< Yeremia 24 >
1 Baada ya Yekonia mwana wa Yehoyakimu mfalme wa Yuda, pamoja na maafisa, mafundi stadi na wahunzi wa Yuda, kuchukuliwa kutoka Yerusalemu kwenda Babeli na Nebukadneza mfalme wa Babeli kwenda uhamishoni huko Babeli, Bwana akanionyesha vikapu viwili vya tini vilivyowekwa mbele ya Hekalu la Bwana.
The Lord shewed me: and behold two baskets full of figs, set before the temple of the Lord: after that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias the son of Joakim the king of Juda, and his chief men, and the craftsmen, and engravers of Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
2 Kikapu kimoja kilikuwa na tini nzuri sana, kama zile za mavuno ya kwanza. Kikapu cha pili kilikuwa na tini dhaifu sana, mbovu mno zisizofaa kuliwa.
One basket had very good figs, like the figs of the first season: and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, because they were bad.
3 Kisha Bwana akaniuliza, “Je, Yeremia, unaona nini?” Nikamjibu, “Ninaona tini zile zilizo nzuri ni nzuri sana, lakini zilizo dhaifu ni mbovu mno zisizofaa kuliwa.”
And the Lord said to me: What seest thou, Jeremias? And I said: Figs, the good figs, very good: and the bad figs, very bad, which cannot be eaten because they are bad.
4 Kisha neno la Bwana likanijia:
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
5 “Hili ndilo Bwana, Mungu wa Israeli, asemalo: ‘Kama zilivyo hizi tini nzuri, ndivyo ninavyowaona kuwa bora watu wa uhamisho kutoka Yuda, niliowaondoa kutoka mahali hapa kwenda katika nchi ya Wakaldayo.
Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Juda, whom I have sent forth out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for their own good.
6 Macho yangu yatakuwa juu yao kwa ajili ya kuwapatia mema, nami nitawarudisha tena katika nchi hii. Nitawajenga wala sitawabomoa, nitawapanda wala sitawangʼoa,
And I will set my eyes upon them to be pacified, and I will bring them again into this land: and I will be their God: and I will build them up, and not pull them down: and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
7 nitawapa moyo wa kunifahamu mimi, kwamba mimi ndimi Bwana. Watakuwa watu wangu, nami nitakuwa Mungu wao, kwa maana watanirudia kwa moyo wao wote.
And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: because they shall return to me with their whole heart.
8 “‘Lakini kama zilivyo zile tini dhaifu, ambazo ni mbovu mno zisizofaa kuliwa,’ asema Bwana, ‘ndivyo nitakavyomtendea Sedekia mfalme wa Yuda, maafisa wake na mabaki wengine kutoka Yerusalemu, wawe wamebaki katika nchi hii, au wanaishi Misri.
And as the very bad figs, that cannot be eaten, because they are bad: thus saith the Lord: So will I give Sedecias the king of Juda, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that have remained in this city, and that dwell in the land of Egypt.
9 Nitawafanya kuwa chukizo kabisa na kitu cha kulaumiwa katika mataifa yote ya dunia, watakuwa aibu na kitu cha kudharauliwa, chombo cha dhihaka na kulaaniwa, popote nitakapowafukuzia.
And I will deliver them up to vexation, and affliction, to all the kingdoms of the earth: to be a reproach, and a byword, and a proverb, and to be a curse in all places, to which I have cast them out.
10 Nitautuma upanga, njaa na tauni dhidi yao hadi wawe wameangamia kutoka nchi niliyowapa wao na baba zao.’”
And I will send among them the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence: till they be consumed out of the land which I gave to them, and their fathers.