In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-26 is numbered 9:1-25. 1Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for the slain of my people.
2Oh, that I had in the desert
a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,
a crowd of unfaithful people.
3“They make ready their tongue
like a bow, to shoot lies;
it is not by truth
that they triumph9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
4“Beware of your friends;
do not trust anyone in your clan.
For every one of them is a deceiver,9:4 Or a deceiving Jacob
and every friend a slanderer.
5Friend deceives friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
they weary themselves with sinning.
6You9:6 That is, Jeremiah (the Hebrew is singular) live in the midst of deception;
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
7Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:
“See, I will refine and test them,
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?
8Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,
but in their hearts they set traps for them.
9Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?”
10I will weep and wail for the mountains
and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.
They are desolate and untraveled,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds have all fled
and the animals are gone.
11“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a haunt of jackals;
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah
so no one can live there.”
12Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?
13The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. 14Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” 15Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. 16I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them.”
17This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come;
send for the most skillful of them.
18Let them come quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids.
19The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How ruined we are!
How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
because our houses are in ruins.’ ”
20Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
open your ears to the words of his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.
21Death has climbed in through our windows
and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
and the young men from the public squares.
22Say, “This is what the Lord declares:
“ ‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’ ”
23This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
24but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
25“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh— 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
1Aa, ndikanakonda kuti mutu wanga ukanakhala chitsime cha madzi,
ndi maso anga ngati kasupe wa misozi!
Ndikanalira usana ndi usiku
kulirira anthu anga amene aphedwa.
2Ndani adzandipatsa malo
ogona mʼchipululu
kuti ndiwasiye anthu anga
ndi kuwachokera kupita kutali;
pakuti onse ndi achigololo,
ndiponso gulu la anthu onyenga.
3“Amapinda lilime lawo ngati uta.
Mʼdzikomo mwadzaza
ndi mabodza okhaokha
osati zoonadi.
Amapitirirabe kuchita zoyipa;
ndipo sandidziwa Ine.”
Akutero Yehova.
4“Aliyense achenjere ndi abwenzi ake;
asadalire ngakhale abale ake.
Aliyense amafuna kumudyera mʼbale wake masuku pa mutu.
Choncho aliyense amachitira bwenzi lake ugogodi.
5Aliyense amamunamiza mʼbale wake
ndipo palibe amene amayankhula choonadi.
Anapazoloweza pakamwa pawo kunena zabodza;
amalimbika kuchita machimo.
6Iwe wakhalira mʼchinyengo
ndipo ukukana kundidziwa Ine,”
akutero Yehova.
7Nʼchifukwa chake Yehova Wamphamvuzonse akuti,
“Taonani, Ine ndidzawasungunula ngati chitsulo ndi kuwayesa.
Kodi ndingachite nawonso
bwanji chifukwa cha machimo awo?
8Lilime lawo lili ngati muvi wakuthwa;
limayankhula zachinyengo.
Aliyense ndi pakamwa pake amayankhula mawu achikondi kwa mnansi wake,
koma mu mtima mwake amakonzekera zomuchita chiwembu.
9Kodi ndilekerenji kuwalanga chifukwa cha zimenezi?
akutero Yehova.
‘Kodi ndisawulipsire
mtundu wotere wa anthu?’ ”
10Ndidzakhetsa misozi ndi kulira kwamphamvu chifukwa cha mapiri
ndipo ndidzadandaula chifukwa cha msipu wa ku chipululu.
Malo onsewo awonongeka ndipo palibe amene amapitako,
ndipo sikumveka kulira kwa ngʼombe.
Mbalame zamlengalenga zathawa
ndipo nyama zakuthengo zachokako.
11Ndipo Yehova anati, “Ndidzasandutsa Yerusalemu kukhala bwinja,
malo okhalamo ankhandwe;
ndipo ndidzawononga mizinda ya Yuda
kotero kuti palibe munthu amene adzakhalemo.”
12Ine ndinati, “Kodi munthu wanzeru ndani woti nʼkumvetsa zimenezi? Kodi ndani amene Yehova anayankhula naye zimenezi kuti akafotokozere ena? Nʼchifukwa chiyani dziko lawonongeka ndi kusanduka chipululu, mʼmene anthu sadutsamo?”
13Yehova anati, “Nʼchifukwa chakuti anthuwa analeka kutsata malamulo anga amene ndinawapatsa; sanandimvere kapena kuwasamala. 14Mʼmalo mwake, anatsatira zolakwa za mʼmitima yawo; anapembedza Abaala ngati momwe makolo awo anawaphunzitsira.” 15Tsono chimene Ine Yehova Wamphamvuzonse, Mulungu wa Israeli ndidzachite ndi anthu amenewa ndi ichi: “Ndidzawadyetsa chakudya cha ziphe ndi kuwamwetsa madzi a ndulu. 16Ndidzawabalalitsa pakati pa mitundu ya anthu imene iwowo kapena makolo awo sanayidziwe, ndipo ndidzawalondola ndi ankhondo mpaka nditawawononga.”
17Yehova Wamphamvuzonse akuti,
“Tsopano ganizirani! Muyitane akazi olira mwachisoni kuti abwere;
itanani akazi odziwa kulira bwino.”
18Anthu akuti, “Abwere mofulumira
kuti adzatilire
mpaka mʼmaso mwathu mutatuluka misozi
ndi kuti msidze zathu zinyowe ndi madzi.
19Kulira mwachisoni kukumveka kuchokera mu Ziyoni akuti,
‘Aa! Ife tawonongeka!
Tachita manyazi kwambiri!
Tiyenera kuchoka mʼdziko lathu
chifukwa atipirikitsa mʼnyumba zathu.’ ”
20Tsono inu amayi, imvani mawu a Yehova;
tcherani makutu anu kuti mumve mawu a Yehova.
Phunzitsani ana anu aakazi kulira mwachisoni;
aliyense aphunzitse mnzake nyimbo ya maliro.
21Imfa yatifikira kudzera mʼmazenera athu
ndipo yalowa mʼnyumba zathu zotetezedwa;
yapha ana athu mʼmisewu,
ndi achinyamata athu mʼmabwalo.
22Yehova anandiwuza kuti ndinene izi kuti,
“ ‘Mitembo ya anthu
idzakhala ili lambalamba ngati ndowe mʼminda,
ngati mapesi mʼmbuyo mwa wokolola,
popanda munthu woyitola.’ ”
23Yehova akuti,
“Munthu wanzeru asanyadire nzeru zake,
kapena munthu wamphamvu kunyadira nyonga zake,
kapena munthu wolemera kunyadira chuma chake,
24koma ngati munthu akufuna kunyadira, anyadire chinthu ichi:
kuti iye amamvetsa za Ine ndipo amandidziwa,
kuti ndine Yehova, amene ndimakonda chifundo,
chilungamo ndiponso ungwiro pa dziko lapansi.
Zimenezi ndizo ndimakondwera nazo,”
akutero Yehova.
25“Nthawi ikubwera,” akutero Yehova, “pamene ndidzalanga onse amene anachita mdulidwe koma mu mtima sasamala nʼkomwe. 26Ndidzalanga anthu a ku Igupto, Yuda, Edomu, Amoni, Mowabu, ndiponso onse amene amakhala kutali ku chipululu. Mitundu ina yonseyi ndi yosachita mdulidwe, ngakhalenso Aisraeli nawonso sanachite mdulidwe wa mu mtima.”
