Lamentations 5
1 Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us; behold, and see our reproach.
Oh Thixo, khumbula okusehleleyo khangela ubone ukuyangeka kwethu.
2 Our inheritance is turned unto strangers, our houses unto aliens.
Ilifa lethu seliphiwe abezizweni, imizi yethu yathathwa ngabemzini.
3 We are become orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.
Sesizintandane ezingelaboyise, omama sebenjengabafelokazi.
4 We have drunk our water for money; our wood cometh to us for price.
Amanzi okunatha siyawathenga; inkuni zethu zikhutshelwa imali.
5 To our very necks we are pursued; we labour, and have no rest.
Labo abasixotshayo basihlezi ezithende; sikhathele asilakuphumula.
6 We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria, to have bread enough;
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 rule over us; there is none to deliver us out of their hand.
Sibuswa yizigqili, kakho osikhululayo ezandleni zazo.
9 We get our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
Isinkwa sisithola ngendlela eyingozi ngenxa yenkemba ekhona enkangala.
10 Our skin is hot like an oven because of the burning heat of famine.
Isikhumba sethu sitshisa njengeziko, silomkhuhlane wendlala.
11 They have ravished the women in Zion, the maidens in the cities of Judah.
Abesifazane bayahlukuluzwa eZiyoni kanye lezintombi ezigcweleyo emadolobheni akoJuda.
12 Princes are hanged up by their hand; the faces of elders are not honoured.
Amakhosi alengisiwe ngezandla zawo; abadala abasahlonitshwa.
13 The young men have borne the mill, and the children have stumbled under the wood.
Izinsizwa ziyahoqiswa ematsheni okuchola; abafana babhensiswa yimithwalo yenkuni.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music.
Abadala sebesukile esangweni lomuzi; izinsizwa sezithule ukuhlabelela.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
Ukuthokoza akusekho ezinhliziyweni zethu; ukugida kwethu sekuphenduke ukukhala.
16 The crown is fallen from our head; woe unto us! for we have sinned.
Umqhele usuwile ekhanda lethu. Maye thina, ngoba sonile!
17 For this our heart is faint, for these things our eyes are dim;
Ngenxa yalokhu inhliziyo zethu zibuthakathaka; ngenxa yalezizinto amehlo ethu ayafiphala,
18 For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
ngoba intaba iZiyoni silugwadule, sekucathama amakhanka kuyo.
19 Thou, O LORD, art enthroned for ever, Thy throne is from generation to generation.
Wena, Oh Thixo, busa nini lanini; ubukhosi bakho buhlezi kuzozonke izizukulwane.
20 Wherefore dost Thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?
Kungani uhlezi usikhohlwa? Usifulathelelani isikhathi eside kangaka na?
21 Turn Thou us unto Thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
Sibuyisele kuwe, Oh Thixo, ukuze siphenduke; buyisa kabutsha insuku zethu njengezakudala,
22 Thou canst not have utterly rejected us, and be exceeding wroth against us!
ngaphandle kokuba nxa ususilahle kokuphela wasizondela ngokungalinganisekiyo.
