Jeremiah 46
1 The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles;
Leli yilizwi likaThixo elafika kuJeremiya umphrofethi mayelana lezizwe:
2 Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.
Mayelana leGibhithe: Leli yilizwi elimayelana lebutho likaFaro Nekho inkosi yaseGibhithe, elanqotshwayo eKharikhemishi emfuleni iYufrathe nguNebhukhadineza inkosi yaseBhabhiloni ngomnyaka wesine kaJehoyakhimi indodana kaJosiya inkosi yakoJuda:
3 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
“Lungisani amahawu enu, amakhulu lamancane, liphume liye empini.
4 Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with [your] helmets; furbish the spears, [and] put on the brigandines.
Bophani amabhiza, liwagade! Manini ezindaweni zenu lilezingowane zenu! Lolani imikhonto yenu, ligqoke impahla zempi!
5 Wherefore have I seen them dismayed [and] turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: [for] fear [was] round about, saith the LORD.
Kuyini engikubonayo? Bayesaba, bahlehlela emuva, amabutho abo ehlulwe. Abaleka ngesiqubu anganyemukuli, njalo kulokwesaba izindawo zonke,” kutsho uThixo.
6 Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.
“Olejubane kasoze abaleke kumbe olamandla aphephe. Ngasenyakatho, emfuleni iYufrathe bayakhubeka bawe.
7 Who [is] this [that] cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?
Ngubani lo ophakama njengeNayili, njengemifula elamanzi agubhazelayo na?
8 Egypt riseth up like a flood, and [his] waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, [and] will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
IGibhithe liphakama njengeNayili, njengemifula elamanzi agubhazelayo. Lithi: ‘Ngizaphakama ngembese umhlaba; ngizachitha amadolobho labantu bawo.’
9 Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle [and] bend the bow.
Hlaselani, lina mabhiza! Qhubekani ngentukuthelo, lina zinqola zempi! Yanini phambili, lina mabutho, madoda aseKhushi lawePhuthi, aphatha amahawu, madoda aseLudi agoba idandili.
10 For this [is] the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
Kodwa usuku lolo ngolweNkosi, uThixo uSomandla, usuku lokuphindisela, olokuphindisela ezitheni zakhe. Inkemba izakudla ize isuthe, ize icitshe ukoma kwayo ngegazi. Ngoba iNkosi, uThixo uSomandla uzanikela umhlatshelo elizweni lasenyakatho ngasemfuleni iYufrathe.
11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; [for] thou shalt not be cured.
Yana eGiliyadi uyethatha umuthi wokwelapha, wena Ndodakazi egcweleyo yaseGibhithe. Kodwa imithi uyandisela ize; akukho kusila kuwe.
12 The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, [and] they are fallen both together.
Izizwe zizakuzwa ngehlazo lakho; ukukhala kwakho kuzagcwala umhlaba. Elinye ibutho lizakhubeka kwelinye; womabili azawela phansi ndawonye.”
13 The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come [and] smite the land of Egypt.
Leli yilizwi uThixo alikhuluma kuJeremiya umphrofethi ngokuza kukaNebhukhadineza inkosi yaseBhabhiloni ukuba ahlasele iGibhithe:
14 Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.
“Memezelani lokhu eGibhithe, likubike laseMigidoli; kumemezeleni njalo laseMemfisi laseThahiphanesi lithi: ‘Manini ezindaweni zenu lilunge, ngoba inkemba idla abakhelene lani.’
15 Why are thy valiant [men] swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.
Amabutho enu azabulawelwani na? Angeke ame, ngoba uThixo uzawalahlela phansi.
16 He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.
Azakhubeka kokuphela; azakuwa elekane. Azakuthi, ‘Vukani, kasibuyeleni emuva ebantwini bakithi lasemazweni akithi, kude kwenkemba yomncindezeli.’
17 They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt [is but] a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.
Khonale bazamemeza bathi, ‘UFaro inkosi yaseGibhithe ingumsindo omkhulu nje kuphela; uselahlekelwe lithuba lakhe.’
18 [As] I live, saith the King, whose name [is] the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor [is] among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, [so] shall he come.
Ngeqiniso elinjengokuthi ngikhona,” kutsho iNkosi, obizo layo nguThixo uSomandla, “kuzafika omunye onjengoThabhori phakathi kwezintaba, njengoKhameli ngasolwandle.
19 O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.
Lungisani impahla zekuthunjweni, lina abahlala eGibhithe, ngoba iMemfisi izadilizwa ibe lunxiwa olungahlali muntu.
20 Egypt [is like] a very fair heifer, [but] destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
IGibhithe ilithokazi elihle, kodwa isibawu siyeza silisongela sivela enyakatho.
21 Also her hired men [are] in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, [and] are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, [and] the time of their visitation.
Amabutho okuqatshwa aphakathi kwalo anjengamathole anonisiweyo. Lawo azaphenduka abaleke endawonye, kawayikuma, ngoba usuku lomonakalo luyeza phezu kwabo, isikhathi sabo sokujeziswa.
22 The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
IGibhithe izakhwaza njengenyoka ebalekayo lapho isitha sisondela ngobunengi baso; sizayihlasela ngamahloka okwabantu abagamula izihlahla.
23 They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and [are] innumerable.
Sizagamula amahlathi ayo,” kutsho uThixo, “lanxa eminyene kanjani. Banengi kulentethe, ngeke babalwe.
24 The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
Indodakazi yaseGibhithe izayangiswa, inikelwe ebantwini basenyakatho.”
25 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and [all] them that trust in him:
UThixo uSomandla, uNkulunkulu ka-Israyeli uthi: “Sekuseduze ukuba ngijezise u-Amoni unkulunkulu waseThebesi, loFaro, leGibhithe kanye labonkulunkulu balo lamakhosi alo, lalabo abathembe uFaro.
26 And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.
Ngizabanikela kulabo abafuna ukubabulala, kuNebhukhadineza inkosi yaseBhabhiloni lezikhulu zakhe. Kodwa muva, iGibhithe lizahlalwa ngabantu futhi njengasezinsukwini zakudala,” kutsho uThixo.
27 But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make [him] afraid.
“Ungesabi, wena Jakhobe nceku yami; ungathuthumeli, wena Israyeli. Impela ngizakukhulula endaweni ekude, lenzalo yakho elizweni lokuthunjwa kwayo. UJakhobe uzakuba lokuthula futhi kanye lokuvikeleka, njalo kakho ozamthuthumelisa.
28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I [am] with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.
Ungesabi wena Jakhobe nceku yami ngoba ngilawe,” kutsho uThixo. “Lanxa ngizachitha ngokupheleleyo izizwe zonke engakuhlakazela kuzo, wena angiyikukuchitha ngokupheleleyo. Ngizakujezisa kodwa ngokufaneleyo kuphela; angiyikukuyekela nje ungajeziswanga.”
