Isaiah 27
1 At that time, Yahweh will punish Leviathan, the swift-moving monster/dragon, that coiling serpent that lives in the sea. Yahweh will kill it with his sharp, huge, and powerful sword.
Ngalolosuku, uThixo uzajezisa ngenkemba yakhe, inkemba yakhe eyesabekayo, enkulu njalo elamandla, uLeviyathani inyoka endizayo, uLeviyathini inyoka egoqanayo; uzayibulala inunu yasolwandle.
2 At that time, [Yahweh will say], “You [Israeli people, who are like] [MET] a fruitful vineyard, must sing!
Ngalolosuku: “Hlabelani ngesivini esithela izithelo.
3 I will [protect you] [like a farmer] [MET] waters his crops carefully [in order that they will grow well]. I will guard you day and night, in order that no one harms you.
Mina Thixo, ngiyasilinda; ngiyasithelezela kokuphela. Ngisilinda emini lebusuku ukuze kungabikhona owenza okubi kuso.
4 I am no [longer] angry [with my people]; [if any of your enemies try to injure you like briers and thorns injure people] [MET], I will attack them [in battles]; I will get rid of them completely,
Angithukuthelanga. Sengathi kungabe kulokhula lameva okumelana lami! Bengizakulanda ngilwe lakho empini; bengizakutshisa konke ngomlilo.
5 unless they request me to protect them; I strongly invite them to make peace with me [DOU]!”
Loba phela kabeze bazephephela kimi; kabenze ukuthula lami, yebo, kabenze ukuthula lami.”
6 There will be a time when the (descendants of Jacob/Israeli people) will [prosper like] a plant that has good roots; they will be like [MET] trees that bud and blossom and bear a lot of fruit; [what they do will bless] all the people in the world.
Ensukwini ezizayo uJakhobe uzagxila, u-Israyeli uzahluma akhahlele agcwalise umhlaba wonke ngezithelo.
7 [But now I ask], has Yahweh punished us Israelis like he punished our enemies? Has he punished us as much as he punished them?
UThixo usemtshayile na njengokutshaya kwakhe abamtshayayo? Usebulewe na njengokubulawa kwalabo abambulalayo?
8 [No, he has not done that], [but] he punished us Israeli people and (exiled us/forced us to leave our country); we were taken away from our land as though [SIM] we were struck by a windstorm from the east.
Ngempi langokumxotsha elizweni ulwe laye, ngesiphepho sakhe esesabekayo umsusela phandle, njengamhla kuvunguza umoya wasempumalanga.
9 Yahweh did that in order to punish us for our sins, and remove our guilt. As a result [of our being exiled], all the altars to other gods [in Israel] will be demolished, and we will be forgiven for the sins that we have committed. There will be no more poles for worshiping the goddess Asherah, or altars for burning incense to other gods; they will all be torn down.
Ngalokhu-ke ukona kukaJakhobe kuzahlawulelwa, njalo lokhu kuzakuba yisithelo esigcweleyo esokususwa kwesono sakhe: Lapho esenza wonke amatshe e-alithare abe njengamatshe ekalaga avuthuzwe izicucu, akulazinsika zika-Ashera kumbe ama-alithare empepha azatshiywa emi.
10 The cities that have strong walls around them will be empty; like the desert, they will have no one living in them. The houses will be abandoned, and the streets will be full of weeds. Calves will eat grass there and lie down there; they will chew up all the leaves on the trees.
Idolobho elivikelweyo libhidlikile, indawo yokuhlala etshiyiweyo, yadelwa njengenkangala; lapho asesidla khona amathole lapho alala khona phansi; aphundla ingatsha zalo zisale zize.
11 [The Israeli people are like] [MET] dry branches on a tree; women break them off and use them to make fires [under their cooking pots]. Our Israeli people do not have any sense; so Yahweh, who created them, will not act mercifully toward them or be kind to them.
Lapho ingatsha zalo sezomile, ziyephulwa kuze abesifazane babase umlilo ngazo. Ngoba laba ngabantu abangelakuzwisisa; ngakho uMenzi wabo kalasihawu kubo, loMdali wabo akayikuba lomusa kubo.
12 [However], there will be a time when Yahweh will gather them together [again; he will separate them from the people who have conquered them, like people] separate wheat from chaff. He will bring them [back to Israel], one by one, from [the land between] the Euphrates River [in the northeast] and the brook at the border of Egypt [in the southwest].
Ngalolosuku uThixo uzabhula kusukela kuYufrathe ogelezayo kusiya eMhotsheni waseGibhithe, njalo lina abako-Israyeli lizabuthwa munye ngamunye.
13 At that time, a trumpet will be blown very loudly. And those who were exiled to Assyria and Egypt and who almost died there will return to Jerusalem, to worship Yahweh on [Zion], his holy hill.
Njalo ngalolusuku kuzakhaliswa icilongo elikhulu. Labo ababelahlekele elizweni lase-Asiriya lababexotshelwe elizweni laseGibhithe bazabuya bakhonze uThixo phezu kwentaba engcwele eJerusalema.
