1“የይሁዳ ኀጢአት በብረት ብርዕ፣
በሾለ የአልማዝ ጫፍ፣ ተጽፏል፤
በልባቸው ጽላት፣
በመሠዊያቸውም ቀንዶች ላይ ተቀርጿል።
2ልጆቻቸው እንኳ ሳይቀሩ፣
በለመለሙ ዛፎች ሥር፣
ከፍ ባሉ ኰረብቶችም ላይ ያሉትን፣
መሠዊያቸውንና አሼራ የተባለችውን ጣዖት ምስል17፥2 ወይም የአሼራ ዐጸድ ያስባሉ።
3በአገርህ ሁሉ ከተፈጸመው ኀጢአት የተነሣ፣
በምድሪቱ ያለህ ተራራዬ፣17፥3 ወይም በምድሪቱ ያሉ ተራራዎችን
ሀብትህንና ንብረትህን ሁሉ፣
መስገጃ ኰረብቶችህንም ጭምር፣
ለብዝበዛ አደርገዋለሁ።
4በገዛ ጥፋትህ፣
የሰጠሁህን ርስት ታጣለህ፤
በማታውቀውም ምድር፣
ለጠላቶችህ ባሪያ አደርግሃለሁ፤
ለዘላለም የሚነድደውን፣
የቍጣዬን እሳት ጭረሃልና።”
5እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤
“በሰው የሚታመን፣
በሥጋ ለባሽ የሚመካ፣
ልቡንም ከእግዚአብሔር የሚያርቅ የተረገመ ነው።
6በምድረ በዳ እንዳለ ቍጥቋጦ ይሆናል፤
መልካም ነገር ሲመጣ አያይም፤
ሰው በሌለበት በጨው ምድር፣
በምድረ በዳ በደረቅ ስፍራ ይቀመጣል።
7“ነገር ግን በእግዚአብሔር የሚታመን፣
መታመኛውም እግዚአብሔር የሆነ ሰው ቡሩክ ነው።
8በውሃ ዳር እንደ ተተከለ፣
ሥሩንም ወደ ወንዝ እንደ ሰደደ ዛፍ ነው፣
ሙቀት ሲመጣ አይፈራም፤
ቅጠሉም ዘወትር እንደ ለመለመ ነው፤
በድርቅ ዘመን አይሠጋም፤
ፍሬ ማፍራቱንም አያቋርጥም።”
9የሰው ልብ ከሁሉ ይልቅ ተንኰለኛ ነው፤
ፈውስም የለውም፤
ማንስ ሊረዳው ይችላል?
10“እኔ እግዚአብሔር ለሰው ሁሉ እንደ መንገዱ፣
እንደ ሥራው ፍሬ ለመስጠት፣
ልብን እመረምራለሁ፤
የአእምሮንም ሐሳብ እፈትናለሁ።”
11ሀብትን በግፍ የሚያከማች ሰው፣
ያልፈለፈለችውን ጫጩት እንደምትታቀፍ ቆቅ ነው፤
በዕድሜው አጋማሽ ትቶት ይሄዳል፤
በመጨረሻም ሞኝነቱ ይረጋገጣል።
12የመቅደሳችን ስፍራ፣
ከጥንት ጀምሮ ከፍ ያለ የክብር ዙፋን ነው።
13የእስራኤል ተስፋ እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤
ጥለውህ የሚሄዱ ሁሉ ያፍራሉ፤
ፊታቸውን ከአንተ የሚመልሱ በምድር ውስጥ ይጻፋሉ፤
የሕይወትን ውሃ ምንጭ፣
እግዚአብሔርን ትተዋልና።
14እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ ፈውሰኝ፤ እፈወሳለሁ፤
አድነኝ እኔም እድናለሁ፤
አንተ ምስጋናዬ ነህና።
15እነርሱ ደጋግመው፣
“የእግዚአብሔር ቃል የት አለ?
እስቲ አሁን ይፈጸም!” ይሉኛል።
16እረኛ ሆኜ አንተን ከማገልገል ወደ ኋላ አላልሁም፤
ክፉ ቀን እንዳልተመኘሁ ታውቃለህ፤
ከአንደበቴ የሚወጣውም በፊትህ ግልጽ ነው።
17አስደንጋጭ አትሁንብኝ፤
በመከራ ቀን መሸሸጊያዬ አንተ ነህ።
18አሳዳጆቼ ይፈሩ፤
እኔን ግን ከዕፍረት ጠብቀኝ፤
እነርሱ ይደንግጡ፤
እኔን ግን ከድንጋጤ ሰውረኝ፤
ክፉ ቀን አምጣባቸው፤
በዕጥፍ ድርብ ጥፋት አጥፋቸው።
ሰንበትን ማክበር
19እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ አለኝ፤ “ሄደህ የይሁዳ ነገሥታት በሚገቡበትና በሚወጡበት በሕዝቡ በር በሌሎቹም የኢየሩሳሌም በሮች ሁሉ ቁም፤ 20እንዲህም በላቸው፤ ‘በእነዚህ በሮች የምትገቡ የይሁዳ ነገሥታት ሆይ፤ የይሁዳ ሕዝብና በኢየሩሳሌም የምትኖሩ ሁሉ፤ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ስሙ። 21እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ “በሰንበት ቀን ሸክም ተሸክማችሁ በኢየሩሳሌም በሮች እንዳታስገቡ ለራሳችሁ ተጠንቀቁ። 22አባቶቻችሁን እንዳዘዝኋቸው ሰንበትን አክብሩ እንጂ በሰንበት ቀን ከየቤታችሁ ሸክም ይዛችሁ አትውጡ፤ ምንም ሥራ አትሥሩ።” 23እነርሱ ግን አልሰሙም፤ ልብም አላሉም፤ እንዳይሰሙና እንዳይገሠጹም ዐንገታቸውን አደነደኑ። 24ነገር ግን በጥንቃቄ ብትታዘዙኝ ይላል እግዚአብሔር፤ በሰንበትም ቀን በዚህች ከተማ በሮች ሸክም ይዛችሁ ባትገቡ፣ የሰንበትንም ቀን ምንም ሳትሠሩ ብትቀድሱት፣ 25በዳዊት ዙፋን ላይ የሚቀመጡ ነገሥታትና መኳንንታቸው በዚህች ከተማ በሮች ይገባሉ፤ በፈረሶችና በሠረገሎች ተቀምጠው በይሁዳ ሰዎችና በኢየሩሳሌም ነዋሪዎች ታጅበው ይመጣሉ፤ ይህችም ከተማ ለዘላለም የሰው መኖሪያ ትሆናለች። 26ሰዎች ከይሁዳ ከተሞች፣ ከኢየሩሳሌም ዙሪያ፣ ከብንያምም አገር፣ ከቈላውና ከደጋው አገር እንዲሁም ከኔጌቭ የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕትና ሌላ መሥዋዕት፣ የእህል ቍርባን፣ ዕጣንና የምስጋና መሥዋዕት ይዘው ወደ እግዚአብሔር ቤት ይመጣሉ። 27ነገር ግን የሰንበትን ቀን ሳትቀድሱ፣ በሰንበት ቀን ሸክም ተሸክማችሁ በኢየሩሳሌም በሮች በመግባት ትእዛዜን ብትጥሱ፣ በኢየሩሳሌም በሮች ላይ ምሽጎቿን የሚበላ፣ የማይጠፋ እሳት እጭራለሁ።’ ”
1The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;17.1 point: Heb. nail 2Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills. 3O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders. 4And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.17.4 thyself: Heb. in thyself
5¶ Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. 6For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 8For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.17.8 drought: or, restraint
9¶ The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. 11As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.17.11 sitteth…: or, gathereth young which she hath not brought forth
12¶ A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. 13O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters. 14Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
15¶ Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now. 16As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.17.16 to…: Heb. after thee 17Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil. 18Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.17.18 destroy…: Heb. break them with a double breach
19¶ Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates: 21Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. 24And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein; 25Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever. 26And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD. 27But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
