Joel 1
1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.
Ilizwi likaThixo lafika kuJoweli indodana kaPhethuweli.
2 Hear this, you elders, And listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has this ever happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
Zwanini lokhu, lina badala; lalelani lonke lina elihlala elizweni. Into enjengale seyake yenzakala na ensukwini zenu loba ensukwini zabokhokho benu?
3 Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children, another generation.
Kutsheleni abantwabenu, abantwabenu labo batshele ababantwababo, abantwababo batshele isizukulwane esilandelayo.
4 What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the grasshopper has left, the caterpillar has eaten.
Lokho okutshiywe ngumtshitshi wezintethe kudliwe yisikhongwane; okutshiywe yisikhongwane kudliwe yibuyane; okutshiywe yibuyane kudliwe ngezinye intethe.
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep. Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
Vukani lina zidakwa likhale! Lilani lonke lina banathi bewayini; lilani ngenxa yewayini elitsha, ngoba lihluthunwe ezindebeni zenu.
6 For a nation has come up on my land, strong, and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a lioness.
Isizwe sihlasele ilizwe lami, silamandla asingeke sibalwe, silamazinyo esilwane, ingavula zesilwanekazi.
7 He has laid my vine waste, and stripped my fig tree. He has stripped its bark, and thrown it away. Its branches are made white.
Sesitshabalalise izivini zami, saqothula lezihlahla zami zemikhiwa. Sebule amaxolo azo sawaphosela khatshana, ingatsha zazo zasala sezimhlophe nke.
8 Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
Lilani njengentombi egqoke isaka idabukele umyeni wobutsha bayo.
9 The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from the LORD's house. The cohanim, the LORD's ministers, mourn.
Umnikelo wamabele lomnikelo wokunathwa kususiwe endlini kaThixo. Abaphristi bayalila, bona abakhonzayo phambi kukaThixo.
10 The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, and the oil languishes.
Amasimu atshabalele, umhlabathi womile; amabele onakele, iwayini elitsha liphelile, amafutha kawasekho.
11 Be confounded, you farmers. Wail, you vineyard keepers; for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field has perished.
Delani, lina balimi, lilani, lina balimi bamavini; bubulelani ingqoloyi lebhali, ngoba isivuno sensimu sitshabalalisiwe.
12 The vine has dried up, and the fig tree withered; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all of the trees of the field are withered; for joy has withered away from the sons of men.
Ivini lomile lomkhiwa ubunile; iphomegranathi, lelala lesihlahla sama-aphula, zonke izihlahla zeganga, zomile. Impela ukuthokoza kwabantu kuphelile.
13 Put on sackcloth and mourn, you cohanim. Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God's house.
Vunulani amasaka, lina baphristi, likhale. Lilani lina elikhonzayo phambi kwe-alithari. Wozani, lilale lembethe amasaka ebusuku, lina elikhonzayo phambi kukaNkulunkulu wami, ngoba iminikelo yamabele leminikelo yokunathwayo igodliwe, kayanikelwa endlini kaNkulunkulu wenu.
14 Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of the LORD, your God, and cry to the LORD.
Memezelani ukuzila okungcwele; bizani ibandla elingcwele. Memani abadala labo bonke abahlala elizweni, baye endlini kaThixo uNkulunkulu wenu, likhale kuThixo.
15 Alas for the day. For the day of the LORD is at hand, and it will come as destruction from Shaddai.
Maye ngalolosuku! Ngoba usuku lukaThixo seluseduze; luzafika njengencithakalo evela kuSomandla.
16 Isn't the food cut off before our eyes; joy and gladness from the house of our God?
Ukudla akuzange kuphele phambi kwamehlo ethu, lokuthokoza kanye lokuthaba endlini kaNkulunkulu wethu na?
17 The seeds shrivel under their shovels. The storehouses are laid desolate. The granaries are broken down, for the grain has withered.
Inhlanyelo itshwabhene ngaphansi kwamagade. Izindlu zamabele zingamanxiwa, iziphala zidiliziwe, ngoba amabele kawasekho.
18 How the animals groan. The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep suffer.
Yeka ukukhala kwezinkomo! Imihlambi yenkomo iyaphithizela ngoba kayilamadlelo; lemihlambi yezimvu iyahlupheka.
19 LORD, I cry to you, for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
Ngiyakhala kuwe Thixo, ngoba umlilo usuqede amadlelo lamalangabi asetshise zonke izihlahla zeganga.
20 Yes, the animals of the field pant to you, for the water brooks have dried up, And the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Lezinyamazana zeganga zifuna wena; izifula zamanzi sezicitshile njalo lomlilo usuqede amadlelo.
