U-Amosi 8
1 Nanku engakutshengiswa nguThixo Wobukhosi: isitsha esilezithelo ezivuthiweyo.
Thus the lord Jehovah showed me: And, behold, a basket of summer fruit.
2 Wangibuza wathi, “Kuyini okubonayo, Amosi?” Mina ngaphendula ngathi, “Yisitsha esilezithelo ezivuthiweyo.” UThixo wasesithi kimi, “Isikhathi sabantu bami bako-Israyeli sesifikile; kangisabaxoleli futhi.
And he said, Amos, what do thou see? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then Jehovah said to me, The end has come upon my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.
3 Ngalolosuku, izingoma zethempelini zizaphenduka zibe yikulila. Izidumbu ezinengi kakhulu zidaklazelwe indawo yonke! Thulani!” Kutsho uThixo Wobukhosi.
And the songs of the temple shall be wailings in that day, says the lord Jehovah. The dead bodies shall be many. In every place they shall cast them forth with silence.
4 Zwanini lokhu, lina elincindezela abaswelayo njalo lichitha labayanga elizweni,
Hear this, O ye who would swallow up a needy man, and cause the poor of the land to fail,
5 lisithi, “Ukuthwasa kweNyanga Entsha kuzaphela nini ukuze sithengise amabele, leSabatha lidlule ukuze sithengise ingqoloyi na?” Sinciphise isilinganiso, sikhweze intengo siqilibezele ngezilinganiso zenkohliso,
saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit,
6 sithenge abayanga ngesiliva, abaswelayo sibathenge ngamanyathelo, sithengise lamakhoba ngengqoloyi.
that we may buy the poor for silver, and a needy man for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
7 UThixo ufungile ngokuziQhenya kukaJakhobe wathi, “Angisoze ngakhohliswa loba yini abayenzileyo.
Jehovah has sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Ilizwe kaliyikuthuthumela ngalokhu yini labo bonke abahlala kulo kabayikulila na? Ilizwe lonke lizaqubuka njengeNayili; lizadungeka beselitshona phansi njengomfula waseGibhithe.
Shall the land not tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells therein? Yea, it shall rise up wholly like the River, and it shall be troubled and sink again like the River of Egypt.
9 Ngalolosuku,” kutsho uThixo Wobukhosi, “ngizakwenza ilanga litshone emini, ngenze emhlabeni kube mnyama emini ekhanyayo.
And it shall come to pass in that day, says the lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
10 Ngizaphendula imikhosi yenu yokukhonza ibe yikulila lokuhlabelela kwenu konke kube yikukhala. Lonke ngizalenza ligqoke amasaka, njalo liphuce amakhanda enu. Lesosikhathi ngizasenza sifane lokulilela indodana eyiyo yodwa lokuphela kwaso kube njengosuku olubuhlungu.
And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation. And I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head, and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Insuku ziyeza, kutsho uThixo Wobukhosi, lapho engizathumela khona indlala elizweni hatshi indlala yokudla kumbe ukomela amanzi, kodwa indlala yokuzwa amazwi kaThixo.
Behold, the days come, says the lord Jehovah, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah.
12 Abantu bazaphamazela besuka elwandle besiya elwandle, njalo bazule kusukela enyakatho kusiya empumalanga, bedinga ilizwi likaThixo, kodwa kabayikulithola.
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east. They shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.
13 Ngalolosuku izintombi ezinhle lezinsizwa eziqinileyo zizaqaleka ngenxa yokoma.
In that day the fair virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst.
14 Bona labo abafunga ngesono seSamariya, loba bathi, ‘Ngeqiniso njengoba unkulunkulu wakho ephila, wena Dani,’ loba bathi, ‘Ngeqiniso njengoba unkulunkulu waseBherishebha ephila,’ bazakuwa, bangaphindi bavuke futhi.”
Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, As thy god, O Dan, lives, and, As the way of Beersheba lives, they shall fall, and never rise up again.
