UHezekheli 19
1 “Qhinqani isililo ngamakhosana ako-Israyeli
Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 lithi: ‘Yeka isilwanekazi esasingunyoko phakathi kwezilwane! Salala phansi phakathi kwezilwane ezisakhulayo sondla imidlwane yaso.
And say: Why did thy mother the lioness lie down among the lions, and bring up her whelps in the midst of young lions?
3 Sakhulisa omunye wemidlwane yaso waba yisilwane esilamandla wafunda ukudabula okubanjelwe ukudliwa, wadla labantu.
And she brought out one of her whelps, and he became a lion: and he learned to catch the prey, and to devour men.
4 Izizwe zezwa ngawo wasuthiywa egodini lazo. Zawuhola ngezingwegwe zawusa elizweni laseGibhithe.
And the nations heard of him, and took him, but not without receiving wounds: and they brought him in chains into the land of Egypt.
5 Kwathi sibona ithemba laso lingagcwalisekanga, ithemba laso lingasekho, sathatha omunye wemidlwane yaso sawenza waba yisilwane esilamandla.
But she seeing herself weakened, and that her hope was lost, took one of her young lions, and set him up for a lion.
6 Wanyonyoba phakathi kwezilwane ngoba wawuyisilwane esilamandla. Wafunda ukudabula okubanjelwe ukudliwa, wadla labantu.
And he went up and down among the lions, and became a lion: and he learned to catch the prey, and to devour men.
7 Wadiliza izinqaba zabo wachitha lamadolobho abo. Ilizwe kanye labo bonke ababekulo bathuthumeliswa yikubhonga kwawo.
He learned to make widows, and to lay waste their cities: and the land became desolate, and the fulness thereof by the noise of his roaring.
8 Izizwe zawuvukela, zivela ezindaweni eziwuzingelezileyo. Zendlala amambule azo phezu kwawo wawela egodini labo.
And the nations Game together against him on every side out of the provinces, and they spread their net over him, in their wounds he was taken.
9 Bawudonsela ekhejini ngezingwegwe bawusa enkosini yaseBhabhiloni. Bawufaka entolongweni, ngakho ukubhonga kwawo akuzwakalanga futhi ezintabeni zako-Israyeli.
And they put him into a cage, they brought him in chains to the king of Babylon: and they cast him into prison, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
10 Unyoko wayenjengevini elihlanyelwe ngasemanzini esivinini sakho; sasithela izithelo njalo silezingatsha ezinengi ngenxa yamanzi amanengi.
Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood planted by the water: her fruit and her branches have grown out of many waters.
11 Ingatsha zaso zaziqinile zifanele intonga yombusi. Sasiphakeme siphezulu le ngaphezu kwamahlamvu aminyeneyo, sibonakala ngobude baso langezingatsha zaso ezinengi.
And she hath strong rods to make sceptres for them that bear rule, and her stature was exalted among the branches: and she saw her height 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 plucked up in wrath, and cast on the ground, and the burning wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods are withered, and dried up: the fire hath devoured her.
13 Khathesi sesihlanyelwe enkangala, elizweni elitshisayo lelomileyo.
And now she is transplanted into the desert, in a land not passable, and dry.
14 Umlilo umemetheke usuka kolunye lwezingatsha ezinkulu, watshisa izithelo zaso. Akulagatsha oluqinileyo oluseleyo kuso olufanele intonga yombusi.’ Lesi yisililo njalo sizasetshenziswa njengesililo.”
And a fire is gone out from a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit: so that she now hath no strong rod, to be a sceptre of rulers. This is a lamentation, and it shall be for a lamentation.
