Job 14
1 Life is short and full of trouble,
“Umuntu ozelwe ngumfazi ulensuku ezilutshwane njalo ezigcwele inhlupho.
2 like a flower that blooms and withers, like a passing shadow that soon disappears.
Uyaqhakaza njengeluba aphinde abune; njengesithunzi esithi tshazi, akemi.
3 Do you even notice me, God, and why do you have to drag me to court?
Onjalo ungala ulokhu umkhangele na? Ungamisa phambi kwakho umthonisise na?
4 Who can bring something clean of what is unclean? No one.
Ngubani ongaveza okuhlambulukileyo kokungcolileyo na? Kakho!
5 You have determined how long we shall live—the number of months, a time limit on our lives.
Insuku zomuntu zimisiwe; uzibekile izinyanga zokuphila kwakhe wabeka lemikhawulo angeke ayeqe.
6 So leave us alone and give us some peace—so like a laborer we could enjoy a few hours of rest at the end of the day.
Ngakho-ke myekele ungazihluphi ngaye, aze aqede lesosikhathi sakhe njengomuntu oqhatshiweyo.
7 Even a tree that's cut down has the hope of sprouting again, of sending up shoots and continuing to live.
Kungaba lethemba ngesihlahla; singaganyulwa siyahluma njalo, amahlumela aso kawayikwehluleka ukukhula.
8 Even though its roots grow old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground,
Impande zaso zingaguga phansi emhlabathini lesiphunzi saso sife emhlabathini,
9 just a trickle of water will make it bud and grow branches like a young plant.
kodwa singezwa amanzi siyahluma sikhuphe ingatsha njengesihlahla esitsha.
10 But human beings die, their strength dwindles away; they perish, and where are they then?
Kodwa umuntu uyafa alaliswe phansi; uphefumula okokucina angabe esabakhona.
11 Like water evaporating from a lake and a river that dries up and disappears,
Njengamanzi esitsha olwandle lanjengomfula ucitsha amanzi wome qha,
12 so human beings lie down and don't get up again. Until the heavens cease to exist they will not awake from their sleep.
ngokunjalo umuntu ulala phansi angabe esavuka; kuze kutshabalale amazulu abantu kabayikuvuka kumbe baphatshanyiswe ebuthongweni babo.
13 I wish you would hide me in Sheol; conceal me there until your anger is gone. Set a definite time for me there, and remember me! (Sheol h7585)
Kube uyangifihla ethuneni ungithukuze ulaka lwakho luze ludlule! Kube ungibekela isikhathi ube usungikhumbula! (Sheol h7585)
14 Will the dead live again? Then I would have hope through all my time of trouble until my release comes.
Umuntu angafa uphinde aphile na? Zonke insuku zokutshikatshika kwami ngizalindela isikhathi sokuyekelwa kwami.
15 You would call and I would answer you; you would long for me, the being that you made.
Uzabiza lami ngizasabela; uzasifisa lesosidalwa esenziwa yizandla zakho.
16 Then you would look after me and wouldn't be watching me to see if I sinned.
Ngeqiniso lapho uzabala izinyathelo zami kodwa kawuyikulandelela izono zami.
17 My sins would be sealed up in a bag and you would cover my guilt.
Iziphambeko zami zizananyekwa emgodleni; uzasigubuzela isono sami.
18 But just as the mountains crumble and fall, and the rocks tumble down;
Kodwa njengentaba ikhumuzeka ize ibhidlike, lanjengedwala ligudluka endaweni yalo,
19 as water wears away the stones, as floods wash away the soil, so you destroy the hope people have.
njengamanzi awagubhayo amatshe lezikhukhula zikhukhula umhlabathi, kanjalo uyalibhidliza ithemba lomuntu.
20 You continually overpower them and they pass away; you distort their faces in death and send them away.
Umehlula kanye angaphindi abekhona, adlule; uyabuguqula ubuso bakho umxotshe.
21 Their children may become important or fall from their positions, but they don't know or see any of this.
Nxa amadodana akhe ezuza udumo, kawakwazi; nxa izizukulwane zakhe zisehliswa, kazikuboni.
22 As people die they only know their own pain and are sad for themselves.”
Bezwa kuphela ubuhlungu bemizimba yabo bazikhalele bona.”
