< Jeremiah 24 >
1 Yahweh showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs were set before Yahweh’s temple, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
INkosi yangenza ngibone, khangela-ke, izitsha ezimbili zemikhiwa zibekwe phambi kwethempeli leNkosi, emva kokuthi uNebhukadirezari inkosi yeBhabhiloni esethumbe uJekoniya indodana kaJehoyakhimi, inkosi yakoJuda, leziphathamandla zakoJuda, lababazi, labakhandi, wabasusa eJerusalema, wabasa eBhabhiloni.
2 One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
Esinye isitsha sasilemikhiwa emihle kakhulu njengemikhiwa evuthwe kuqala; kodwa esinye isitsha sasilemikhiwa emibi kakhulu, eyayingeke idliwe ngenxa yobubi bayo.
3 Then Yahweh asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs. The good figs are very good, and the bad are very bad, so bad that they can’t be eaten.”
INkosi yasisithi kimi: Ubonani, Jeremiya? Ngasengisithi: Imikhiwa, imikhiwa emihle, emihle kakhulu; lemibi, emibi kakhulu, engeke idliwe ngenxa yobubi bayo.
4 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
Lafika kimi futhi ilizwi leNkosi lisithi:
5 “Yahweh, the God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, as good.
Itsho njalo iNkosi, uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli: Njengalimikhiwa emihle, ngokunjalo ngizananzelela abathunjiweyo bakoJuda, engibaxotshe ngabasusa kulindawo ngabasa elizweni lamaKhaladiya, kube kuhle.
6 For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. I will build them, and not pull them down. I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
Ngoba ngizabeka ilihlo lami phezu kwabo ngokuhle, ngibabuyisele kulelilizwe; ngibakhe, ngingabadilizi; njalo ngizabahlanyela, ngingabasiphuni.
7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Yahweh. They will be my people, and I will be their God; for they will return to me with their whole heart.
Njalo ngizabanika inhliziyo yokuthi bangazi mina, ukuthi ngiyiNkosi; njalo bazakuba ngabantu bami, mina ngibe nguNkulunkulu wabo; ngoba bazabuyela kimi ngenhliziyo yabo yonke.
8 “‘As the bad figs, which can’t be eaten, they are so bad,’ surely Yahweh says, ‘So I will give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.
Kodwa njengemikhiwa emibi engeke idliwe ngenxa yobubi bayo, isibili itsho njalo iNkosi: Ngokunjalo ngizanika uZedekhiya, inkosi yakoJuda, leziphathamandla zakhe, lensali yeJerusalema, eseleyo kulelilizwe, lalabo abahlala elizweni leGibhithe,
9 I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I will drive them.
ngibanikele babe yinto eyesabekayo, babe yibubi, kuyo yonke imibuso yomhlaba, babe lihlazo, lesaga, inhlekisa, lesiqalekiso, kuzo zonke indawo engizabaxotshela khona.
10 I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, until they are consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.’”
Njalo ngizathumela phakathi kwabo inkemba, indlala, lomatshayabhuqe wesifo, baze baqedwe basuke elizweni engalinika bona laboyise.