Lamentations 5
1 Remember, Jehovah, what has come on us. Look, and see our disgrace.
Oh Thixo, khumbula okusehleleyo khangela ubone ukuyangeka kwethu.
2 Our inheritance is turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.
Ilifa lethu seliphiwe abezizweni, imizi yethu yathathwa ngabemzini.
3 We are orphans and fatherless. Our mothers are like widows.
Sesizintandane ezingelaboyise, omama sebenjengabafelokazi.
4 We have to pay for a drink of water; our wood is sold to us.
Amanzi okunatha siyawathenga; inkuni zethu zikhutshelwa imali.
5 Our pursuers are on our necks; we are weary, and have no rest.
Labo abasixotshayo basihlezi ezithende; sikhathele asilakuphumula.
6 We have submitted to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians, to get enough bread.
Sazinikela kwabeGibhithe labe-Asiriya ukuze sizuze isinkwa.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more; but 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 at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in 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 raped the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah.
Abesifazane bayahlukuluzwa eZiyoni kanye lezintombi ezigcweleyo emadolobheni akoJuda.
12 Princes were hung by their hands; elders were shown no respect.
Amakhosi alengisiwe ngezandla zawo; abadala abasahlonitshwa.
13 The young men grind at the mill; the boys stagger under loads of wood.
Izinsizwa ziyahoqiswa ematsheni okuchola; abafana babhensiswa yimithwalo yenkuni.
14 The elders have gone from the gate, the young men from their music.
Abadala sebesukile esangweni lomuzi; izinsizwa sezithule ukuhlabelela.
15 The joy of our heart has ceased; our dancing is turned into mourning.
Ukuthokoza akusekho ezinhliziyweni zethu; ukugida kwethu sekuphenduke ukukhala.
16 The crown is fallen from our head; woe to 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 grow dim.
Ngenxa yalokhu inhliziyo zethu zibuthakathaka; ngenxa yalezizinto amehlo ethu ayafiphala,
18 For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate; the foxes walk on it.
ngoba intaba iZiyoni silugwadule, sekucathama amakhanka kuyo.
19 But you, Jehovah, abide forever; your throne is from generation to generation.
Wena, Oh Thixo, busa nini lanini; ubukhosi bakho buhlezi kuzozonke izizukulwane.
20 Why do you keep on forgetting us? Why do you forsake us so long?
Kungani uhlezi usikhohlwa? Usifulathelelani isikhathi eside kangaka na?
21 Restore us to you, Jehovah, and we shall be restored; renew our days as in former times,
Sibuyisele kuwe, Oh Thixo, ukuze siphenduke; buyisa kabutsha insuku zethu njengezakudala,
22 unless you have completely rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.
ngaphandle kokuba nxa ususilahle kokuphela wasizondela ngokungalinganisekiyo.
