Lamentations 4
1 [Previously our people were like] [MET] pure gold, but now they are worthless. [Like] [MET] the sacred stones in the temple have been scattered, [our young men have been scattered].
Yeka igolide eselilahlekelwe yikukhazimula kwalo, igolide elicolekileyo selijujukile! Amatshe aligugu angcwele aselahliwe ekuqaliseni kwemigwaqo yonke.
2 The young men of Jerusalem were as valuable as [MET] large amounts of gold, but now people consider that they are as worthless as [ordinary] clay pots.
Yeka izinsizwa zaseZiyoni ezincomekayo, ezake zaba lesisindo njengegolide, okwamanje sezingathi zimbiza zebumba, umsebenzi wezandla zombumbi!
3 Even the [female] jackals/wolves feed their pups, but my people act cruelly [toward their children]; they are like [SIM] ostriches in the desert [that abandon their eggs].
Ngitsho lamakhanka asemunyisa abantwabawo emabeleni awo, kodwa abantu bami kabaselazwelo njengezintshe enkangala.
4 [My people’s] infants’ tongues cling to the roofs/tops of their mouths because they are [extremely] thirsty; the children plead for some food, but no one gives them [any].
Ngenxa yokoma, ulimi losane lunamathele elwangeni lomlomo; abantwana bancenga becela isinkwa kodwa kakho obaphayo.
5 People who [previously] ate fine food are [now] starving in the streets; those who previously lived luxuriously [MTY] [now] paw/dig through rubbish heaps [to find some food].
Labo ababesidla izibiliboco sebeyiziceli emigwaqweni. Labo abondliwa ebutifitifini sebelala esilotheni.
6 [The people of] Sodom were struck with a disaster very suddenly, and there was no one to rescue them; but my people have been punished more severely than [the people of] Sodom were punished.
Isijeziso sabantu bakithi sikhulu kuleseSodoma, yona eyabhujiswa ngomzuzwana, akwaze kwaba lasandla esazama ukunceda.
7 Our leaders’ [behavior] was [previously] very pure, whiter [and brighter] than snow and milk; their bodies were redder than [red] coral/stones; they were very strong and healthy [MET].
Amakhosana abo ayekhazimula kulongqwaqwane, emhlophe nke kulochago, imizimba yabo ibomvana njengamatshe ohlobo lwerubhi, ukubukeka kwabo kunjengelitshe elikhazimulayo.
8 But now their faces are blacker than soot, and no one recognizes them in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones, and it has become as dry as [SIM] a wooden [stick].
Kodwa manje sebemnyama kulomsizi; kabasananzwa langubani emigwaqweni. Isikhumba sabo sesinamathele emathanjeni abo; sesome okogodo.
9 It is better to die in a battle [MTY] than to die of hunger. There was no food to harvest in the fields, so the people slowly starved until they died.
Bangcono labo ababulawa ngenkemba, kulalabo abafa ngendlala; bazaca baphele, bekhukhuzwa yindlala ngoba kungelakudla okuvela emasimini.
10 Women who [usually/previously] were very kind have [killed and] cooked their own children; they ate them [when there was no other food], when Jerusalem was surrounded [by enemy soldiers].
Ngezandla zabo abesifazane abalesihelo, bapheke abantwababo, babenza ukudla kwabo ngesikhathi abantu bakithi bebulawa.
11 Yahweh has shown that he was extremely angry; [it is as though] he started/ignited a fire in Jerusalem that burned everything to ashes.
UThixo ubhodlisile intukuthelo yakhe; uluthulule ulaka lwakhe olwesabekayo. Uwulumathisile umlilo eZiyoni, watshisa izisekelo zayo.
12 None of the kings on the earth or anyone else believed that any of our enemies could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
Amakhosi omhlaba ayengakholwa, labantu basemhlabeni babengakholwa ukuthi izitha labahlaseli bangangena emasangweni eJerusalema.
13 [But that is what happened]; it happened because the prophets sinned; and the priests [also] sinned by causing innocent people to be executed [MTY].
Kodwa kwenzakala ngenxa yezono zabaphrofethi bakhona, lamanyala abaphristi bakhona, abachitha igazi labalungileyo ngaphakathi kwalo iJerusalema.
14 The prophets and priests wandered through the streets [as though they were] blind. No one would touch them because their clothes were stained with the blood [of people who had been killed].
Manje sebephumputha emigwaqweni njengabantu abayiziphofu. Sebengcoliswe ligazi kakuselamuntu ongathinta izembatho zabo.
15 The people [who were alive] shouted, “Stay away [from us] [DOU]! You are defiled/untouchable! Do not touch us!” So the prophets and priests fled [from Israel], and they wandered around from one country to another, because people [in each country] kept saying to them, “You cannot stay here!”
Abantu bayabaxotsha bathi, “Sukani! Lingcolile! Sukani! Sukani! Lingasithinti!” Nxa bebaleka bentula, abantu bezizwe bathi, “Ngeke bahlale lapha njalo.”
16 It is Yahweh himself who has scattered them; he no longer is concerned about them. People do not respect [our] priests or leaders.
UThixo ngokwakhe ubahlakazile; kasabalondolozi. Abaphristi kabasahlonitshwa, labadala kabasananzwa.
17 We [SYN] continued to look for someone to help [us], but it was useless. We continued to watch to see if one of our allies would save us, but none of the nations that we were waiting for could help [us].
Phezu kwalokho, amehlo ethu afiphala elindele ize engaboni sizo; siseziqongweni zethu zokulinda, salinda silindele isizwe esasingelancedo kithi.
18 [Our] enemies were hunting for us, so we could not [even] walk in our streets [lest they seize us]. We were about to be captured; it was time for us to be killed.
Abantu babesicwathela indawo zonke, ngakho sasesisesaba ukuhamba emigwaqweni yethu. Sasesiphelelwe, insuku zethu sezibaliwe, ngoba isiphetho sethu sesifikile.
19 Those who pursued us were faster than eagles [flying] in the sky. Even if we fled to the mountains or hid in the desert, they [went there ahead of us and] waited [to attack] us.
Abasixotshayo babelejubane kulengqungqulu emkhathini; baxotshana lathi ezintabeni njalo basicathamela enkangala.
20 [Our king, ] whom Yahweh appointed, was the one who enabled us to remain alive [MTY]; he was the one whom we trusted to protect us [IDM] from [the armies of] other nations. But he was [captured] [like animals are] [MET] caught in a pit.
Ogcotshiweyo kaThixo, oyikuphila kwethu uqobo, wabanjwa emijibileni yabo. Sakhumbula ukuthi ngaphansi kwesithunzi sakhe sizahlala phakathi kwezizwe.
21 You people of [IDM] Edom and Uz, [you may] be happy [about what is happening to us now], but [Yahweh] will be punishing [MTY] you [also]. You will become drunk and will be ashamed [because your enemies] will have stripped off your clothes.
Jabula uthokoze, wena Ndodakazi yase-Edomi, wena ohlala elizweni lase-Uzi. Kodwa lakuwe izafika inkezo le; uzanatha udakwe, unqunulwe.
22 You [people of] [APO] Jerusalem, the time of your being punished will end; Yahweh will not allow you to continue to live in (exile/foreign countries). But [you people of] [APO] Edom, Yahweh will punish [you]; he will reveal the wicked things that you have done.
Ndodakazi yaseZiyoni, isijeziso sakho sizaphela; akayikwelula isikhathi sokuthunjwa kwakho. Kodwa, maye kuwe Ndodakazi yase-Edomi, uzakujezisa ngesono sakho, achaye obala ububi bakho.
