Isaiah 36
1 In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.
Ngomnyaka wetshumi lane wokubusa kwenkosi uHezekhiya, uSenakheribhi inkosi yase-Asiriya wahlasela wonke amadolobho avikelweyo akoJuda wawathumba.
2 And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.
Emva kwalokho inkosi yase-Asiriya yathuma umlawuli wayo lebutho elikhulu lisuka eLakhishi lisiya enkosini uHezekhiya eJerusalema. Kwathi umlawuli webutho esemi emgelweni wechibi elingaphezulu, elisendleleni eya eNsimini yoMgezisi,
3 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to him.
u-Eliyakhimu indodana kaHilikhiya umgcini wesigodlo, loShebhina umabhalane kanye loJowa indodana ka-Asafi umbhali, baya kuye.
4 The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
Umlawuli webutho wathi kubo, “Tshelani uHezekhiya ukuthi, ‘Nanku okutshiwo yinkosi enkulu, inkosi yase-Asiriya ithi: Uthembeni ngalesisibindi sakho na?
5 You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?
Uthi ulamaqhinga lamandla ebutho kodwa ukhuluma amazwi ayize. Uthembe bani uze ungihlamukele nje?
6 Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
Khangela, ngiyazi uthembe iGibhithe, yona enjengomhlanga ozimvava osika isandla somuntu umlimaze nxa eweyamile. Unjalo uFaro inkosi yaseGibhithe kubo bonke abathembele kuye.
7 But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before this altar’?
Njalo nxa lisithi kimi, “Thina sithembe uThixo uNkulunkulu wethu,” kasuye yini uHezekhiya asusa izindawo zakhe eziphakemeyo lama-alithare akhe, esithi kuJuda leJerusalema, “Kumele likhonzele phambi kwaleli i-alithari”?
8 Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!
Khathesi woza wenze isivumelwano lenkosi yami, inkosi yase-Asiriya: Ngizakunika amabhiza azinkulungwane ezimbili nxa bekhona abazawagada!
9 For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
Pho ungayehlula njani induna eyodwa yezikhulu ezincane zenkosi yami, lanxa uthembele eGibhithe ekutholeni izinqola zempi labagadi bamabhiza na?
10 So now, was it apart from the LORD that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”
Phezu kwalokho, kanti ngizehlasela lokuzochitha ilizwe leli kungatshongo uThixo na? UThixo uqobo nguye othe ngizohlasela ilizwe leli ngilichithe.’”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
Ngakho u-Eliyakhimu loShebhina loJowa bathi kumlawuli webutho, “Ake ukhulume ezincekwini zakho ngesi-Aramayikhi ngoba siyasizwa. Ungasikhulumisi ngesiHebheru lababantu abasemdulini besizwa.”
12 But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
Kodwa umlawuli webutho waphendula esithi, “Inkosi yami ingithume ukuba izinto lezi ngizitsho kuphela enkosini yenu lakini, hatshi ebantwini abahlezi emdulini okuzakuthi labo njengani badle ubulongwe babo banathe lomchamo wabo na?”
13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!
Umlawuli webutho wasukuma wasememeza ngesiHebheru esithi, “Zwanini amazwi enkosi enkulu, inkosi yase-Asiriya!
14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot deliver you.
Lokhu yikho okutshiwo yinkosi: Lingamvumeli uHezekhiya ukuba alikhohlise. Angeke alikhulule.
15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
Lingamvumeli uHezekhiya elincenga ukuba lithembele kuThixo lapho esithi ‘Ngempela uThixo uzasikhulula; idolobho leli kaliyikuphiwa esandleni senkosi yase-Asiriya.’”
16 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern,
Lingamlaleli uHezekhiya. Nanku okutshiwo yinkosi yase-Asiriya: Yenza isivumelwano sokuthula lami, uphume uze kimi. Lapho-ke omunye lomunye uzakudla esivinini sakhe lasemikhiweni yakhe, anathe lamanzi emthonjeni wakhe,
17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
ngize ngifike ngilithathe, ngilise elizweni elifanana lelakini, ilizwe lamabele lewayini elitsha, ilizwe lesinkwa lezivini.
18 Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
“Lingavumeli uHezekhiya ukuthi alikhohlise esithi, ‘UThixo uzasikhulula.’ Kulonkulunkulu wesinye isizwe osewake wakhulula ilizwe lakhe esandleni senkosi yase-Asiriya na?
19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
Bangaphi onkulunkulu baseHamathi le-Ariphadi na? Bangaphi onkulunkulu baseSefavayimi na? Bayikhululile iSamariya esandleni sami na?
20 Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
Nguphi kubo bonke onkulunkulu bamazwe la oke wenelisa ukukhulula ilizwe lakhe kimi na? Pho uThixo angayikhulula njani iJerusalema esandleni sami na?”
21 But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
Kodwa abantu bathula kabazange batsho lutho, ngoba inkosi yayilaye yathi, “Lingamphenduli.”
22 Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.
U-Eliyakhimu indodana kaHilikhiya umgcini wesigodlo loShebhina umabhalane loJowa indodana ka-Asafi umbhali, baya kuHezekhiya izigqoko zabo zidabukile bamtshela okwakutshiwo ngumlawuli webutho.
