Isaiah 17
1 The word about Damascus. See, they have made Damascus a town no longer; it has become a waste place.
Umthwalo weDamaseko. Khangela, iDamaseko izasuswa, ingabi ngumuzi, kodwa ibe lunxiwa oludilikileyo.
2 Her towns are unpeopled for ever; there the flocks take their rest in peace, without fear.
Imizi yeAroweri izatshiywa, ibe ngeyemihlambi elala phansi, njalo kungabi lomethusi.
3 The strong tower has gone from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus: the rest of Aram will come to destruction, and be made like the glory of the children of Israel, says the Lord of armies.
Lenqaba izaphela koEfrayimi, lombuso weDamaseko, lensali yeSiriya; bazakuba njengodumo lwabantwana bakoIsrayeli, itsho iNkosi yamabandla.
4 And it will be in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made small, and the strength of his body will become feeble.
Kuzakuthi-ke ngalolosuku udumo lukaJakobe lwehliselwe phansi, lokuzimuka kwenyama yakhe kucakiswe.
5 And it will be like a man cutting the growth of his grain, pulling together the heads of the grain with his arm; even as when they get in the grain in the valley of Rephaim.
Njalo kube njengomvuni evuna amabele amiyo, lengalo yakhe iqume izikhwebu; yebo, kube njengomuntu edobha izikhwebu esigodini seRefayimi.
6 But it will be like a man shaking an olive-tree, something will still be there, two or three berries on the top of the highest branch, four or five on the outside branches of a fertile tree, says the Lord, the God of Israel.
Kodwa umkhothozo uzasala kukho, njengokunyikinyeka kwesihlahla somhlwathi, imihlwathi emibili loba emithathu engqongeni yogatsha oluphezulu, emine loba emihlanu engatsheni zaso ezithelayo, itsho iNkosi uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli.
7 In that day a man's heart will be turned to his Maker, and his eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
Ngalolosuku umuntu uzajolozela kuMenzi wakhe, lamehlo akhe akhangele koNgcwele kaIsrayeli.
8 He will not be looking to the altars, the work of his hands, or to the wood pillars or to the sun-images which his fingers have made.
Njalo kayikujolozela emalathini, umsebenzi wezandla zakhe; njalo kayikukhangela kulokho iminwe yakhe ekwenzileyo, loba izixuku loba amalathi elanga.
9 In that day your towns will be like the waste places of the Hivites and the Amorites which the children of Israel took for a heritage, and they will come to destruction.
Ngalolosuku imizi yabo eqinileyo izakuba njengegusu elideliweyo lengqonga yogatsha abaludelileyo ngenxa yabantwana bakoIsrayeli; njalo kuzakuba yincithakalo.
10 For you have not given honour to the God of your salvation, and have not kept in mind the Rock of your strength; for this cause you made a garden of Adonis, and put in it the vine-cuttings of a strange god;
Ngoba umkhohliwe uNkulunkulu wosindiso lwakho, kawukhumbulanga idwala lamandla akho; ngenxa yalokho uzahlanyela izithombo ezinhle, uyihlanyele ngamahlumela angejwayelekanga.
11 In the day of your planting you were watching its growth, and in the morning your seed was flowering: but its fruit is wasted away in the day of grief and bitter sorrow.
Ngosuku lokuhlanyela kwakho uzakwenza kuhlume, lekuseni wenze inhlanyelo yakho ikhuphe impoko; kodwa isivuno sizakuba yinqumbi ngosuku lomkhuhlane lobuhlungu obungelaphekiyo.
12 Ah! the voice of peoples, like the loud sounding of the seas, and the thundering of great nations rushing on like the bursting out of waters!
Yeka ukuhlokoma kwabantu abanengi abahlokoma njengokuhlokoma kwezinlwandle, lokuduma kwezizwe eziduma njengomdumo wamanzi amanengi!
13 But he will put a stop to them, and make them go in flight far away, driving them like the waste of the grain on the tops of the mountains before the wind, and like the circling dust before the storm.
Izizwe ziduma njengomdumo wamanzi amanengi, kodwa uzazikhuza ukuze zibalekele khatshana, zixotshwe njengamakhoba ezintaba phambi komoya, lanjengokugiqikayo phambi kwesiphepho.
14 In the evening there is fear, and in the morning they are gone. This is the fate of those who take our goods, and the reward of those who violently take our property for themselves.
Ngesikhathi sokuhlwa, khangela-ke, ukuthuthumela, kungakasi kasekho. Yiso isabelo sabasiphangayo lenkatho yabasihlaselayo.
