UHezekheli 19
1 “Qhinqani isililo ngamakhosana ako-Israyeli
Moreover do you take up a lamentation for the prince of Israel,
2 lithi: ‘Yeka isilwanekazi esasingunyoko phakathi kwezilwane! Salala phansi phakathi kwezilwane ezisakhulayo sondla imidlwane yaso.
and say, Why is your mother become a whelp in the midst of lions? in the midst of lions she has multiplied her whelps.
3 Sakhulisa omunye wemidlwane yaso waba yisilwane esilamandla wafunda ukudabula okubanjelwe ukudliwa, wadla labantu.
And one of her whelps sprang forth; he became a lion, and learnt to take prey, he devoured men.
4 Izizwe zezwa ngawo wasuthiywa egodini lazo. Zawuhola ngezingwegwe zawusa elizweni laseGibhithe.
And the nations heard a report of him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him into the land of Egypt in chains.
5 Kwathi sibona ithemba laso lingagcwalisekanga, ithemba laso lingasekho, sathatha omunye wemidlwane yaso sawenza waba yisilwane esilamandla.
And she saw that he was driven away from her, [and] her hope [of him] perished, and she took another of her whelps; she made him a lion.
6 Wanyonyoba phakathi kwezilwane ngoba wawuyisilwane esilamandla. Wafunda ukudabula okubanjelwe ukudliwa, wadla labantu.
And he went up and down in the midst of lions, he became a lion, and learnt to take prey, he devoured men.
7 Wadiliza izinqaba zabo wachitha lamadolobho abo. Ilizwe kanye labo bonke ababekulo bathuthumeliswa yikubhonga kwawo.
And he prowled in his boldness and laid waste their cities, and made the land desolate, and the fullness of it, by the voice of his roaring.
8 Izizwe zawuvukela, zivela ezindaweni eziwuzingelezileyo. Zendlala amambule azo phezu kwawo wawela egodini labo.
Then the nations set upon him from the countries round about, and they spread their nets upon him: he was taken in their pit.
9 Bawudonsela ekhejini ngezingwegwe bawusa enkosini yaseBhabhiloni. Bawufaka entolongweni, ngakho ukubhonga kwawo akuzwakalanga futhi ezintabeni zako-Israyeli.
And they put him in chains and in a cage, [and] he came to the king of Babylon; and he cast him into prison, that his voice should not be heard on the mountains of Israel.
10 Unyoko wayenjengevini elihlanyelwe ngasemanzini esivinini sakho; sasithela izithelo njalo silezingatsha ezinengi ngenxa yamanzi amanengi.
Your mother was as a vine and as a blossom on a pomegranate tree, planted by water: her fruit and her shoot abounded by reason of much water.
11 Ingatsha zaso zaziqinile zifanele intonga yombusi. Sasiphakeme siphezulu le ngaphezu kwamahlamvu aminyeneyo, sibonakala ngobude baso langezingatsha zaso ezinengi.
And she became a rod for a tribe of princes, and was elevated in her bulk in the midst of [other] trees, and she saw her bulk in the multitude of her branches.
12 Kodwa sasitshunwa ngokuthukuthela saphoselwa phansi. Umoya wasempumalanga wasomisa, izithelo zaso zaqhululwa; ingatsha zaso eziqinileyo zabuna umlilo wazitshisa.
But she was broken down in wrath, she was cast upon the ground, and the east wind dried up her choice [branches]: vengeance came upon them, and the rod of her strength was withered; fire consumed it.
13 Khathesi sesihlanyelwe enkangala, elizweni elitshisayo lelomileyo.
And now they have planted her in the wilderness, in a dry land.
14 Umlilo umemetheke usuka kolunye lwezingatsha ezinkulu, watshisa izithelo zaso. Akulagatsha oluqinileyo oluseleyo kuso olufanele intonga yombusi.’ Lesi yisililo njalo sizasetshenziswa njengesililo.”
And fire is gone out of a rod of her choice [boughs], and has devoured her; and there was no rod of strength in her. Her race is become a parable of lamentation, and it shall be for a lamentation.
