The Sin of Jerusalem
1 People of Jerusalem, run through your streets!
Look around! See for yourselves!
Search the marketplaces!
Can you find one person
who does what is right
and tries to be faithful to God?
If you can, the Lord will forgive Jerusalem.
2 Even though you claim to worship the Lord,
you do not mean what you say.
3 Surely the Lord looks for faithfulness.
He struck you, but you paid no attention;
he crushed you, but you refused to learn.
You were stubborn and would not turn from your sins.
4 Then I thought, “These are only the poor and ignorant.
They behave foolishly;
they don't know what their God requires,
what the Lord wants them to do.
5 I will go to the people in power
and talk with them.
Surely they know what their God requires,
what the Lord wants them to do.”
But all of them have rejected the Lord's authority
and refuse to obey him.
6 That is why lions from the forest will kill them;
wolves from the desert will tear them to pieces,
and leopards will prowl through their towns.
If those people go out, they will be torn apart
because their sins are numerous
and time after time they have turned from God.
7 The Lord asked, “Why should I forgive the sins of my people?
They have abandoned me
and have worshiped gods that are not real.
I fed my people until they were full,
but they committed adultery
and spent their time with prostitutes.
8 They were like well-fed stallions wild with desire,
each lusting for his neighbor's wife.
9 Shouldn't I punish them for these things
and take revenge on a nation such as this?
10 I will send enemies to cut down my people's vineyards,
but not to destroy them completely.
I will tell them to strip away the branches,
because those branches are not mine.
11 The people of Israel and Judah
have betrayed me completely.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
The Lord Rejects Israel
12 The Lord's people have denied him and have said, “He won't really do anything. We won't have hard times; we won't have war or famine.” 13-14 They have said that the prophets are nothing but windbags and that they have no message from the Lord. The Lord God Almighty said to me, “Jeremiah, because these people have said such things, I will make my words like a fire in your mouth. The people will be like wood, and the fire will burn them up.”
15 People of Israel, the Lord is bringing a nation from far away to attack you. It is a strong and ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know. 16 Their archers are mighty soldiers who kill without mercy. 17 They will devour your crops and your food; they will kill your sons and your daughters. They will slaughter your flocks and your herds and destroy your vines and fig trees. The fortified cities in which you trust will be destroyed by their army.
18 The Lord says, “Yet even in those days I will not completely destroy my people. 19 When they ask why I did all these things, tell them, Jeremiah, that just as they turned away from me and served foreign gods in their own land, so they will serve strangers in a land that is not theirs.”
God Warns His People
20 The Lord says, “Tell the descendants of Jacob, tell the people of Judah: 21 Pay attention, you foolish and stupid people, who have eyes, but cannot see, and have ears, but cannot hear. 22 I am the Lord; why don't you fear me? Why don't you tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary of the sea, a permanent boundary that it cannot cross. The sea may toss, but it cannot go beyond it; the waves may roar, but they cannot break through. 23 But you people! You are stubborn and rebellious; you have turned aside and left me. 24 You never thought to honor me, even though I send the autumn rains and the spring rains and give you the harvest season each year. 25 Instead, your sins have kept these good things from you.
26 “Evildoers live among my people; they lie in wait like those who lay nets to catch birds, but they have set their traps to catch people. 27 Just as a hunter fills a cage with birds, they have filled their houses with loot. That is why they are powerful and rich, 28 why they are fat and well fed. There is no limit to their evil deeds. They do not give orphans their rights or show justice to the oppressed.
29 “But I, the Lord, will punish them for these things; I will take revenge on this nation. 30 A terrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 prophets speak nothing but lies; priests rule as the prophets command, and my people offer no objections. But what will they do when it all comes to an end?”
Ouvi wa Jerusalem
1 Vature va Jerusalem,
tuurungeye omivanda vyeṋu!
Yevayeveye! Rimunineye oveni!
Paheye nawa poṋa pomarandisiro!
Mamu sora okumuna omundu umwe
ngu ma tjiti imbi mbi ri ovisemba,
nu ngu ma kondjo okukara
nouṱakame ku Ndjambi are?
Tji mwe mu munu, Muhona
ma isire Jerusalem.
2 Nandarire kutja mu tja mu
rikotamena ku Muhona,
kamu tjiti otja pu mu heya.
3 Tjiri, Muhona u paha ouṱakame.
Eye we mu tona,
nungwari eṋe kamu karere ko na tja;
eye we mu tona okuhihamisa,
nungwari eṋe mwa panḓa okurihonga.
Eṋe mwa ri ovirangaranga,
nu mwa panḓa okuritanaura.
4 Ami mbe ripura nai:
“Imba owo ovandu vokehi uriri,
nu kave nozondunge,
owo ve ritjinda ouyova;
kave tjiwa kutja Ndjambi wawo
u vanga tjike,
nokutja Muhona u vanga
kutja ve tjite tjike.
5 Ami me i kovandu ovanauvara
ne kahungira puna wo,
orondu owo, tjiri, mave tjiwa imbi Ndjambi
wawo mbye vanga,
na imbi Muhona mbye vanga kutja ve tjite.”
Nungwari owo avehe wina va imbirahi
ouvara wa Muhona,
nu ve panḓa okukara nonḓuviro ku ye.
6 Ozongeyama movihwa opu maze zu okuvezepa;
nozombungu zokuti onguza maze ve nyondorora,
novitotongwe mavi yekuveyeva movihuro vyawo.
Ovandu mbo tji mave piti, owo mave hahaurwa,
orondu ourunde wawo ouingi tjinene,
nu movikando pekepeke va poka ku Ndjambi.
7 Muhona wa pura a tja:
“Ovandu vandje meve isirire tjike omauvi wawo?
Ovanatje vawo ve ndji esa,
nave rikotamena koomukuru vovisenginina.
Ami mba parura ovandu vandje nga tji ve kuta,
nungwari owo va katuka otukupo,
nu va kara puna ovakorondu.
8 Owo va ri otja oukambe outwezu mbwa ṋunisiwa,
nu mbwe ura nozonḓuma,
auhe aa nanukire omukazendu womukwao.
9 Ami hi nokusokuveverera oviṋa otja imbi,
nokusutisa otjiwaṋa otja ihi are?
10 Ami me hindi ovanavita okukakonda
omivite vyotjiwaṋa tjandje,
nungwari kakukevinyona oparukaze.
Meve raere kutja ve pore otutavi,
orondu otutavi twi katwandje.
11 Ovaisrael nOvajuda kava ri
nouṱakame ku ami oparukaze.
Ami, ngu mbi ri Muhona,
owami ngu mba hungire.”
Muhona ma imbirahi Israel
12 Otjiwaṋa tja Muhona tje mu pataṋa natji tja: “Eye, tjiri, ke na tji ma sora. Eṱe katu nokukara nomayuva omazeu; katu nokumuna ovita poo ondjara.” 13 Owo va tjere ovaprofete katjiṋa, owo ombepo uriri nu kave nombuze, ndji za ku Muhona. 14 Muhona, Ndjambi Omunamasaaehe, opa tjera nai ku ami: “Jeremia, mena rokutja ovandu mba va hungira oviṋa mbi, ami me sanisa embo randje komuriro motjinyo tjoye, nowo mave sana kozonguṋe, nomuriro mau ve seseta.”
15 Tjiwaṋa tja Israel, Muhona ma eta otjiwaṋa okuza kokure okuyekumurwisa. Otjo otjiwaṋa otjinamasa tji tji ha haverwa, notjikuru tjeraka ndi mu he ri i. 16 Ovayumbe vawo vouta ovarwe ozombangaṋe mbe zepa nokuhinotjari. 17 Owo mave sasaura ovihape novikurya vyeṋu; mave zepa ovanatje veṋu ovazandu novakazona, nozonyanda nozongombe zeṋu wina; nu mave yandeke omivite nomikuyu vyeṋu. Ovihuro mbya zeuparisiwa ku mwe riyameka, mavi nyonwa i ovimbumba vyawo vyovita.
18 Muhona ma tja nai: “Nungwari nangarire momayuva ngo, ami himee yandeke otjiwaṋa tjandje okumana. 19 Owo tji mave pura kutja okutjavi tji mba tjita oviṋa mbi, ve raera nai, Jeremia: ‘Otja indu tji mwa humburuka na ami namu kakarera oomukuru wozonganda mehi reṋu oveni, eṋe otjinga amamu kakarera ovandu wozonganda mehi ndi he ri oreṋu.’ ”
Ndjambi ma rongo otjiwaṋa tje
20 Muhona ma tja nai: “Raera ozondekurona za Jakob, nu u zuvarise nai kotjiwaṋa tja Juda: 21 Purateneye, mayova nomahipa, mbu mu nomeho, nungwari mbu mu ha munu, nu mbu mu nomatwi, nungwari mbu mu ha zuu. 22 Owami Muhona; okutjavi tji mu he ndji tira? Okutjavi tji mu ha zezera komurungu wandje? Ami mba twa po ozondunduvahi zeheke okurira omuruko wokuvare, omuruko omukarerere okuvare mbu ku ha tanana. Okuvare nanda ku riyumbu, kamaaku ruruma kombanda yawo; ozongazona nandi za hwaara kamaaze u teya. 23 Nungwari ove, tjiwaṋa, oove otjirangaranga notjipirukire; ove wa yepa mondjira nu we ndji esa. 24 Ko na pu we ripura okundjiyozika, nandi mbe ku rokisira ombura yokurooro noyoruteṋi moruveze orusemba, nandi mbe ku pa oruveze rwomakondero ombura aihe. 25 Moruveze rwanao, ourunde woye wa tjaera ondaya yoviṋa mbi oviwa kove.
26 “Ovanauvi ve ri mokati kotjiwaṋa tjandje, owo ve rangavara otja ovayeve mbe yara ozongwehe okukambura ozonḓera, nungwari tjandje owo va twa po ozombate zawo okupata ovandu. 27 Otja omuyeve tje urisa otjiwongo tje nozonḓera, owo otji ve urisa ozondjuwo zawo novipunda. Opu va za okurira ovanamasa novatumbe, 28 nopu va za okuṋuna nokuparuka nawa. Owo kave yandisa ozondjito zawo zouvi. Kave yandja ousemba kozosewa, nu kave raisa omausemba kovaṋiṋikiziwa.
29 “Nungwari, ami, ngu mbi ri Muhona, meve verere oviṋa mbi; ami me sutisa otjiwaṋa otja ihi. 30 Otjiṋa otjitirise notjiurumise tja tjitwa mehi: 31 Ovaprofete ve hungira ovizeze porwavyo; ovapristeri ve honapara otja ovaprofete punga amave ve rakiza, notjiwaṋa tjandje katji panḓa. Nungwari owo mave tjiti vi, avihe mbi tji vya yanda?”
