Ezekieli 15
1 Kisha neno la Yahwe likanijia, liksema,
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2 “Mwanadamu, je ni jisni gani mzabibu ulivo bora kuliko mti na matawi yaliyomo kwenye miti katika msitu?
“Son of man, how is a vine better than any tree with branches that is among the trees in a forest?
3 Je watu huwa wanachukua mbao kutoka kwenye mzabbibu kufanyia chochote? au huwa wanatengenezea vitu kutokana na huo kuning'iniza chochote juu ya huo?
Do people take wood from a vine to make anything? Or do they make a peg from it to hang anything on it?
4 Tazama! Kama umetupwa kwenye moto kama kuni, na kama moto umezichoma ncha zake zote na katikati pia, je unafaa kwa chochote?
See! If it is thrown into a fire as fuel, and if the fire has burned both of its ends and also the middle, is it good for anything?
5 Tazama! Wakati ulipokuwa umekamilika, haukuweza kufanya chochote; kisha hakika, wakati moto ulipouchoma, lakini bado haukuweza kutengeneza kitu chochote kwa ajili ya matumizi yoyote.
See! When it was complete, it could not make anything; surely then, when the fire has burned, then it still will not make anything useful.
6 Kwa hiyo Bwana Yahwe asema hivi: haufanani na miti katika misitu, niliyoitoa mzabibu kama kuni kwa moto; nitatenda vivyo hivyo mbele ya wakaao Yerusalemu.
Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Unlike the trees in the forests, I have given the vine as fuel for fires; I will act in the same way toward the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7 Kwa kuwa nitauweka uso wangu juu yao. Ingawa watatoka kutoka kwenye moto, bado moto utawala; hivyo mtajua kwamba mimi ni Yahwe, wakati nitakapoona uso wangu juu yenu.
For I will set my face against them. Though they come out from the fire, yet the fire will consume them; so you will know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them.
8 Kisha nitaifanya nchi kuwa ukiwa kwa sababu wamefanya dhambi-hivi ndivyo Bwana Yahwe asemavyo.”
Then I will make the land into an abandoned wasteland because they have committed sin—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.”
