lombwele tava ti ngaha: ‘Kamu na apa tamu ka longela ohamba yaBabilon,’ osheshi otave mu xunganekele oipupulu. 15 Osheshi ame inandi va tuma, Omwene osho ta ti, ndelenee otava xunganeke oipupulu medina lange, opo ndi mu te po, ndele nye otamu xulu po pamwe novaxunganeki ava tave mu xunganekele.”
16 Novapristeli novanhu ovo aveshe onde va lombwela nda tya: Omwene ota ti ngaha: “Inamu pwilikina eendjovo dovaxunganeki veni, ava tave mu xunganekele, ndele tava ti: ‘Tala, oitoo yotembeli yOmwene otai alulwa paife tai di kuBabilon,’ osheshi otave mu lombwele oipupulu. 17 Inamu va pwilikina. Longeleni ohamba yaBabilon, opo nee tamu kala mu nomwenyo. Omolwashike oshilando eshi shi nokuninga onduba yomakulukuma? 18 Ndelenee ovo ngeenge ovaxunganeki nongeenge ve neendjovo dOmwene, nava ilikane Omwene womatanga ovakwaita, oiyuma ei ya fyaala motembeli yOmwene nomouhamba wohamba yaJuda nomuJerusalem, nayo yo iha twalwe kuBabilon. 19 Osheshi osho Omwene womatanga ovakwaita ta ti mokupopya eengudi nefuta loshikushu noiyaxa aishe ei ya fyaala moshilando eshi, 20 oyo tuu ei Nebukadnesar, ohamba yaBabilon, ine i kufa mo muJerusalem, eshi a twala moupika Jekonia yaJehoiakim, ohamba yaJuda kuBabilon, pamwe novakulunhu aveshe vomuJuda novomuJerusalem, 21 osheshi Omwene womatanga ovakwaita, Kalunga kaIsrael ota ti ngaha: Mokupopya oiyuma ei ya fyaala motembeli yOmwene nomouhamba waJuda nomuJerusalem, 22 oi nokutwalwa kuBabilon noi nokukala ko fiyo okefiku olo handi i dimbulukwa, Omwene osho ta ti, ndele Ame ohandi i kufa ko nohandi i alulile ponhele ei.”
