Ontumwafo kaapongekwa
1 Onda nyolele aayambi, aahunganeki, aawiliki yoshigwana naayehe mboka Nebukadnezzar e ya fala oonkwatwa ya zi muJerusalem ya yi kuBabilon. 2 Onde yi nyola konima omukwaniilwa Jehoiakin, yina, omalenga, aawiliki yaJuda noyaJerusalem, omangomba naahambudhi yiiyedhilitho sho ya falwa muupongekwa. 3 Ontumwafo onde yi pe Elasa lyaShafan naGemarja gaHilkia, mboka ya tuminwe komukwaniilwa gwaJuda Sedekia, ya ye komukwaniilwa gwaBabilonia Nebukadnezzar. Otayi ti:
4 “Omuwa Omunankondoawike, Kalunga kaIsrael, ota lombwele aantu ayehe mboka a ziminine Nebukadnezzar e ya kuthe muJerusalem oonkwatwa noku ya fale kuBabilon: 5 ‘Dhikeni omagumbo, mu kale mo. Tsikeni iitsambe, mu lye iiyimati yayo. 6 Hokanathaneni, mu vale aanona. Hokanitheni aana yeni, opo ya vale aanona. Omu na okwiindjipala, mu ninge oyendji, hakushonopala. 7 Longeni uuwanawa wiilando mbyoka nde mu fala kuyo muupongekwa. Yi galikaneneni Omuwa, oshoka ngele oyi li melago, nane omu li melago. 8 Ongame, Omuwa, Kalunga kaIsrael, tandi mu londodha mwaa pitike mu kotokelwe kaahunganeki mboka ye li mokati keni, nenge kuyalwe mboka taa popi taa ti, otaa vulu okuhunganeka onakuyiwa. Inamu pupa ko koondjodhi dhawo. 9 Otaye mu lombwele iifundja medhina lyandje. Inandi ya tuma. Ongame, Omuwa, nda popi.’
10 “Omuwa ota ti: ‘Omimvo dhomuBabilonia omilongo heyali nge dha piti po, otandi mu dhimbulukwa nokudhiginina euvaneko lyandje notandi mu galulile kegumbo. 11 Ongame awike ndi shi shoka nde mu dhiladhilila, omadhiladhilo gandje ogelago, hagomupya; otandi mu pe onakuyiwa netegameno. 12 Otamu ka ithana ndje. Otamu ke ya tamu galikana ndje, notandi ke mu yamukula. 13 Otamu ka konga ndje, notamu ka mona ndje, oshoka otamu ka konga ndje nomwenyo aguhe. 14 Eeno, otandi ti, otamu ka mona ndje, notandi ke mu tululula mevi lyeni. Otandi ke mu kongolola koshilongo kehe nokehala kehe nkoka nde mu halakanithile ko, notandi ke mu galulila mevi ndyoka nda li nde mu kutha mo, mu ye muupongekwa. Ongame, Omuwa, nda popi.’
15 “Otamu ti, Omuwa okwe mu pe aahunganeki muBabilon. 16 Pulakeneni shoka Omuwa ta popi omukwaniilwa ngoka a kuutumba koshipangelapundi shaDavid naantu ayehe ya thigala mo moshilongo shika, aakweni mboka inaa ya muupongekwa pamwe nane. 17 Omuwa Omunankondoawike ota ti: ‘Otandi eta kuyo iita, ondjala nelega, otandi ke ya ninga ya fa oonkwiyu dho ola noitadhi liwa we.’ 18 Otandi ya landulitha iita, ondjala nelega, niigwana ayihe yomuuyuni otayi ka haluka kushoka tayi shi mono. Shaa nkoka nde ya halakanithile, aantu otaa kunkwa ya haluka kushoka she ya ningilwa. Aantu otaye ke ya nyonkela notaa tumbula edhina lyawo, ngele taa thingana. 19 Shika otashi ke ya ningilwa, oshoka inaa vulika koohapu ndhoka nda dhiginine oku dhi ya tumina maapiya yandje aahunganeki. Oya tindi okupulakena. 20 Ne amuhe mboka nda tumu muupongekwa muBabilon, pulakeneni shoka ngame, Omuwa, tandi ti.”
21 Omuwa Omunankondoawike, Kalunga kaIsrael, okwa popi Ahab yaKolajia naSedekia yaMaaseia, mboka taye mu lombwele iifundja medhina lye. Ota ti, ote ke ya gandja miikaha yomukwaniilwa gwaBabilonia Nebukadnezzar, ngoka te ke ya dhipagela montaneho yeni. 22 Uuna aapongekwa Aajuda yomuBabilonia taa ka thinga omuntu gwontumba, otaa ka tya: “Omuwa ne ku ninge wa fa Sedekia nAhab, mboka omukwaniilwa gwaBabilonia e ya kanga piikangwa ye na omwenyo!” 23 Eso lyawo osho tali ka kala lya tya ngaaka, oshoka oye na ondjo onenenene — oya hondele e taa popi iifundja medhina lyOmuwa. Shika osho okutsa ondumbo nOmuwa nehalo lye. Oku shi shi shoka ya ningi, oye onzapo yawo. Omuwa okwa popi.
Ontumwafo yaShemaja
24-25 Omuwa Omunankondoawike, Kalunga kaIsrael, okwa pe ndje elaka tali popi Shemaja yaNehelam, ngoka a tumu ontumwafo medhina lye mwene kAajerusalem ayehe nokomuyambi Sefania yaMaaseia nokaayambi ayehe. Montumwafo ndjika Shemaja okwa nyolele Sefania ta ti: 26 “Omuwa okwe ku langeke muuyambi peha lyaJehoiada, u kale omukuluntu motempeli. Osho oshilonga shoye okutala kutya omuyanankwengu kehe ti ihungunine okuninga omuhunganeki, na tulwe momalyenge nolugondo lwosheela mothingo ye. 27 Omolwashike inoo shi ningila Jeremia gwokuAnatot, ngoka tu uvithile aantu a fa omuhunganeki? 28 Oku na okumwenekwa, oshoka okwa lombwele aantu muBabilonia kutya onaa ka kala muupongekwa ethimbo ele noye na okutunga omagumbo okukala mo nokutsika iitsambe, ya mone iiyimati okulya.”
29 Sefania okwa leshele ndje ontumwafo ndjika. 30 Nena Omuwa okwa lombwele ndje, 31-32 ndi tumine aapongekwa ayehe muBabilon elaka ndika tali popi Shemaja tali ti: “Ongame, Omuwa, tandi ka geela Shemaja noluvalo lwe, oshoka okwe mu hunganekele, nando inandi mu tuma. Okwe mu lombwele iifundja. Ita ka kala e na oluvalo mokati keni. Ita ka kala e na omwenyo, a mone uuwanawa mboka tandi ka ningila aantu yandje, oshoka okwe ya uvithile, ya tse ondumbo nangame. Ongame, Omuwa, nda popi.”
Jeremiah's Letter to the People of Judah in Babylonia
1-2 I had been left in Jerusalem when King Nebuchadnezzar took many of the people of Jerusalem and Judah to Babylonia as prisoners, including King Jehoiachin, his mother, his officials, and the metal workers and others in Jerusalem who were skilled in making things. So I wrote a letter to the priests, the prophets, the leaders, and the rest of our people in Babylonia. 3 I gave the letter to Elasah and Gemariah, two men that King Zedekiah of Judah was sending to Babylon to talk with Nebuchadnezzar. In the letter, I wrote 4 that the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said:
I had you taken from Jerusalem to Babylonia. Now I tell you 5 to settle there and build houses. Plant gardens and eat what you grow in them. 6 Get married and have children, then help your sons find wives and help your daughters find husbands, so they can have children as well. I want your numbers to grow, not to get smaller.
7 Pray for peace in Babylonia and work hard to make it prosperous. The more successful that nation is, the better off you will be.
8-9 Some of your people there in Babylonia are fortunetellers, and you have asked them to tell you what will happen in the future. But they will only lead you astray with their dreams. And don't let the prophets fool you, either. They speak in my name, but they are liars. I have not spoken to them.
10 After Babylonia has been the strongest nation for 70 years, I will be kind and bring you back to Jerusalem, just as I have promised. 11 I will bless you with a future filled with hope—a future of success, not of suffering. 12 You will turn back to me and ask for help, and I will answer your prayers. 13 You will worship me with all your heart, and I will be with you 14 and accept your worship. Then I will gather you from all the nations where I scattered you, and you will return to Jerusalem.
15 You feel secure, because you think I have sent prophets to speak for me in Babylonia.
16-19 But I have been sending prophets to the people of Judah for a long time, and the king from David's family and the people who are left in Jerusalem and Judah still don't obey me. So I, the Lord All-Powerful, will keep attacking them with war and hunger and disease, until they are as useless as rotten figs. I will force them to leave the land, and all nations will be disgusted and shocked at what happens to them. The nations will sneer and make fun of them and use the names “Judah” and “Jerusalem” as curse words.
And you have not obeyed me, even though 20 I had you taken from Jerusalem to Babylonia. But you had better listen to me now. 21-23 You think Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah are prophets because they claim to speak for me. But they are lying! I haven't told them anything. They are also committing other horrible sins in your community, such as sleeping with the wives of their friends. So I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar, who will put them to death while the rest of you watch. And in the future, when you want to put a curse on someone, you will say, “I pray that the Lord will kill you in the same way the king of Babylonia burned Zedekiah and Ahab to death!”
A Message for Shemaiah
24-25 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, told me what would happen to Shemaiah, who was one of our people in Babylonia. After my letter reached Babylonia, Shemaiah wrote letters to the people of Jerusalem, including the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and the other priests. The letter to Zephaniah said:
26 After the death of Jehoiada the priest, the Lord chose you to be the priest in charge of the temple security force. You know that anyone who acts crazy and pretends to be a prophet should be arrested and put in chains and iron collars. 27 Jeremiah from the town of Anathoth is pretending to be a prophet there in Jerusalem, so why haven't you punished him? 28 He even wrote a letter to the people here in Babylonia, saying we would be here a long time. He told us to build homes and to plant gardens and grow our own food.
29 When Zephaniah received Shemaiah's letter, he read it to me. 30 Then the Lord told me what to write in a second letter 31 to the people of Judah who had been taken to Babylonia. In this letter, I wrote that the Lord had said:
I, the Lord, have not chosen Shemaiah to be one of my prophets, and he has misled you by telling lies in my name. 32 He has even talked you into disobeying me. So I will punish Shemaiah. He and his descendants won't live to see the good things I will do for my people. I, the Lord, have spoken.
