Phaya mbiimbi ne phaya dzakanaka
1 Yahwe bakandilakidza mbono, ndakabona zwitundu zwili zwibili zwina phaya zwakabigwa mbeli kwe Ng'umba ya Yahwe, kwakabe kuli shule kwa Nebukadineza mambo we Bhabhiloni asinotapa kudwa mu Jerusalema Jekoniya nkololo wa Jehoyakimu mambo we Juda kose ne makulukota e Juda ne babezhi ne bathuli be butale ebayisa ku Bhabhiloni. 2 Itundu tjimwe tjakabe tjina phaya dzakanaka dzinga phaya dzinobidwa kutanga koga itundu tjimwe tjakabe tjina phaya dzinobipa, dzibipa kwadzakabe dzisingake dzikajika. 3 Ngono Yahwe bakati kundili, “Unobonani Jeremiya?” Adabila nditi, “Phaya, phaya dzakanaka dzakanakilila ne phaya dzakabipa, dzakabipa kwazo kwadzisingake dzikajika.”
4 Ipapo dama la Yahwe likazha kundili liti, 5 “Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela bakati, ‘Koga se phaya idzedzi dzakanaka ndowotola batapiwa banodwa mu Juda se bakanaka, ili bandakatata mu bugalo igogu ndibatatila ku shango ye Bakhaladiya. 6 Ndowobalonga mesho kubathamila zwakalulwama, ndowobabgwiliza mu shango iyeyi. Ndowobabaka asibapalulanye, ndowobalima asibadzikunule. 7 Ndowobapa meya dze kuziba kuti ndimi Yahwe ngono ibo banowobe bathu bangu imi abe Ndzimu wabo ngoti banowoshandukila kundili nge mimoyo yabo yose.’
8 “Koga Yahwe bakati, ‘Koga se phaya dzinobipa, dzinobipa kwadzisingake dzikajika, ndiko sekwa kwandiwobhata Zedekiya mambo we Juda ne makulukota awe ne malimbelimbe e Jerusalema anowobe asala mu shango iyeyi na bose banogala mu shango ye Egipiti. 9 Ndowobathama badziyidzi ku mibuso yose mu shango, ndowobathama madado ne tjiseko ne bhiso mu magalo wose andinobatatila ko. 10 Ndowotumila thumo ne bhamba ne bugwele kubhayana nabo kuswikila bakolomogwa mu shango yandinobapa ibo na botate babo.’ ”
Two Baskets of Figs
1 The Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the Temple. (This was after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had taken away Jehoiakim's son, King Jehoiachin of Judah, as a prisoner from Jerusalem to Babylonia, together with the leaders of Judah, the craftworkers, and the skilled workers.) 2 The first basket contained good figs, those that ripen early; the other one contained bad figs, too bad to eat. 3 Then the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
I answered, “Figs. The good ones are very good, and the bad ones are very bad, too bad to eat.”
4 So the Lord said to me, 5 “I, the Lord, the God of Israel, consider that the people who were taken away to Babylonia are like these good figs, and I will treat them with kindness. 6 I will watch over them and bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not pull them up. 7 I will give them the desire to know that I am the Lord. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will return to me with all their heart.
8 “As for King Zedekiah of Judah, the politicians around him, and the rest of the people of Jerusalem who have stayed in this land or moved to Egypt—I, the Lord, will treat them all like these figs that are too bad to be eaten. 9 I will bring such a disaster on them that all the nations of the world will be terrified. People will make fun of them, make jokes about them, ridicule them, and use their name as a curse everywhere I scatter them. 10 I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them until there is not one of them left in the land that I gave to them and their ancestors.”