UJeremiya 24

1 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.

Jehovah showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of Jehovah, after Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the rulers of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

2 Esinye isitsha sasilemikhiwa emihle kakhulu njengemikhiwa evuthwe kuqala; kodwa esinye isitsha sasilemikhiwa emibi kakhulu, eyayingeke idliwe ngenxa yobubi bayo.

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.

3 INkosi yasisithi kimi: Ubonani, Jeremiya? Ngasengisithi: Imikhiwa, imikhiwa emihle, emihle kakhulu; lemibi, emibi kakhulu, engeke idliwe ngenxa yobubi bayo.

Then Jehovah said to me, What do thou see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs. The good figs, very good, and the bad, very bad, that cannot be eaten they are so bad.

4 Lafika kimi futhi ilizwi leNkosi lisithi:

And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

5 Itsho njalo iNkosi, uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli: Njengalimikhiwa emihle, ngokunjalo ngizananzelela abathunjiweyo bakoJuda, engibaxotshe ngabasusa kulindawo ngabasa elizweni lamaKhaladiya, kube kuhle.

Thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel: 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, for good.

6 Ngoba ngizabeka ilihlo lami phezu kwabo ngokuhle, ngibabuyisele kulelilizwe; ngibakhe, ngingabadilizi; njalo ngizabahlanyela, ngingabasiphuni.

For I will set my eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. And I will build them, and not pull them down, and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

7 Njalo ngizabanika inhliziyo yokuthi bangazi mina, ukuthi ngiyiNkosi; njalo bazakuba ngabantu bami, mina ngibe nguNkulunkulu wabo; ngoba bazabuyela kimi ngenhliziyo yabo yonke.

And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

8 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,

And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten they are so bad, surely thus says Jehovah: So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his rulers, and the residue of Jerusalem, who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.

9 ngibanikele babe yinto eyesabekayo, babe yibubi, kuyo yonke imibuso yomhlaba, babe lihlazo, lesaga, inhlekisa, lesiqalekiso, kuzo zonke indawo engizabaxotshela khona.

I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro 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 shall drive them.

10 Njalo ngizathumela phakathi kwabo inkemba, indlala, lomatshayabhuqe wesifo, baze baqedwe basuke elizweni engalinika bona laboyise.

And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.