< Joel 1 >

1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
Ilizwi leNkosi elafika kuJoweli indodana kaPethuweli.
2 Hear this, you old men, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the land. Has this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
Zwanini lokhu, badala, libeke indlebe, lonke bahlali belizwe. Kwake kwenzeka lokhu yini ensukwini zenu, kumbe lensukwini zaboyihlo?
3 Tell you your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
Landiselani abantwana benu ngakho, labantwana benu abantwana babo, labantwana babo esinye isizukulwana.
4 That which the palmerworm has left has the locust eaten; and that which the locust has left has the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm has left has the caterpillar eaten.
Okutshiywe zintothoviyane isikhonyane sikudlile; lokutshiywe yisikhonyane iqhwagi likudlile; lokutshiywe liqhwagi inswabanda ikudlile.
5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and howl, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
Phaphamani, zidakwa, likhale inyembezi, liqhinqe isililo, lonke banathi bewayini, ngenxa yewayini elitsha, ngoba liqunyiwe lasuka emlonyeni wenu.
6 For a nation is come up on my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the cheek teeth of a great lion.
Ngoba isizwe senyukele elizweni lami, esilamandla, esingelanani; amazinyo aso angamazinyo esilwane, silamazinyo emihlathi esilwane esisikazi.
7 He has laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he has made it clean bore, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
Senze ivini lami laba yincithakalo, lesihlahla sami somkhiwa saba zimvava; sakwebula lokukwebula, sakuphosela phansi, ingatsha zakho zaba mhlophe.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
Qhinqani isililo njengentombi emsulwa ebhinciswe isaka ngenxa yomyeni wobutsha bayo.
9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’s ministers, mourn.
Umnikelo wokudla lomnikelo wokunathwayo uqunyiwe wasuka endlini yeNkosi. Abapristi, izikhonzi zeNkosi, bayalila.
10 The field is wasted, the land mourns; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languishes.
Insimu ichithiwe, umhlabathi uyalila; ngoba amabele achithiwe, iwayini elitsha lomile, amafutha aphela amandla.
11 Be you ashamed, O you farmers; howl, O you vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
Banini lenhloni, balimi, qhinqani isililo, baphathizivini, ngenxa yengqoloyi langenxa yebhali; ngoba isivuno sensimu sichithekile.
12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languishes; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away 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 Gird yourselves, and lament, you priests: howl, you ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withheld 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 Sanctify you a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry to the LORD,
Yehlukanisani ukuzila ukudla, libize umhlangano onzulu, libuthanise abadala, labo bonke abahlali belizwe, endlini yeNkosi uNkulunkulu wenu, likhale eNkosini.
15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Maye ngalolosuku! Ngoba usuku lweNkosi luseduze, luzafika njengencithakalo evela kuSomandla.
16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
Ukudla kakuqunywanga yini phambi kwamehlo ethu, ukuthaba lentokozo kusuka endlini kaNkulunkulu wethu?
17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
Inhlanyelo iyabola ngaphansi kwamagade ayo; izibuya zingamanxiwa, iziphala zidilizelwe phansi, ngoba amabele abunile.
18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
Yeka ukububula kwezifuyo! Imihlambi yenkomo ididekile, ngoba kayilalo idlelo; lemihlambi yezimvu iyahlupheka.
19 O LORD, to you will I cry: for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
Ngiyakhala kuwe, Nkosi, ngoba umlilo uqedile amadlelo enkangala, lelangabi lilumathise zonke izihlahla zeganga.
20 The beasts of the field cry also to you: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Lenyamazana zeganga ziyakhala kuwe, ngoba izifudlana zamanzi zitshile, lomlilo uqede amadlelo enkangala.

< Joel 1 >