Lamentations 5
1 Remember, O Jehovah, what has come upon us. Behold, and see our reproach.
Khumbula, Nkosi, ukuthi kwenzakaleni kithi; khangela, ubone ihlazo lethu.
2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
Ilifa lethu seliphendulelwe kwabezizwe, izindlu zethu kwabemzini.
3 We are orphans and fatherless. Our mothers are as widows.
Siyizintandane, kungelababa; omama banjengabafelokazi.
4 We have drunken our water for money. Our wood is sold to us.
Amanzi ethu siwanathile ngemali; inkuni zethu ziza ngentengo.
5 Our pursuers are upon our necks. We are weary, and have no rest.
Sizingelwa ezintanyeni zethu, sidiniwe, kasilakuphumula.
6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
Sinike isandla sethu kwabeGibhithe, labeAsiriya, ukuze sisuthiswe ngesinkwa.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are not, and we have borne their iniquities.
Obaba bona, kabasekho, njalo thina sithwele iziphambeko zabo.
8 Servants rule over us. There is none to deliver us out of their hand.
Izigqili ziyasibusa, kakho ongasihluthuna esandleni sazo.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword of the wilderness.
Sizuza isinkwa sethu ngengozi yempilo yethu, ngenxa yenkemba yenkangala.
10 Our skin is black like an oven, because of the burning heat of famine.
Ijwabu lethu limnyama njengeziko ngenxa yokutshisa okukhulu kwendlala.
11 They ravished the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah.
Badlova abesifazana eZiyoni, izintombi ezimsulwa emizini yakoJuda.
12 Rulers were hanged up by their hand. The faces of elders were not honored.
Iziphathamandla zaphanyekwa ngesandla sazo; ubuso babadala kabuhlonitshwanga.
13 The young men bore the mill, and the sons stumbled under the wood.
Amajaha athwala amatshe okuchola, labafana bakhubeka ngaphansi kwenkuni.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music.
Abadala baphelile esangweni, amajaha ekuhlabeleleni.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased, our dance is turned into mourning.
Intokozo yenhliziyo yethu iphelile, ukugida kwethu kwaphenduka ukulila.
16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us! For we have sinned.
Umqhele wekhanda lethu uwile; hawu, maye kithi, ngoba sonile!
17 For this our heart is faint. For these things our eyes are dim,
Ngenxa yalokhu inhliziyo yethu iphela amandla; ngenxa yalezizinto amehlo ethu afiphele.
18 for the mountain of Zion, which is desolate. The foxes walk upon it.
Ngenxa yentaba yeZiyoni elunxiwa, amakhanka ahamba phezu kwayo.
19 Thou, O Jehovah, abide forever. Thy throne is from generation to generation.
Wena, Nkosi, uhlezi kuze kube nininini, isihlalo sakho sobukhosi sisuka esizukulwaneni sisiya esizukulwaneni.
20 Why do thou forget us forever, and forsake us so long time?
Usikhohlweleni njalonjalo, usidela okobude bezinsuku?
21 Turn thou us back to thee, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned back. Renew our days as of old.
Siphendulele kuwe, Nkosi, sizaphenduka; yenza insuku zethu zibe zintsha njengasendulo.
22 But thou have utterly rejected us. Thou are very angry against us.
Kodwa ususilahlile isibili; usithukuthelele kakhulukazi.
