Jeremiah 24

1 The Lord revealed to me, and behold, two baskets full of figs were set before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, carried away Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and his leaders, and the craftsmen and engravers of Jerusalem, and led them into Babylon.

巴比倫王拿步高從耶路撒冷將猶大王約雅金的兒子耶苛尼雅和猶大的眾王侯，技工和鐵匠，擄到巴比倫去以後，上主使我見到一個神視：看，有兩筐無花果放在上主的殿前：

2 One basket had exceedingly good figs, like the figs usually found early in the season, and the other basket had exceedingly bad figs, which could not be eaten because they were so bad.

一筐內裝的是很好的無花果，好像是初熟的無花果；另一筐內裝的卻是很壞的無花果，壞得幾乎不能吃。

3 And the Lord said to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said: “Figs: the good figs are very good, and the bad figs are very bad and cannot be eaten because they are so bad.”

於是上主問我說：「耶肋米亞，你看見什麼﹖」我答說：「無花果：好的無花果實在好，壞的也實在壞，壞得至於不能吃。」

4 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

那時，有上主的話傳給我說：「

5 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Just like these good figs, so will I regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent from this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

上主，以色列的天主這樣說：我要惠然眷顧，我從這裏遣往加色丁地去的猶大俘虜，像這些好無花果一樣；

6 And I will set my eyes upon them, so as to be pleased. And I will lead them back into this land. And I will build them up, and I will not tear them down. And I will plant them, and I will not uproot them.

好好照顧他們，領他們回到這地方來；從新建樹他們，不再拆毀；從新栽培他們，不再拔除；

7 And I will give them a heart, so that they may know me, that I am the Lord. And they will be my people, and I will be their God. For they shall return to me with their whole heart.

賦給他們一顆認識我的心，知道只有我是上主；他們要作我的人民，我要作他們的天主；因為他們要全心回頭歸向我。

8 And just like the very bad figs, which cannot be eaten because they are so bad, thus says the Lord: so will I regard Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his leaders, and the rest of Jerusalem, those who have remained in this city, and those who are living in the land of Egypt.

至於人怎樣對待那些壞的，壞得不可吃的無花果──上主這樣說──我也要怎樣對待猶大王漆德克雅和他的王侯，以及留在此地並住在埃及地的耶路撒冷遺民，

9 And I will give them over, with upheaval and affliction, to all the kingdoms of the earth: to be a disgrace, and a parable, and a proverb, and a curse in all the places to which I have cast them out.

使他們成為地上各或恐怖的對象；在我驅逐他們所到的地方，成為人侮辱、譏笑、嘲弄和詛咒的對象；

10 And I will send among them the sword, and famine, and pestilence: until they have been worn away from the land, which I gave to them and to their fathers.”

給他們招來戰爭、饑荒和瘟疫，直到他們由我賜給他們和他們祖先的地上完全消滅。