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?”
Uulunde waJerusalem
1 Aajerusalem, matukileni momapandaanda geni!
Ligameneni akuhe! Italeni ne yene!
Kongeni omalandithilo!
Otamu vulu tuu okumona omuntu ta ningi nawa
nota kambadhala okwiinekela Kalunga?
Ngele osho, nena Omuwa ota ka dhimina po Jerusalem.
2 Nonando tamu ti, otamu longele Omuwa,
itamu dhiladhila shoka tamu popi.
3 Oshili, Omuwa ota tala uudhiginini.
Okwe mu dhenge, ihe inamu pupa ko;
okwe mu nyanyagula, ihe omwa tindi okunongela sha.
Omwa tangalala noinamu etha uulunde weni.
4 Onda dhiladhila: “Mbaka oohepele dhowala naashamba.
Oye na uugoya; inaa tseya shoka Kalunga kawo ta pumbwa,
shoka Kalunga a hala ya ninge.
5 Otandi hedha kaanenentu e tandi popi nayo.
Oshili, otaa tseya Kalunga shoka ta pumbwa,
shoka Omuwa a hala ya ninge.”
Ihe oye ekelehi epangelo lyOmuwa
noya tindi okuvulika kuye.
6 Omolwashoka oonime tadhi ka hituluka momugulu, dhi ya lye po;
omambungu gomombuga otage ke ya ndimbula iintimbu,
noongwe otadhi ka hundjunina miilando yawo.
Aantu ngele otaa gwaya mo, otadhi ya tuula,
oshoka uulunde wawo wi indjipala,
esiku nesiku oya pilamene Kalunga.
7 Omuwa okwa pula a ti:
“Omolwashike ndi dhimine po aantu yandje?
Oye etha ndje noya longele ookalunga yaa shi yoshili.
Onda palutha aantu yandje sigo ya kuta,
ihe oyo ya hondele noya kala momagumbo goohonda.
8 Oya fa uukambe uutsezi wo ondoka wa nikula
taa haluka aakiintu yayakwawo.
9 Ondi kale ando inaandi ya geelela iihuna mbika
nondaa konenene oshigwana miinima ya tya ngaaka?
10 Otandi tumu aatondi ya ke po omiviinu dhaantu yandje,
ihe haku ya hanagula po sheke.
Otandi ya lombwele ya ponone ko iitayi,
oshoka iitayi mbyoka kayi shi yandje.
11 Aaisraeli nAajuda oya gwaaleke ndje shili.
Ongame Omuwa nda popi.”
Omuwa te ekelehi Israel
12 Aantu yOmuwa oye mu idhimbike ta ti: “Ita ka ninga sha! Itatu adhika koshiponga! Itatu adhika kiita nenge kondjala yekomba.” 13-14 Oya ti, aahunganeki kaye na omwago, oohapu dhawo ombepo yowala, kaye na elaka lya za kOmuwa. Omuwa, Kalunga Omunankondoawike, okwa lombwele ndje a ti: “Jeremia, aantu sho taa popi iinima ya tya ngaaka, otandi ka tema oohapu dhandje dhi ninge omulilo mokana koye. Aantu otaa ningi ya fa iikuni, nomulilo otagu ya lungunitha po.”
15 Aaisraeli ne, Omuwa ote eta oshigwana tashi zi kokule, shi mu matukile. Osho oshigwana oshinankondo noshikulu, shoka elaka lyasho inoo li tseya. 16 Oondjumbeta dhasho odho aakwiita aanankondo taa dhipaga yaa na onge yasha. 17 Otaa ka dhilagula po iilya yeni niikulya yeni; otaa ka dhipaga po aana yeni aamati naakadhona. Otaa ka tsela po iimuna yeni, oongombe niikombo. Otaa ka hanagula po omiviinu nomikwiyu dheni. Iilandohote yeni mbyoka mwi itula, otayi ka hanagulwa po kiita yawo.
18 Omuwa ota ti: “Ihe nomomasiku ngoka wo itandi ke mu yonagula po thiluthilu. 19 Aantu nge taa pula taa ti: ‘Omolwashike Omuwa Kalunga ketu a ningile aantu ye iinima ya tya ngaaka?’ Ya yamukula to ti: ‘Ngaashi mwi iteka ndje nomwa longele iikalunga iikwiilongo mevi lyeni yene, osho tamu ka longela aakwiilongo mevi lyaa shi lyeni.’ ”
Kalunga ta londodha aantu ye
20 Omuwa ota ti: “Shi hokololeleni oluvalo lwaJakob, ne mu shi tseyithile Aajuda: 21 Pulakena, shigwana ngoye oshigoya noshaa na oondunge. Ne omu na omeho, ihe kamu wete ko; omu na omakutsi, ihe kamu uvite ko. 22 Ongame Omuwa, oshike ihaamu tila ndje? Omolwashike itaamu kakama koshipala shandje? Onda ndumbile ehekevi li ninge ongamba yefuta, ongamba yolela itaayi taakanwa we. Efuta otali vulu okufuluka, ihe itali vulu oku yi taaguluka. Omakuthikuthi otaga yaya, ihe itaga vulu okuwayuka mo. 23 Ihe yantu ne! One aatangalali naanamanganga; omwa pilamene ko nomwa thigi ndje po. 24 Inamu hala nando mu simaneke ndje, nando handi mu lokithile omvula yontemuna noyothinge nohandi mu pe eteyo omumvo kehe. 25 Uulunde weni owe mu keelele uuwanawa mbuka auhe.
26 “Aantu aawinayi oya kala mokati kaantu yandje. Otaa hondjunine ya fa aategi yoomwigo ya yule oondhila, ihe otaa lukile omatavu ya yule aantu. 27 Naanaa ngaashi omukongo tu udha oshikuku she oondhila, osho yu udhitha omagumbo gawo nomaliko ga yugwa. Osho she ya ningi aanankondo naayamba. 28 Oyo ondoka ya ndinda nawa. Miilonga yawo iiwinayi kamu na ongamba. Itaa uthile oothigwa pauyuuki nenge ya popile oohepele.
29 “Ihe ngame Omuwa otandi ke ya geelela iihuna mbika, otandi ka kwatela oshigwana shika iikonene. 30 Moshilongo omwa ningwa iihuna. 31 Aahunganeki otaa hunganeke iifundja, aayambi otaa pangele pamalombwelo gaahunganeki, naantu yandje oye shi hole pahedhi ndjika. Ihe otaa ka ninga shike, ayihe nge ya hulu po?”
