Limbelimbe le Iziraela
1 Ndobhuzwa ngono kuti, apa Ndzimu wakalamba bathu bawo kene? Ndodwa! Imi nge kwangu ndi N'iziraela, tjizekugwana tja Abhurahama ndili we nsha wa Bhenjamini. 2 Ndzimu auzolamba bathu bawo, bawakaziba kuli kale. Apa amutoziba kuti Hwalo dzotini ngekwa Elija, se kwaanokumbila Ndzimu kuti ubone Iziraela nlandu? 3 Kati, “She, Baiziraela bakabulaya balebesambeli benyu, bakapkhwanya zwibeso zwenyu zwe zwibhayilo, ndimi ndoga ndasala, ngono banoshaka ku ndibulaya.” 4 Koga Ndzimu wakan'dabila uitini kene? Wakati, “Ndakazwibiganyidzila balume bali zwiwulu zwili kutendeka basakatongothigamila Bhaale.” 5 Ndizo kwakajalo nangwenu, kuna malimbelimbe Ndzimu awakashalula nge ngoni dzawo. 6 Koga ha akashalugwa kwakabigwa mu ngoni dzawo, kodwa kuti kushalula akuzotemelela mu mishingo, ha kwabe kwakajalo, ngoni dzawo dzingabe dzisitji ngoni.
7 Ngono kee? Bathu be Iziraela bakakong'wa kuwana tjabakabe beshaka. Bashalugwa bakatjiwana, koga bakasala bose bakakukutala. 8 Sekwa kwakakwagwa kuyi,
“Ndzimu wakabapa meya ye wope,
kuti mesho asibone
ne zebe dzisihwe,
kuswikila zhuba lino.”
9 Ngono Dafite kati,
“Dzene butjilo gwabo gungabe dati ne bhuzhu,
ne tjinobakutha ne kulobgwa kwabo.
10 Mesho abo ngaapofupadziwe, kuti ndizo basibone;
bagogonyale nge kusingapele.”
11 Ndizo ndobhuzwa, apa bakakuthiwa, kuti ndizo bawe kene? Ndodwa! Koga ngotjinya kwabo, jidzo lakazha kuna Bezwitjaba, kuti ndizo Baiziraela babe ne fupa. 12 Ngono ha kutjinya kwabo kufumisa shango, ne kukong'wa kwabo kufumisa Bezwitjaba. Kutjidziwa kwe Baiziraela kowopapha fumwa inopinda iyeyi kanjinji seni!
Ndzimu wakatjidza Bezwitjaba
13 Ngwenu ndolebeleka namwi Bezwitjaba. Se ndili ntumwa kuna Bezwitjaba, ndokudza nshingo wangu, 14 kuti ndizo Bajuta, ibo be ludzi gwangu babe ne fupa, kuti ndizo bamwe babo batjidziwe. 15 Ngobe ha kulambiwa kwabo kudwa kugadzanyiwa kwe shango, kuamutjigwa kwabo kowobeni ha isi kutjila kwe bafi koga?
16 Ha ipemu tje tjiwunga tjidusiwa se tjipo tje kutanga, tjakayengemala, tjiwunga tjose tjobe tjakayengemala, ngono ha ndzi we nti wakayengemala ne thabi dzawo dzakayengemala. 17 Koga ha thabi dzimwe dze ntoba wakadzwagwa dzakathubugwa, imwi lutabi gwe ntoba we shango mukamedzekiwa muuli, mu magalo abo kuti mube ne gobe mu nti we ntoba, 18 musitongo zwikudza se munopinda thabi. Ha muzwikudza, mualakane kuti imwi ate imwi makabhata ndzi koga ndzi ndiwo wakabhata imwi.
19 Koga mowoti, “Thabi dzakathubugwa kuti timedzekiwe.” 20 Ikoku malebeswa. Bakathubugwa nge kusagalamoyo kwabo, koga imwi musime nge kugalamoyo. Ndizo musizwikudze, koga mube ne kutja. 21 Ha Ndzimu usakatjiba thabi dze wakadzwagwa, namwibo autowomutjiba. 22 Bonani nzhazho ne bushongola gwe Ndzimu. Una bushongola kuna ibabo bakawa, koga una nzhazho kumuli ha mudwilila mu nzhazho wawo. Koga kuzhe kwa ikoku, namwibo mowothubugwa. 23 Ngono ne bamwebo abasadwilila mu kusagalamoyo banowomedzekiwa kakale, ngobe Ndzimu una simba le kubamedzeka kakale. 24 Ngono ha imwi makathubugwa mu ntoba we shango nge mbumbiko, mube mu medzekiwa kusingayendidzane ne mbumbiko, mu ntoba wakadzwagwa, ngono kowobe kulelu kungapani kumedzeka kakale thabi idzedzi dzakathubugwa muna mayi badzo kene?
Ndzimu unohwila bathu bose ngoni
25 Kuti musizwipe butjenjedu gwa musinago, zwikamu, ndoshaka kuti muhwisise masazibgwe iyawa. Kukukutala kwakangina mu bamwe ba Iziraela, kuswikila Bezwitjaba betjidziwa nge buzhalo. 26 Ndizo Iziraela yose inowotjidziwa, sekwa kwakakwagwa kuyi,
“Nsununguli unowodwa ku Ziyoni,
unowodusa bubi gose mu ludzi gwa Jakubo.
27 Ngono etji nditjo tjinowobe tjidumano tjangu nabo,
ha ndidusa zwibi zwabo.”
28 Nge kwe ndebo mbuya Baiziraela zwita zwe Ndzimu nge kwenyu, ngoshalugwa Baiziraela banodiwa ngekwa bobatategulu babo; 29 ngobe zwipo zwe Ndzimu ne kudana kwawo azwitoshanduka. 30 Sekwa makatongobe musingahwe Ndzimu, ngono ngwenu makahwigwa zogwadza nge kusahwa kwabo, 31 ndizo naibo bakashaya kuhwa kuti se kwamakahwigwa zogwadza, na ibobo bahwigwe zogwadza. 32 Ndzimu wakathama bathu bose basungwa be kusahwa kwabo, kuti ndizo ubahwile ngoni bose.
Takafanila kuti tikudze Ndzimu
33 Bathu bedu! Fumwa ye butjenjedu ne luzibo gwe Ndzimu zwikulu seni! Kusumikilisa kwawo akuna ungakutjenesa, ndiani ungalonda zila dzawo kene?
34 “Ndiani wakaziba nkumbulo wa She?
Ndiani wakabe nkumbuludzi wabo?
35 Kene ndiani wakatongoupa tjipo
kuti ekotjibuzigwa?”
36 Zwithu zose zwakabumbiwa ndiwo, zwithu zose zwiyapo ndiwo, kakale zwili zwawo. Ndzimu ngaukudziwe nge kusingapele kose! Ngakujalo.
God Has Not Rejected His People
1 Am I saying that God has turned his back on his people? Certainly not! I am one of the people of Israel, and I myself am a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not turn his back on his chosen people. Don't you remember reading in the Scriptures how Elijah complained to God about the people of Israel? 3 He said, “Lord, they killed your prophets and destroyed your altars. I am the only one left, and now they want to kill me.”
4 But the Lord told Elijah, “I still have 7,000 followers who have not worshiped Baal.” 5 It is the same way now. God treated the people of Israel with undeserved grace, and so a few of them are still his followers. 6 This happened because of God's undeserved kindness and not because of anything they have done. It could not have happened except for God's gift of undeserved grace.
7 This means that only a chosen few of the people of Israel found what all of them were searching for. And the rest of them were stubborn, 8 just as the Scriptures say,
“God made them so stupid
that their eyes are blind,
and their ears
are still deaf.”
9 Then David said,
“Turn their meals
into bait for a trap,
so that they will stumble
and be given
what they deserve.
10 Blindfold their eyes!
Don't let them see.
Bend their backs
beneath a burden
that will never be lifted.”
Gentiles Will Be Saved
11 Do I mean that the people of Israel fell, never to get up again? Certainly not! Their failure made it possible for the Gentiles to be saved, and this will make the people of Israel jealous. 12 But if the rest of the world's people were helped so much by their sin and loss, they will be helped even more by their full return.
13 I am now speaking to you Gentiles, and as long as I am an apostle to you, I will take pride in my work. 14 I hope in this way to make some of my own people jealous enough to be saved. 15 When Israel rejected God, the rest of the people in the world were able to turn to him. So when God makes friends with Israel, it will be like bringing the dead back to life. 16 If part of a batch of dough is made holy by being offered to God, then all of the dough is holy. If the roots of a tree are holy, the rest of the tree is holy too.
17 You Gentiles are like branches of a wild olive tree made to be part of a cultivated olive tree. You have taken the place of some branches that were cut away from it. And because of this, you enjoy the blessings that come from being part of that cultivated tree. 18 But don't think you are better than the branches that were cut away. Just remember you are not supporting the roots of this tree. Its roots are supporting you.
19 Maybe you think those branches were cut away, so you could be put in their place. 20 That's true enough. But they were cut away because they did not have faith, and you are where you are because you do have faith. So don't be proud, but be afraid. 21 If God cut away those natural branches, couldn't he do the same to you?
22 Now you see both how kind and how hard God can be. He was hard on those who fell, but he was kind to you. And he will keep on being kind to you, if you keep on trusting in his kindness. Otherwise, you will be cut away too.
23 If those other branches will start having faith, they will be made a part of that tree again. God has the power to put them back. 24 After all, it wasn't natural for branches to be cut from a wild olive tree and to be made part of a cultivated olive tree. So it is much more likely that God will join the natural branches back to the cultivated olive tree.
The People of Israel Will Be Brought Back
25 My friends, I don't want you Gentiles to be too proud of yourselves. So I will explain the mystery of what has happened to the people of Israel. Some of them have become stubborn, and they will stay like that until the complete number of you Gentiles has come in. 26 In this way all of Israel will be saved, as the Scriptures say,
“From Zion someone will come
to rescue us.
Then Jacob's descendants
will stop being evil.
27 This is what the Lord
has promised to do
when he forgives their sins.”
28 The people of Israel are treated as God's enemies, so the good news can come to you Gentiles. But they are still the chosen ones, and God loves them because of their famous ancestors. 29 God doesn't take back the gifts he has given or disown the people he has chosen.
30 At one time you Gentiles rejected God. But now Israel has rejected God, and you have been shown mercy. 31 And because of the mercy shown to you, they will also be shown mercy. 32 All people have disobeyed God, and that's why he treats them as prisoners. But he does this, so that he can have mercy on all of them.
33 Who can measure the wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God? Who can understand his decisions or explain what he does?
34 “Has anyone known
the thoughts of the Lord
or given him advice?
35 Has anyone loaned
something to the Lord
that must be repaid?”
36 Everything comes from the Lord. All things were made because of him and will return to him. Praise the Lord forever! Amen.