Lamentations 5
1 Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider and behold our reproach.
Oh Thixo, khumbula okusehleleyo khangela ubone ukuyangeka kwethu.
2 Our inheritance is turned to aliens: our houses to strangers.
Ilifa lethu seliphiwe abezizweni, imizi yethu yathathwa ngabemzini.
3 We are become orphans without a father: our mothers are as widows.
Sesizintandane ezingelaboyise, omama sebenjengabafelokazi.
4 We have drunk our water for money: we have bought our wood.
Amanzi okunatha siyawathenga; inkuni zethu zikhutshelwa imali.
5 We were dragged by the necks, we were weary and no rest was given us.
Labo abasixotshayo basihlezi ezithende; sikhathele asilakuphumula.
6 We have given our hand to Egypt, and to the Assyrians, that we might be satisfied with bread.
Sazinikela kwabeGibhithe labe-Asiriya ukuze sizuze isinkwa.
7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not: and we have borne their iniquities.
Okhokho benza isono kodwa kabasekho, thina yithi esesijeziswa.
8 Servants have ruled over us: there was none to redeem us out of their hand.
Sibuswa yizigqili, kakho osikhululayo ezandleni zazo.
9 We fetched our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the desert.
Isinkwa sisithola ngendlela eyingozi ngenxa yenkemba ekhona enkangala.
10 Our skin was burnt as an oven, by reason of the violence of the famine.
Isikhumba sethu sitshisa njengeziko, silomkhuhlane wendlala.
11 They oppressed the women in Sion, and the virgins in the cities of Juda.
Abesifazane bayahlukuluzwa eZiyoni kanye lezintombi ezigcweleyo emadolobheni akoJuda.
12 The princes were hanged up by their hand: they did not respect the persons of the ancient.
Amakhosi alengisiwe ngezandla zawo; abadala abasahlonitshwa.
13 They abused the young men indecently: and the children fell under the wood.
Izinsizwa ziyahoqiswa ematsheni okuchola; abafana babhensiswa yimithwalo yenkuni.
14 The ancients have ceased from the gates: the young men from the choir of the singers.
Abadala sebesukile esangweni lomuzi; izinsizwa sezithule ukuhlabelela.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased, our dancing is turned into mourning.
Ukuthokoza akusekho ezinhliziyweni zethu; ukugida kwethu sekuphenduke ukukhala.
16 The crown is fallen from our head woe to us, because we have sinned.
Umqhele usuwile ekhanda lethu. Maye thina, ngoba sonile!
17 Therefore is our heart sorrowful, therefore are our eyes become dim,
Ngenxa yalokhu inhliziyo zethu zibuthakathaka; ngenxa yalezizinto amehlo ethu ayafiphala,
18 For mount Sion, because it is destroyed, foxes have walked upon it.
ngoba intaba iZiyoni silugwadule, sekucathama amakhanka kuyo.
19 But thou, O Lord, shalt remain for ever, thy throne from generation to generation.
Wena, Oh Thixo, busa nini lanini; ubukhosi bakho buhlezi kuzozonke izizukulwane.
20 Why wilt thou forget us for ever? why wilt thou forsake us for a long time?
Kungani uhlezi usikhohlwa? Usifulathelelani isikhathi eside kangaka na?
21 Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted: renew our days, as from the beginning.
Sibuyisele kuwe, Oh Thixo, ukuze siphenduke; buyisa kabutsha insuku zethu njengezakudala,
22 But thou hast utterly rejected us, thou art exceedingly angry against us.
ngaphandle kokuba nxa ususilahle kokuphela wasizondela ngokungalinganisekiyo.
