< Ezekiel 26 >

1 Almost twelve [after we had been taken to Babylonia], on the first day of the month, Yahweh gave me another message. He said to me,
Ngomnyaka wetshumi lanye, ngosuku lwakuqala lwenyanga, ilizwi likaThixo lafika kimi lisithi:
2 “You human, [the people of] Tyre [city] shouted joyfully and said about Jerusalem, ‘[Jerusalem, ] the city from which many traders/merchants went to many nations, is now destroyed. And now people from all over the world will come to us to buy and sell things. Because Jerusalem has now been ruined, we will prosper!’
“Ndodana yomuntu, ngoba iThire itshilo kulo iJerusalema yathi, ‘Aha!’ Isango lokuya ezizweni lidilikile, leminyango isivulekele mina; njengoba khathesi selingamanxiwa ngizaphumelela,
3 Therefore, this is what [I, ] Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘I am now the enemy of [you people of] Tyre. I will [the armies of] many nations to come and attack your [city], like the waves of the sea beat against the shores.
ngakho-ke nanku okutshiwo nguThixo Wobukhosi: Ngimelana lawe, wena Thire, njalo ngizakulethela izizwe ezinengi zimelane lawe njengolwandle luphosa amagagasi alo phezulu.
4 Their soldiers will destroy the walls around Tyre and tear down its towers. Tyre will become a place where people from many nations steal valuable things, [and then the city will be completely destroyed]. Then they will scrape away the rubble and cause the city to become a bare rock.
Zizadiliza imiduli yaseThire, ziwisele phansi imiphotshongo yalo; ngizaphala inkunkuma yalo ngilenze libe lidwala elingelalutho.
5 Out in the sea, Tyre will become an island where men spread [their fishing] nets to dry them. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh the Lord, have predicted it.
Elwandle lizakuba yindawo yokuchayela amambule enhlanzi, ngoba sengikhulumile, kutsho uThixo Wobukhosi. Lizakuba yimpango yezizwe,
6 The people in small villages on the coast near Tyre will be killed [their enemies’] swords. Then people will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].’
lemizana yalo ephakathi kwelizwe izachithwa ngenkemba. Lapho-ke bazakwazi ukuthi nginguThixo.
7 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, [is going to happen]: ‘From the north, I am going to bring the most powerful king [in the world], King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, [with his army] to attack Tyre. They will bring horses and chariots, and men who ride the horses [and men who drive the chariots]; it will be a huge army.
Ngoba nanku okutshiwo nguThixo Wobukhosi: Ngizaletha uNebhukhadineza inkosi yaseBhabhiloni, inkosi yamakhosi, evela enyakatho ukuba amelane leThire, ngamabhiza lezinqola zempi, ngabagadi bamabhiza kanye lebutho elikhulu.
8 [In the battles in the small villages] on the coast, their soldiers will kill [many] people with their swords. [Then] they will set up devices to batter the wall around the city of Tyre, and they will build a dirt ramp up to the top of the wall, and they will all hold up shields [to protect themselves from arrows being shot from the ground].
Uzachitha imizana yakho phakathi kwelizwe ngenkemba; uzamisa izindawo zokuvimbezela, akhe idundulu kusiya phezulu emdulini wakho njalo akuphakamisele lamahawu amelane lawe.
9 The king will direct the soldiers who operate the (rams/things) to batter the walls, and who will use their iron bars to tear down the towers in the wall.
Uzaqondisa imigqala yakhe yokudiliza emidulini yakho, abhidlize imiphotshongo yakho ngezikhali zakhe.
10 The king will have a huge number of horses, [the stamping of their hooves will result in] the city being covered with dust. [It will be as though] the walls will tremble because of the noise made by the horses, the [supply] wagons, and the chariots when they enter the city where the walls have been broken down.
Amabhiza akhe azakuba manengi kakhulu okuzakwenza akwembese ngothuli. Imiduli yakho izanyikinyiswa ngumsindo wamabhiza empi, izinqola zokuthwala kanye lezinqola zempi lapho esengena emasangweni akho njengabantu abangena edolobheni elilemiduli efohliweyo.
11 The horses will trample all of the [of the city] with their hooves. The soldiers will kill the people with their swords; and they will cause your strong pillars to (collapse/fall to the ground).
Amasondo amabhiza akhe azanyathela zonke izitalada zakho; uzabulala abantu bakho ngenkemba; lezinsika zakho eziqinileyo zizawela phansi.
12 They will take away all the people’s valuable possessions and steal the things that the merchants sell. They will tear down the walls of the houses and destroy their fine houses. Then they will throw into the sea the stones [from the walls] of those houses and the timber and the rubble.
Bazaphanga inotho yakho bathumbe impahla yakho ethengiswayo; bazadiliza imiduli yakho babhidlize lezindlu zakho ezinhle njalo baphosele amatshe akho, lezigodo kanye lenkunkuma elwandle.
13 No longer will you sing noisy songs, and people will not play their harps any more.
Ngizaqeda umsindo wezingoma zakho; lomculo wamachacho akho awuyikuzwakala futhi.
14 The enemy soldiers will cause the city to become a bare rock and [only] a place where men spread [their fishing] nets. And the city will never be rebuilt. [Those things will surely happen] because [I], Yahweh the Lord, have [that they will happen].’
Ngizakwenza ube lidwala elize, njalo uzakuba yindawo yokuchayela amambule enhlanzi. Kawuyikwakhiwa futhi, ngoba mina Thixo sengikhulumile, kutsho uThixo Wobukhosi.
15 This is [also] what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say about [the people of] Tyre: ‘When the wounded [people in Tyre] groan and many people are slaughtered and the city is destroyed, [it will surely be as though] [RHQ] the areas along the coast will tremble.
Nanku okutshiwo nguThixo Wobukhosi kuyo iThire: Kambe amazwe angasolwandle kawayikunyikinyeka yini ngomsindo wokuwa kwakho, lapho abalimeleyo sebebubula njalo lokubulala sekusenzakala phakathi kwakho na?
16 Then all the kings [in the cities] along the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and their embroidered clothes. They will be terrified, and they will sit on the ground, trembling. They will be appalled because of what has happened to the city of Tyre.
Lapho-ke wonke amakhosana angasolwandle azakwehla ezihlalweni zawo zobukhosi akhuphe izembatho zawo njalo ahlubule lezembatho zawo ezicecisiweyo. Ephethwe yikwesaba, azahlala phansi, eqhaqhazela isikhathi sonke, ngokwesaba wena.
17 Then they will sing a sad song about the city, and they will sing this: “The famous city [APO], in which many [who sailed on] the seas lived, is now destroyed! The people of that city had great power [because they had many ships that sailed] on the seas; they caused all the people who lived near them to be terrified.
Lapho-ke azaqhinqa isililo ngawe athi kuwe: ‘Yeka ukuchitheka kwakho, wena dolobho lodumo, ogcwele ngabantu basolwandle! Wawulamandla elwandle wena kanye labakhe kuwe; waletha ukwesabeka kwakho kubo bonke ababehlala khona.
18 Now on the day when that city is destroyed, [it is as though the people in] the areas along the coast tremble and the [the people on the] islands in the sea are terrified because of that city being ruined.”’
Khathesi amazwe angasolwandle ayathuthumela ngosuku lokuwa kwakho; izihlenge zasolwandle ziyakwesaba ukuwa kwakho.’
19 This is also what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘When I cause the city [of Tyre] to become desolate/empty, like [other] cities in which people no [longer] live, and when I cause the huge waves of the sea to cover it,
Nanku okutshiwo nguThixo Wobukhosi: Lapho ngikwenza ube lidolobho elichithekileyo, njengamadolobho angasahlali muntu, njalo lapho ngiletha inziki zolwandle phezu kwakho kuthi amanzi alo amanengi kakhulu akwembese,
20 then I will bring the people of that city down to be with those who have gone down to where the dead people are, people who lived long ago. I will cause them to remain in the place below the earth that is like old/ancient ruins, with those who have gone down to that pit [previously], and they will never return to the earth, to where people are alive.
lapho-ke ngizakuletha phansi lalabo abaya phansi egodini, ebantwini basendulo. Ngizakuhlalisa ngaphansi komhlaba, kunjengasemanxiweni endulo, lalabo abaya phansi egodini, njalo kawuyikuphenduka loba ube lendawo yakho elizweni labaphilayo.
21 I will cause them to die in a horrible way (OR, people will be very afraid because of what happens to that city), and that will be the end of (them/their lives). People will search for that city but it will no longer exist. [That is what I, ] Yahweh the Lord, declare [will happen].’”
Ngizakwenza ukucina kwakho kube ngokwesabekayo uhle utshabalale. Uzadingwa, kodwa ungatholakali futhi, kutsho uThixo Wobukhosi.”

< Ezekiel 26 >