Joeli 1
1 Tala liloba oyo Yawe alobaki na nzela ya Joeli, mwana mobali ya Petueli:
The word of the Lord which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.
2 — Bino bakambi ya bato, boyoka liloba oyo; bino nyonso, bavandi ya mokili, botia matoyi mpe boyoka! Boni, likambo ya boye esila kosalema na tango na bino to mpe na tango ya bakoko na bino?
Give ear to this, you old men, and take note, you people of the land. Has this ever been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
3 Boyebisa yango epai ya bana na bino, mpe tika ete bana na bino bayebisa yango epai ya bana na bango; mpe bana na bango, na milongo ya bato oyo bakoya na sima.
Give the story of it to your children, and let them give it to their children, and their children to another generation.
4 Matiti oyo mampinga ya mabanki etiki, mabanki minene elie yango; oyo mabanki minene etiki, mabanki mike elie yango; oyo mabanki mike etiki, mabanki mosusu elie yango.
What the worm did not make a meal of, has been taken by the locust; and what the locust did not take, has been food for the plant-worm; and what the plant-worm did not take, has been food for the field-fly.
5 Bino balangwi masanga, bolamuka mpe bolela; bolela, bino nyonso bameli vino. Pamba te babotoli bino vino ya sika na bibebu.
Come out of your sleep, you who are overcome with wine, and give yourselves to weeping; give cries of sorrow, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it has been cut off from your mouths.
6 Ekolo moko ya bapaya ebundisi mokili na Ngai, ezali na nguya makasi mpe bakokoka te kotanga motango ya bato na yango. Minu na yango ezali lokola minu ya nkosi ya mobali, mpe mbanga na yango, lokola mbanga ya nkosi ya mwasi.
For a nation has come up over my land, strong and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the back teeth of a great lion.
7 Ekolo yango ekomisi elanga na Ngai ya vino lokola esobe mpe ekati-kati banzete na Ngai ya figi, elongoli banzete na Ngai nyonso baposo, ebwaki yango mpe etiki bitape na yango pembe.
By him my vine is made waste and my fig-tree broken: he has taken all its fruit and sent it down to the earth; its branches are made white.
8 Bosala matanga lokola elenge mwasi oyo alati pili mpo na kolela mobandami na ye.
Make sounds of grief like a virgin dressed in haircloth for the husband of her early years.
9 Makabo ya bambuma mpe ya masanga ezali kopesama lisusu te na Tempelo ya Yawe. Banganga-Nzambe, basali ya Nkolo, bazali na matanga.
The meal offering and the drink offering have been cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord's servants, are sorrowing.
10 Bilanga ebebisami, mabele ekawuki, mbuma ya ble ezali lisusu te, vino esili mpe mafuta ezali lisusu te.
The fields are wasted, the land has become dry; for the grain is wasted, the new wine is kept back, the oil is poor.
11 Bino basali bilanga, bozala na soni; bino baloni vino, bolela mpo na mbuma ya ble mpe ya orje, pamba te milona ebebisami.
The farmers are shamed, the workers in the vine-gardens give cries of grief, for the wheat and the barley; for the produce of the fields has come to destruction.
12 Bilanga ya vino ekawuki, banzete ya figi elembi-lembi, banzete ya grenade, ya mbila mpe ya pome, banzete nyonso ya bilanga esili kokawuka. Solo, esengo ya bato esili.
The vine has become dry and the fig-tree is feeble; the pomegranate and the palm-tree and the apple-tree, even all the trees of the field, are dry: because joy has gone from the sons of men.
13 Oh bino Banganga-Nzambe, bolata basaki mpe bolela. Bino bato oyo bosalaka na etumbelo, bolela. Bino basali ya Nzambe na ngai, boya, bolata basaki butu mobimba. Pamba te makabo ya bambuma mpe ya masanga ezali kopesama lisusu te na Ndako ya Nzambe na bino.
Put haircloth round you and give yourselves to sorrow, you priests; give cries of grief, you servants of the altar: come in, and, clothed in haircloth, let the night go past, you servants of my God: for the meal offering and the drink offering have been kept back from the house of your God.
14 Bopanza sango ya kokila bilei, bobengisa bato na mayangani ya bule, bobengisa bakambi mpe bavandi nyonso ya mokili ete baya na Ndako ya Nzambe na bino mpe bolela epai na Yawe.
Let a time be fixed for going without food, have a holy meeting, let the old men, even all the people of the land, come together to the house of the Lord your God, crying out to the Lord.
15 Mawa na mokolo wana! Pamba te mokolo ya Yawe ekomi pene; ekoya lokola libebi oyo ewuti epai na Nkolo-Na-Nguya-Nyonso.
Sorrow for the day! for the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Ruler of all it will come.
16 Boni, wuta na Ndako ya Nzambe mpe na miso na biso, balongoli te bilei, esengo mpe kosepela?
Is not food cut off before our eyes? joy and delight from the house of our God?
17 Bankona ekawuki na se ya mabele, bibombelo etikali lisusu na eloko te, bibombelo ya bambuma ebukani mpo ete ble ezali lisusu te.
The grains have become small and dry under the spade; the store-houses are made waste, the grain-stores are broken down; for the grain is dry and dead.
18 Tika ete ngombe elela! Bibwele ekomi kotelengana, pamba te matiti ya kolia etikali lisusu te; ezala bameme to bantaba ekomi na pasi.
What sounds of pain come from the beasts! the herds of cattle are at a loss because there is no grass for them; even the flocks of sheep are no longer to be seen.
19 Oh Yawe, Yo nde nazali kobelela, pamba te moto ezikisi matiti mpe banzete nyonso ya bilanga.
O Lord, my cry goes up to you: for fire has put an end to the grass-lands of the waste, and all the trees of the field are burned with its flame.
20 Ezala banyama ya zamba ezali kotalela Yo, pamba te miluka ekawuki mpe moto ezikisi bilanga.
The beasts of the field are turning to you with desire: for the water-streams are dry and fire has put an end to the grass-lands of the waste.
