Lamentations 5
1 Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us; behold, and see our reproach.
Khumbula, Nkosi, ukuthi kwenzakaleni kithi; khangela, ubone ihlazo lethu.
2 Our inheritance is turned unto strangers, our houses unto aliens.
Ilifa lethu seliphendulelwe kwabezizwe, izindlu zethu kwabemzini.
3 We are become orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.
Siyizintandane, kungelababa; omama banjengabafelokazi.
4 We have drunk our water for money; our wood cometh to us for price.
Amanzi ethu siwanathile ngemali; inkuni zethu ziza ngentengo.
5 To our very necks we are pursued; we labour, and have no rest.
Sizingelwa ezintanyeni zethu, sidiniwe, kasilakuphumula.
6 We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria, to have bread enough;
Sinike isandla sethu kwabeGibhithe, labeAsiriya, ukuze sisuthiswe ngesinkwa.
7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
Obaba bona, kabasekho, njalo thina sithwele iziphambeko zabo.
8 Servants rule over us; there is none to deliver us out of their hand.
Izigqili ziyasibusa, kakho ongasihluthuna esandleni sazo.
9 We get our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
Sizuza isinkwa sethu ngengozi yempilo yethu, ngenxa yenkemba yenkangala.
10 Our skin is hot like an oven because of the burning heat of famine.
Ijwabu lethu limnyama njengeziko ngenxa yokutshisa okukhulu kwendlala.
11 They have ravished the women in Zion, the maidens in the cities of Judah.
Badlova abesifazana eZiyoni, izintombi ezimsulwa emizini yakoJuda.
12 Princes are hanged up by their hand; the faces of elders are not honoured.
Iziphathamandla zaphanyekwa ngesandla sazo; ubuso babadala kabuhlonitshwanga.
13 The young men have borne the mill, and the children have stumbled under the wood.
Amajaha athwala amatshe okuchola, labafana bakhubeka ngaphansi kwenkuni.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music.
Abadala baphelile esangweni, amajaha ekuhlabeleleni.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
Intokozo yenhliziyo yethu iphelile, ukugida kwethu kwaphenduka ukulila.
16 The crown is fallen from our head; woe unto us! for we have sinned.
Umqhele wekhanda lethu uwile; hawu, maye kithi, ngoba sonile!
17 For this our heart is faint, for these things our eyes are dim;
Ngenxa yalokhu inhliziyo yethu iphela amandla; ngenxa yalezizinto amehlo ethu afiphele.
18 For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
Ngenxa yentaba yeZiyoni elunxiwa, amakhanka ahamba phezu kwayo.
19 Thou, O LORD, art enthroned for ever, Thy throne is from generation to generation.
Wena, Nkosi, uhlezi kuze kube nininini, isihlalo sakho sobukhosi sisuka esizukulwaneni sisiya esizukulwaneni.
20 Wherefore dost Thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?
Usikhohlweleni njalonjalo, usidela okobude bezinsuku?
21 Turn Thou us unto Thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
Siphendulele kuwe, Nkosi, sizaphenduka; yenza insuku zethu zibe zintsha njengasendulo.
22 Thou canst not have utterly rejected us, and be exceeding wroth against us!
Kodwa ususilahlile isibili; usithukuthelele kakhulukazi.
