Jeremiah's Letter to the Jews in Babylonia
1 I wrote a letter to the priests, the prophets, the leaders of the people, and to all the others whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken away as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylonia. 2 I wrote it after King Jehoiachin, his mother, the palace officials, the leaders of Judah and of Jerusalem, the engravers, and the skilled workers had been taken into exile. 3 I gave the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah was sending to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. It said:
4 “The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those people whom he allowed Nebuchadnezzar to take away as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylonia: 5 ‘Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what you grow in them. 6 Marry and have children. Then let your children get married, so that they also may have children. You must increase in numbers and not decrease. 7 Work for the good of the cities where I have made you go as prisoners. Pray to me on their behalf, because if they are prosperous, you will be prosperous too. 8 I, the Lord, the God of Israel, warn you not to let yourselves be deceived by the prophets who live among you or by any others who claim they can predict the future. Do not pay any attention to their dreams. 9 They are telling you lies in my name. I did not send them. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken.’
10 “The Lord says, ‘When Babylonia's seventy years are over, I will show my concern for you and keep my promise to bring you back home. 11 I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. 12 Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. 13 You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart. 14 Yes, I say, you will find me, and I will restore you to your land. I will gather you from every country and from every place to which I have scattered you, and I will bring you back to the land from which I had sent you away into exile. I, the Lord, have spoken.’
15 “You say that the Lord has given you prophets in Babylonia. 16 Listen to what the Lord says about the king who rules the kingdom that David ruled and about the people of this city, that is, your relatives who were not taken away as prisoners with you. 17 The Lord Almighty says, ‘I am bringing war, starvation, and disease on them, and I will make them like figs that are too rotten to be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with war, starvation, and disease, and all the nations of the world will be horrified at what they see. Everywhere I scatter them, people will be shocked and terrified at what has happened to them. People will make fun of them and use their name as a curse. 19 This will happen to them because they did not obey the message that I kept on sending to them through my servants the prophets. They refused to listen. 20 All of you whom I sent into exile in Babylonia, listen to what I, the Lord, say.’
21 “The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, has spoken about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are telling you lies in his name. He has said that he will hand them over to the power of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, who will put them to death before your eyes. 22 When the people who were taken away as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylonia want to bring a curse on someone, they will say, ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylonia roasted alive!’ 23 This will be their fate because they are guilty of terrible sins—they have committed adultery and have told lies in the Lord's name. This was against the Lord's will; he knows what they have done, and he is a witness against them. The Lord has spoken.”
The Letter of Shemaiah
24-25 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, gave me a message for Shemaiah of Nehelam, who had sent a letter in his own name to all the people of Jerusalem and to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah and to all the other priests. In this letter Shemaiah wrote to Zephaniah:
26 “The Lord made you a priest in place of Jehoiada, and you are now the chief officer in the Temple. It is your duty to see that every crazy person who pretends to be a prophet is placed in chains with an iron collar around the neck. 27 Why haven't you done this to Jeremiah of Anathoth, who has been speaking as a prophet to the people? 28 He must be stopped because he told the people in Babylonia that they would be prisoners there a long time and should build houses, settle down, plant gardens, and eat what they grow.”
29 Zephaniah read the letter to me, 30 and then the Lord told me 31-32 to send to all the prisoners in Babylon this message about Shemaiah: “I, the Lord, will punish Shemaiah and all of his descendants. I did not send him, but he spoke to you as if he were a prophet, and he made you believe lies. He will have no descendants among you. He will not live to see the good things that I am going to do for my people, because he told them to rebel against me. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
Onhumwafo yaJeremia e i shangela eenghwate domuBabilon
1 Eendjovo odo edi donhumwafo oyo omuxunganeki Jeremia ei i tuma, ya dja muJerusalem, e i tumina ovakulunhu veenghwate ovo va hangika ve nomwenyo natango novapristeli novaxunganeki novanhu aveshe, ava Nebukadnesar e va kufa muJerusalem nokwe va twala kuBabilon, 2 konima yaasho ohamba Jekonia nomumbada nomalenga novakulunhu vomuJuda novomuJerusalem novahambwidi novahambuli voiidilifo, eshi va dja mo muJerusalem. 3 Onhumwafo okwe i tumikida Eleasa yaSafan naGemarja yaHilkia, ovo Sedekia, ohamba yaJuda e va tuma kuNebukadnesar, ohamba yaBabilon, kuBabilon ndele tai ti ngaha: 4 “Omwene wovakwaita, Kalunga kaIsrael, ota lombwele ngaha eenghwate adishe odo nde di kufa muJerusalem nonde di tembula muBabilon: 5 Dikeni omaumbo, mu kale mo, twikeni oikunino, nye mu lye oiimati yayo. 6 Homboleni ovakainhu, nye mu dale ounona ovamati noukadona, novana veni oukadona va hombolwe kovana veni ovalumenhu vo va dale ovamati noukadona. Hapupaleni ko, inamu ninipala. 7 Ndele oshilando osho nde mu twala eenghwate, shi haleleni ouwa nye mu shi ilikanene kOmwene, osheshi ombili yasho oyo ombili yeni yo. 8 Osheshi Omwene womatanga ovakwaita, Kalunga kaIsrael, ota ti: ‘Taleni, muha kotokelwe kovaxunganeki ava hava kala mokati keni nokeemhule deni, nye inamu lineekela eendjodi davo. 9 Osheshi vo otave mu xunganekele oipupulu medina lange; Ame inandi va tuma, Omwene osho ta ti.’
10 “Osheshi Omwene ota ti ngaha: ‘Omido 70 domuBabilon nge da xula, Ame ohandi ke mu dimbulukwa noku mu wanifila eudaneko lange liwa, ndi mu alulile ponhele ei. 11 Osheshi omadiladilo ange nde e mu diladilila ondi a shii, Omwene osho ta ti, omadiladilo ombili, hao omupya. Ame ohandi mu pe efimbo lokomesho pamwe neteelelo liwa. 12 Opo nee nye otamu ka ifana nge ndele tamu ke uya ko ndele tamu ilikana nge, ndele Ame handi ke mu uda. 13 Ndele onye otamu ka konga nge, ndele tamu mono nge, ngeenge tamu kongo nge nomutima weni aushe. 14 Ndele Ame handi itavele, mu mone nge, Omwene osho ta ti, nonda hala oku mu alula moupika weni nohandi mu kongolola mo moiwana aishe nomeenhele adishe, oko nde mu undulila ko, Omwene osho ta ti. Ndele handi ke mu shunifila konhele oyo nde mu tele ko, eshi nde mu twala moukwatwa.’
15 “Onye ngeenge tamu ti: ‘Omwene okwe tu papudulila ovaxunganeki muBabilon,’ 16 opo nee Omwene ta ti ngaha mokupopya ohamba i li omutumba kolukalwapangelo laDavid novanhu aveshe ve li moshilongo eshi, ovamwaxo ovo inava ya pamwe nanye moukwatwa; 17 Omwene womatanga ovakwaita ota ti: ‘Tala, Ame ohandi va tumine eongamukonda nondjala noudu wolutapo, nohandi va ningi ngaashi eenghwiyu da nyonauka, itadi liwa. 18 Ndele Ame ohandi ke va shikulifa eongamukonda nondjala noudu wolutapo, nohandi ke va ninga etilifohaluko momauhamba aeshe kombada yedu, notava ningi efingo noixuna nesheko noiyolifa mokati koiwana aishe oko handi va tumine ko, 19 osheshi inava pwilikina eendjovo dange, Omwene osho ta ti, eshi Ame inandi fya ounye efiku nefiku moku va tumina ovapiya vange ovaxunganeki. Ndelenee nye inamu pwilikina, Omwene ta ti.’ 20 Ndelenee onye ovapika amushe, pwilikineni eendjovo dOmwene, onye amushe ovo nde mu kufa muJerusalem nonde mu twala kuBabilon. 21 ‘Omwene womatanga ovakwaita, Kalunga kaIsrael, mokupopya Ahab yaKolaja naSedekia yaMaasea, ava have mu xunganekele oipupulu medina lange, Ye ota ti: Tala, Ame ohandi va yandje momake aNebukadnesar, ohamba yaBabilon, ye ote ke va dipaifa moipafi yeni. 22 Ndele vo otava ka ninga ondjovo yefingo keenghwate adishe domuJuda, di li muBabilon, tapa tiwa: “Omwene ne ku ninge ngaashi Sedekia naAhab, ovo va yofwa momundilo kohamba yaBabilon,” 23 osheshi ova longa oshilonga shoixuna muIsrael nova haela novakainhu vookaume kavo, nova popya eendjovo medina lange inandi di va lombwela. Ndele Ame ou ondi shi shii, Aame ondobwedi, Omwene osho ta ti.’ ”
24 Ndele Shemaia, Omunehelami mu lombwela u tye: 25 “Omwene womatanga ovakwaita, Kalunga kaIsrael, ota ti: Ove eshi wa tuma onhumwafo ei medina loye kovanhu aveshe ve li muJerusalem nokomupristeli Sefania yaMaasea nokovapristeli aveshe notai ti: 26 ‘Omwene okwe ku lenga u ninge omupristeli ponhele yomupristeli Jehoiada motembeli yOmwene, opo mu kale ovataleli vokupashukila omalai aeshe novaxunganeki, u va tule meti, ove u va mangife omalyenge mofingo. 27 Omolwashike ino hanyena omuxunganeki Jeremia, Omuanatot, ou te mu xunganekele? 28 Onghee hano okwe tu tumina ondaka ei kuBabilon, tai ti: “Natango oku na omafiku mahapu. Dikeni omaumbo mu kale mo, twikeni oikunino mu lye oiimati yayo.” ’ ” 29 Ndele onhumwafo ei oya leshelwa momatwi omuxunganeki Jeremia komupristeli Sefania. 30 Opo nee ondjovo ei yOmwene oya hanga omuxunganeki Jeremia ndele tai ti: 31 “Shangela eenghwate adishe ondjovo ei ove u tye: ‘Omwene ota popi Shemaia, Omunehelami ngaha: Shaashi Shemaia e mu xunganekela, Ame nande inandi mu tuma, nokwa hongaula mu lineekele oipupulu, 32 onghee Omwene ta ti. Tala, Ame onda hala okuhandukila Shemaia, Omunehelami noludalo laye. Ye ota ka kala ehe namukwao, ou ta kala mokati kovanhu ava. Omesho aye itaa ka tala ouwa ou handi ke u ningila oshiwana shange, Omwene osho ta ti, osheshi ye okwa udifa eliteeko okuliteeka Omwene.’ ”
