Ezayi 23
1 Maloba na Yawe na tina na engumba ya Tiri: Oh bamasuwa ya Tarsisi, bosala matanga! Pamba te engumba ya Tiri esili kobebisama nyonso: ezala ndako to libongo, eloko moko te etikali! Bazwaki sango oyo wuta na esanga ya Shipele.
[I received] this message [from Yahweh] about Tyre [city]: You [sailors on] [APO] ships from Tarshish, weep, because [the harbor of] Tyre and all the houses [in the city] have been destroyed. The reports that you heard in Cyprus [island] about Tyre [are true].
2 Bino bavandi ya esanga, bino bato ya mombongo ya Sidoni, oyo nzela ya ebale ekomisa bazwi, bovanda nye!
You people who live along the coast [near Tyre], and merchants of Sidon [city], mourn silently. Your sailors went across the seas [to many places like Tyre].
3 Lifuti na ye ezalaki: ble ya Shiyori, oyo ezalaki koya na nzela ya ebale monene mpe milona oyo ezalaki kowuta pembeni ya Nili. Engumba ya Tiri ekomaki nde zando ya bikolo.
They sailed across deep seas to buy grain in Egypt and [other] crops that are grown along the Nile [River]. Tyre became the city where people from [all] nations bought and sold goods.
4 Yoka soni, Sidoni, ndako batonga makasi ya ebale monene, pamba te ebale monene elobi: « Natikala koyoka pasi ya kobota te, natikala na ngai mpe kobota te, natikala na ngai kobokola bana mibali to kokolisa bana basi te. »
But now you people in Sidon should be ashamed, because [you trusted in Tyre], which has been a strong fortress [on an island] in the sea. [Tyre is like a woman who is saying], “[Now it is as though] I have not given birth to [any] children, or raised [any] sons or daughters.”
5 Tango maloba yango ekokoma na Ejipito, bakolenga na somo wana bakoyoka sango ya Tiri.
When [the people of] Egypt hear what has happened to Tyre, they will grieve very much.
6 Bokatisa na ngambo ya Tarsisi, bolela makasi, bino bavandi ya esanga.
Sail to Tarshish [and tell them what happened]; weep, you people who live along the coast.
7 Boni, oyo nde engumba na bino ya bisengo, engumba oyo ebanda kala penza mpe oyo makolo na yango ememaka yango kowumela na mikili ya mosika?
[The people in] the very old city [of Tyre] were [RHQ] previously joyful. Traders [PRS] from Tyre established colonies in many distant nations.
8 Nani azwaki mokano oyo mpo na kobebisa Tiri? Tiri oyo azalaki kokabola mitole, oyo bato na ye ya mombongo bazalaki komimona lokola bakonzi; mpe oyo bato na ye ya nkita bazalaki komimona lokola bato oyo baleki bato nyonso ya mokili na lokumu.
People from Tyre appointed kings [over other places]; their traders were wealthy; they were [as powerful and wealthy as] [MET] kings. [So], who [RHQ] caused the people of Tyre to experience this disaster?
9 Yawe, Mokonzi ya mampinga, nde azwaki mokano yango mpo na kosambwisa lolendo ya nkembo nyonso mpe kokitisa kino na se bato nyonso ya lokumu, oyo bazali na mabele.
It was the Commander of the armies of angels who did it; he did it in order to cause [you people in] Tyre not to be proud any more, to humiliate you men who are honored all over the world.
10 Oh Tarsisi, mboka kitoko, koma kosala bilanga ndenge basalaka pembeni ya ebale Nili, pamba te libongo ezali lisusu te.
You people of Tarshish, you must grow crops in your land [instead of trading]; spread out over your land like [SIM] the Nile [River] spreads over the land [of Egypt] when it floods, because there is no harbor [in Tyre for your ships] now.
11 Yawe asembolaki loboko na Ye na ebale monene mpe alengisaki bikolo, apesaki mitindo na tina na mokili ya Fenisi ete babuka bandako na yango oyo batonga makasi;
[It is as though] Yahweh stretched out his hand over the sea and shook the kingdoms of the earth. He commanded that in Phoenicia/Canaan all its fortresses must be destroyed.
12 alobaki: « Okosepela lisusu te, yo Sidoni, mboka kitoko, yo oyo lokumu na yo esili kobebisama lelo! Telema, katisa na ngambo ya Shipele! Ezala kuna, okozwa bopemi te. »
He said to the people of Sidon, “You will never rejoice again, because you will be crushed; even if you flee to Cyprus [island], you will not escape destruction.”
13 Tala mokili ya bato ya Chalide, bato oyo bazalaka lisusu te! Bato ya Asiri bakomisaki yango esika ya kowumela mpo na banyama ya esobe; batongaki bandako na bango ya milayi mpo na kokengela, babukaki bandako na yango batonga makasi mpe bakomisaki yango putulu.
Think about what happened in Babylonia: the people who were in that land have disappeared. [The armies of] Assyria have caused that land to become a place where wild animals from the desert live. The Assyrians built dirt ramps to the top of the walls [of the city of Babylon]; [then they entered the city and] tore down the palaces and caused the city to become [a heap of] rubble.
14 Bolela, bino bamasuwa ya Tarsisi! Pamba te ndako na bino, oyo batonga makasi ebukani.
[So] wail, you [sailors on the] ships of Tarshish, because the harbor [in Tyre where your ships stop] is destroyed!
15 Na tango wana, bakobosana Tiri mibu tuku sambo kolanda molayi ya bomoi ya mokonzi moko. Kasi na suka ya mibu tuku sambo, ekosalema mpo na Tiri, makambo oyo baloba na nzembo oyo bayembelaka mwasi ya ndumba:
For seventy years, which is as long as kings usually live, people will forget about Tyre. [But then it will be rebuilt]. What will happen there will be like what happened to a prostitute in this song:
16 « Kamata lindanda, tambola na engumba mobimba, oh mwasi ya ndumba oyo babosana; beta yango malamu, yemba banzembo ebele mpo ete bakanisa yo lisusu! »
“You harlot, whom people had forgotten, play your harp well, and sing many songs, in order that people will remember you again.”
17 Na sima na mibu tuku sambo, Yawe akosala mpo na Tiri oyo ekozongela lifuti na yango ya mbindo; mpe ekozongela kosala kindumba elongo na bikolo nyonso ya mokili.
[It is true that] after seventy years Yahweh will restore Tyre. Their merchants will again earn a lot of money by buying things from and selling things to many [other] nations [HYP].
18 Kasi lifuti mpe bomengo na yango ekobulisama mpo na Yawe; bakobomba te yango kati na bibombelo. Bomengo na yango ekozala mpo na koleisa bato oyo batelemaka liboso ya Yawe mpe kolatisa bango bilamba ya kitoko.
[But] their profits will be given to Yahweh. [The merchants] will not hoard their money; instead, they will give it to Yahweh’s priests in order that they [can] buy food and nice clothes.
