Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah
1 King Nebuchadnezzar had a large army made up of people from every kingdom in his empire. He and his army were attacking Jerusalem and all the nearby towns, when the Lord told me 2 to say to King Zedekiah:
I am the Lord, and I am going to let Nebuchadnezzar capture this city and burn it down. 3 You will be taken prisoner and brought to Nebuchadnezzar, and he will speak with you face to face. Then you will be led away to Babylonia.
4 Zedekiah, I promise that you won't die in battle. 5 You will die a peaceful death. People will mourn when you die, and they will light bonfires in your honor, just as they did for your ancestors, the kings who ruled before you.
6 I went to Zedekiah and told him what the Lord had said. 7 Meanwhile, the king of Babylonia was trying to break through the walls of Lachish, Azekah, and Jerusalem, the only three towns of Judah that had not been captured.
The People Break a Promise
8-10 King Zedekiah, his officials, and everyone else in Jerusalem made an agreement to free all Hebrew men and women who were slaves. No Jew would keep another as a slave. And so, all the Jewish slaves were given their freedom.
11 But those slave owners changed their minds and forced their former slaves back into slavery.
12 That's when the Lord told me to say to the people:
13 I am the Lord God of Israel, and I made an agreement with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, where they had been slaves. 14 As part of this agreement, you must let a Hebrew slave go free after six years of service.
Your ancestors did not obey me, 15-16 but you decided to obey me and do the right thing by setting your Hebrew slaves completely free. You even went to my temple, and in my name you made an agreement to set them free. But you have abused my name, because you broke that agreement and forced your former slaves back into slavery.
17 You have disobeyed me by not giving your slaves their freedom. So I will give you freedom—the freedom to die in battle or from disease or hunger. I will make you disgusting to all other nations on earth.
18 You asked me to be a witness when you made the agreement to set your slaves free. And as part of the ceremony you cut a calf into two parts, then walked between the parts. But you people of Jerusalem have broken that agreement as well as my agreement with Israel. So I will do to you what you did to that calf. 19-20 I will let your enemies take all of you prisoner, including the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the royal officials, the priests, and everyone else who walked between the two parts of the calf. These enemies will kill you and leave your bodies lying on the ground as food for birds and wild animals.
21-22 These enemies are King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army. They have stopped attacking Jerusalem, but they want to kill King Zedekiah and his high officials. So I will command them to return and attack again. This time they will conquer the city and burn it down, and they will capture Zedekiah and his officials. I will also let them destroy the towns of Judah, so that no one can live there any longer.
Etumwalaka kuSedekia
1 Etumwalaka lyOmuwa olye ya kungame, Nebukadnezzar, omukwaniilwa gwaBabilon, sho a li ta homona Jerusalem niilando ayihe yopuushiinda washo. Nebukadnezzar okwa kondjo netangakwiita lye alihe tali kwathelwa kiilongo nokiigwana ayihe yomepangelo lye. 2 Omuwa, Kalunga kaIsrael, okwa lombwele ndje, ndi ye komukwaniilwa gwaJuda, Sedekia, ndi mu lombwele ndi tye: “Ongame, Omuwa, tandi ka gandja oshilando shika miikaha yomukwaniilwa gwaBabilon, oye note shi fike po. 3 Ngoye ito vulu okufadhuka po; oto ka kwatwa po e to gandjwa miikaha ye. Oto ke mu tala oshipala noshipala noto ka popya naye; oto ka falwa kuBabilon. 4 Sedekia, pulakena shoka tandi ku lombwele. Ito ka dhipagelwa molugodhi. 5 Oto ka sa nombili noto ka temenwa omulilo gwoosa, ngaashi aantu ya li haa ningile oohokulu mboka ya li nale aakwaniilwa. Otaye ku lili oosa taa ti: ‘Omukwaniilwa gwetu a si!’ Ongame, Omuwa, nda popi.”
6 Onda lombwele omukwaniilwa Sedekia oohapu ndhika adhihe muJerusalem, 7 manga etangakwiita lyomukwaniilwa gwaBabilonia lya li tali homona oshilando. Etangakwiita olya li wo tali homona Lakish naAseka, iilando mbyoka ayike ya li ya hupu ko miilandohote yomuJuda.
Emangululo lyaapika
8 Omukwaniilwa Sedekia nAajerusalem oya ningi euvathano, ya mangulule 9 aapika yawo ayehe Aahebeli, aalumentu naakiintu, opo pwaa kale omuntu e na Omuisraeli omukwawo omupika gwe. 10 Aantu ayehe naawiliki yawo oya zimine, ya mangulule aapika yawo noitaye ya piki we. Oye ya mangulula, 11 ihe konima oya lundulula omadhiladhilo gawo; oye ya kutha noye ya thiminike, ya ninge ishewe aapika yawo.
12 Onkee ano Omuwa, 13 Kalunga kaIsrael, a lombwele ndje, ndi lombwele aantu ndi tye: “Onda hangana noohokulu, sho nde ya tembudha mo muEgipiti nonde ya mangulula muupika. Onde ya lombwele kutya 14 omumvo omutiheyali kehe naa mangulule aapika Aahebeli mboka ye ya longele omimvo hamano. Ihe oohokulu inaa pupa ndje nenge ya pulakene shoka nda ti. 15 Opwa piti omasiku gamwe, sho mwi itedhulula nomwa ningi shoka sho opalela ndje. Ne amuhe omwa zimine mu mangulule Omuisraeli omukweni, nomwa hangana nangame montaneho yandje motempeli. 16 Ihe omwa lundulula omadhiladhilo geni ishewe nomwa sitha ndje ohoni. Amuhe omwa kutha po aapika mboka mwa li mwa mangulula, ngaashi ye shi yuulukwa, nomwe ya thiminikile ishewe muupika. 17 Onkee ano ngashingeyi, ngame, Omuwa, tandi ti, inamu vulika kungame, inamu mangulula Aaisraeli aakweni. Eewa ano, otandi mu mangulula, otandi mu mangululile okusila miita, mondjala nomelega. Iigwana ayihe otandi ke yi haluthitha shoka tandi mu ningile. 18-19 Omalenga gaJuda naJerusalem, agehe kumwe naambala, aayambi naawiliki oya tandula ontana olumana noya hangana nangame nokweenda pokati komalumana gayo. Ihe oya teya ehangano noinaa dhiginina oohapu dhalyo. Aantu mbaka otandi ya ningi, ngaashi ya ningi ontana. 20 Otandi ke ya gandja kaatondi yawo, mboka ya hala ye ya dhipage po, nomidhimba dhawo otadhi ka lika po koondhila nokiithitukuti. 21 Omukwaniilwa gwaJuda Sedekia nomalenga ge otandi ke ya gandja kumboka ya hala oku ya dhipaga. Otandi ke ya gandja miikaha yetangakwiita lyaBabilon, ndyoka lya kankeke manga eponokelo lyalyo lyoku mu matukila. 22 Otandi ke ya lombwela, notaa ka galukila koshilando shika. Otaye shi ponokele, taye shi kwata po notaye shi fike po. Iilando yaJuda otandi yi mbugaleke, itamu kala we nando omuntu. Ongame, Omuwa, nda popi.”
