Joel 1
1 The word of the Lord which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.
Ilizwi leNkosi elafika kuJoweli indodana kaPethuweli.
2 Give ear to this, you old men, and take note, you people of the land. Has this ever been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
Zwanini lokhu, badala, libeke indlebe, lonke bahlali belizwe. Kwake kwenzeka lokhu yini ensukwini zenu, kumbe lensukwini zaboyihlo?
3 Give the story of it to your children, and let them give it to their children, and their children to another generation.
Landiselani abantwana benu ngakho, labantwana benu abantwana babo, labantwana babo esinye isizukulwana.
4 What the worm did not make a meal of, has been taken by the locust; and what the locust did not take, has been food for the plant-worm; and what the plant-worm did not take, has been food for the field-fly.
Okutshiywe zintothoviyane isikhonyane sikudlile; lokutshiywe yisikhonyane iqhwagi likudlile; lokutshiywe liqhwagi inswabanda ikudlile.
5 Come out of your sleep, you who are overcome with wine, and give yourselves to weeping; give cries of sorrow, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it has been cut off from your mouths.
Phaphamani, zidakwa, likhale inyembezi, liqhinqe isililo, lonke banathi bewayini, ngenxa yewayini elitsha, ngoba liqunyiwe lasuka emlonyeni wenu.
6 For a nation has come up over my land, strong and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the back teeth of a great lion.
Ngoba isizwe senyukele elizweni lami, esilamandla, esingelanani; amazinyo aso angamazinyo esilwane, silamazinyo emihlathi esilwane esisikazi.
7 By him my vine is made waste and my fig-tree broken: he has taken all its fruit and sent it down to the earth; its branches are made white.
Senze ivini lami laba yincithakalo, lesihlahla sami somkhiwa saba zimvava; sakwebula lokukwebula, sakuphosela phansi, ingatsha zakho zaba mhlophe.
8 Make sounds of grief like a virgin dressed in haircloth for the husband of her early years.
Qhinqani isililo njengentombi emsulwa ebhinciswe isaka ngenxa yomyeni wobutsha bayo.
9 The meal offering and the drink offering have been cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord's servants, are sorrowing.
Umnikelo wokudla lomnikelo wokunathwayo uqunyiwe wasuka endlini yeNkosi. Abapristi, izikhonzi zeNkosi, bayalila.
10 The fields are wasted, the land has become dry; for the grain is wasted, the new wine is kept back, the oil is poor.
Insimu ichithiwe, umhlabathi uyalila; ngoba amabele achithiwe, iwayini elitsha lomile, amafutha aphela amandla.
11 The farmers are shamed, the workers in the vine-gardens give cries of grief, for the wheat and the barley; for the produce of the fields has come to destruction.
Banini lenhloni, balimi, qhinqani isililo, baphathizivini, ngenxa yengqoloyi langenxa yebhali; ngoba isivuno sensimu sichithekile.
12 The vine has become dry and the fig-tree is feeble; the pomegranate and the palm-tree and the apple-tree, even all the trees of the field, are dry: because joy has gone from the sons of men.
Ivini libunile, lomkhiwa uphele amandla; ipomegranati, lesihlahla selala, lesihlahla se-aphula, zonke izihlahla zeganga zomile, ngoba intokozo ibunile yasuka ebantwaneni babantu.
13 Put haircloth round you and give yourselves to sorrow, you priests; give cries of grief, you servants of the altar: come in, and, clothed in haircloth, let the night go past, you servants of my God: for the meal offering and the drink offering have been kept back from the house of your God.
Bhincani, lilile, bapristi, qhinqani isililo, zikhonzi zelathi. Wozani, lilale ebusuku emasakeni, zikhonzi zikaNkulunkulu wami; ngoba umnikelo wokudla lomnikelo wokunathwayo kugodliwe endlini kaNkulunkulu wenu.
14 Let a time be fixed for going without food, have a holy meeting, let the old men, even all the people of the land, come together to the house of the Lord your God, crying out to the Lord.
Yehlukanisani ukuzila ukudla, libize umhlangano onzulu, libuthanise abadala, labo bonke abahlali belizwe, endlini yeNkosi uNkulunkulu wenu, likhale eNkosini.
15 Sorrow for the day! for the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Ruler of all it will come.
Maye ngalolosuku! Ngoba usuku lweNkosi luseduze, luzafika njengencithakalo evela kuSomandla.
16 Is not food cut off before our eyes? joy and delight from the house of our God?
Ukudla kakuqunywanga yini phambi kwamehlo ethu, ukuthaba lentokozo kusuka endlini kaNkulunkulu wethu?
17 The grains have become small and dry under the spade; the store-houses are made waste, the grain-stores are broken down; for the grain is dry and dead.
Inhlanyelo iyabola ngaphansi kwamagade ayo; izibuya zingamanxiwa, iziphala zidilizelwe phansi, ngoba amabele abunile.
18 What sounds of pain come from the beasts! the herds of cattle are at a loss because there is no grass for them; even the flocks of sheep are no longer to be seen.
Yeka ukububula kwezifuyo! Imihlambi yenkomo ididekile, ngoba kayilalo idlelo; lemihlambi yezimvu iyahlupheka.
19 O Lord, my cry goes up to you: for fire has put an end to the grass-lands of the waste, and all the trees of the field are burned with its flame.
Ngiyakhala kuwe, Nkosi, ngoba umlilo uqedile amadlelo enkangala, lelangabi lilumathise zonke izihlahla zeganga.
20 The beasts of the field are turning to you with desire: for the water-streams are dry and fire has put an end to the grass-lands of the waste.
Lenyamazana zeganga ziyakhala kuwe, ngoba izifudlana zamanzi zitshile, lomlilo uqede amadlelo enkangala.
