Ezekiel 15

1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Ilizwi likaThixo lafika kimi lisithi:

2 “Son of man, how is a vine better than any tree with branches that is among the trees in a forest?

“Ndodana yomuntu, isigodo sevini silwedlula ngani ugatsha lwaloba yisiphi sezihlahla eziseguswini na?

3 Do people take wood from a vine to make anything? Or do they make a peg from it to hang anything on it?

Isigodo siyake sithathwe kulo ukuba kwenziwe ulutho olusizayo na? Bayazenza izikhonkwane ngalo ukuba kulengiswe izinto kuzo na?

4 See! If it is thrown into a fire as fuel, and if the fire has burned both of its ends and also the middle, is it good for anything?

Njalo emva kokuba sesiphoselwe emlilweni njengokhuni, umlilo usitshise izihloko zombili lomzaca waphakathi uhaqazeke, siselosizo ekwenzeni olunye ulutho na?

5 See! When it was complete, it could not make anything; surely then, when the fire has burned, then it still will not make anything useful.

Nxa sasingelasizo ekwenzeni ulutho sisaphelele, kuncane kangakanani okungenziwa ukuthi sibe yilutho olusizayo lapho umlilo ususitshisile njalo sesililahle na?

6 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Unlike the trees in the forests, I have given the vine as fuel for fires; I will act in the same way toward the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Ngakho nanku okutshiwo nguThixo Wobukhosi: Njengoba nginike isigodo sevini phakathi kwezihlahla zegusu njengokhuni lomlilo, ngizabaphatha kanjalo abantu abahlala eJerusalema.

7 For I will set my face against them. Though they come out from the fire, yet the fire will consume them; so you will know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them.

Ngizamelana labo ngobuso bami. Lanxa sebephumile phakathi komlilo, umlilo usezabaqeda. Njalo lapho sengimelane labo ngobuso bami, lizakwazi ukuthi nginguThixo.

8 Then I will make the land into an abandoned wasteland because they have committed sin—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.”

Ngizakwenza ilizwe libe lugwadule ngoba bebengathembekanga, kutsho uThixo Wobukhosi.”