UHezekheli 29
1 Ngomnyaka wetshumi, ngenyanga yetshumi ngosuku lwetshumi lambili, ilizwi likaThixo lafika kimi lisithi:
In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the eleventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 “Ndodana yomuntu, khangelisa ubuso bakho kuFaro inkosi yaseGibhithe uphrofithe okubi ngaye langelizwe lonke laseGibhithe.
“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and you shall prophesy about him and about all of Egypt.
3 Khuluma laye uthi: ‘Nanku okutshiwo nguThixo Wobukhosi: Ngimelane lawe, Faro nkosi yaseGibhithe, wena silo esikhulu esilele phakathi kwezifula zaso. Uthi, “INayili ngeyakho; wazenzela yona.”
Speak, and you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, you great dragon, who rests in the midst of your rivers. And you say: ‘Mine is the river, and I have made myself.’
4 Kodwa ngizafaka iwuka emihlathini yakho nginamathisele inhlanzi zezifula zakho, emaxolweni akho. Ngizakukhuphela ngaphandle kwezifula zakho, lenhlanzi zonke zinamathele emaxolweni akho.
But I will place a bridle in your jaws. And I will adhere the fish of your rivers to your scales. And I will draw you out of the midst of your rivers, and all your fish will adhere to your scales.
5 Ngizakutshiya enkangala, wena kanye lenhlanzi zonke zasezifuleni zakho. Uzawela egcekeni egangeni njalo ungabuthwa loba udojwe. Ngizakunikela njengokudla ezinyamazaneni zomhlaba lezinyoni zasemoyeni.
And I will cast you into the desert, with all the fish of your river. You will fall upon the surface of the earth; you will not be taken up, nor gathered together. I have given you to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the air, to be devoured.
6 Lapho-ke bonke abahlala eGibhithe bazakwazi ukuthi mina nginguThixo. Ube uludondolo lomhlanga lwendlu ka-Israyeli.
And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord. For you have been a staff made of reed to the house of Israel.
7 Kwathi bekubamba ngezandla zabo, wacezuka waqhaqha amahlombe abo; kwathi lapho beseyama kuwe wephuka lamaqolo abo aqhuzuka.
When they took hold of you with the hand, you broke, and so you wounded all of their shoulders. And when they leaned on you, you shattered, and so you injured all of their lower backs.
8 Ngakho-ke nanku okutshiwo nguThixo Wobukhosi: Ngizaletha inkemba imelane lawe ngibulale abantu bakho kanye lezifuyo zabo.
Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will lead the sword over you, and I will destroy both man and beast from among you.
9 IGibhithe izakuba yinkangala echithekileyo. Lapho-ke bazakwazi ukuthi mina nginguThixo. Ngoba wathi, “INayili ngeyakho; nguwe owayenzayo,”
And the land of Egypt will be a desert and a wilderness. And they shall know that I am the Lord. For you have said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it.’
10 ngakho ngimelana lawe kanye lezifula zakho, njalo ngizakwenza ilizwe laseGibhithe libe lunxiwa logwadule oluphundlekileyo kusukela eMigidoli kusiya e-Asiwani, kuze kuyefika emngceleni weKhushi.
Therefore, behold, I am against you and against your rivers. And I will make the land of Egypt into a wilderness, destroyed by the sword from the tower of Syene all the way to the borders of Ethiopia.
11 Akulanyawo lomuntu loba olwenyamazana oluzadabula phakathi kwalo; akulamuntu ozahlala khona okweminyaka engamatshumi amane.
The foot of man will not pass through it, and the foot of cattle will not walk in it. And it will be uninhabited for forty years.
12 Ngizakwenza ilizwe laseGibhithe libe ngeliphundlekileyo phakathi kwamazwe achithekileyo, njalo amadolobho alo azaphundleka okweminyaka engamatshumi amane phakathi kwamadolobho angamanxiwa. AmaGibhithe ngizawachithela phakathi kwezizwe ngiwahlakazele emazweni.
And I will set the land of Egypt in desolation, in the midst of desolate lands, and its cities in the midst of overturned cites. And they will be desolate for forty years. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and I will disperse them among the lands.
13 Kodwa nanku okutshiwo nguThixo Wobukhosi: Ekupheleni kweminyaka engamatshumi amane ngizaqoqa amaGibhithe ezizweni ayehlakazelwe kuzo.
For thus says the Lord God: After the end of forty years, I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they had been scattered.
14 Ngizawabuyisela evela ekuthunjweni yiGibhithe, ePhathrosi, ilizwe labokhokho babo. Lapho bazakuba ngumbuso omncane.
And I will lead back the captivity of Egypt, and I will collect them in the land of Pathros, in the land of their nativity. And in that place, they will be a lowly kingdom.
15 Uzakuba ngumbuso omncane kakhulu emibusweni njalo kawuyikuziphakamisela phezulu kwezinye izizwe futhi. Ngizawenza ungabi lamandla ukuze ungabusi izizwe futhi.
It will be the lowest among the other kingdoms, and it will no longer be exalted above the nations. And I will diminish them, lest they rule over the Gentiles.
16 IGibhithe kaliyikuba ngumthombo wethemba futhi wabantu bako-Israyeli kodwa lizakuba yisikhumbuzo sesono sabo sokuyafuna usizo kulo. Lapho-ke bazakwazi ukuthi mina nginguThixo Wobukhosi.’”
And they will no longer be the confidence of the house of Israel, teaching iniquity, so that they may flee and follow them. And they shall know that I am the Lord God.”
17 Ngomnyaka wamatshumi amabili lesikhombisa, ngenyanga yakuqala ngelanga lakuqala, ilizwi likaThixo lafika kimi lisithi:
And it happened that, in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
18 “Ndodana yomuntu, uNebhukhadineza inkosi yaseBhabhiloni waqhuba ibutho lakhe ukuyakulwa impi enzima leThire, amakhanda wonke aphuculwa aphuceka, lamahlombe wonke aba buhlungu. Ikanti yena lebutho lakhe kabatholanga mvuzo empini ayikhokhela ekuhlaseleni iThire.
“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has caused his army to serve with great servility against Tyre. Every head was shaven, and every shoulder was stripped of hair. And wages have not been paid to him, nor to his army, for Tyre, for the service by which he served for me against it.
19 Ngakho nanku okutshiwo nguThixo Wobukhosi: IGibhithe ngizalinikela kuNebhukhadineza inkosi yaseBhabhiloni, njalo uzathumba inotho yalo. Uzaliphundla aliphange ilizwe njengeholo lebutho lakhe.
Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will station Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, in the land of Egypt. And he will take its multitude, and he will prey upon its profits, and he will plunder its spoils. And this shall be the wages for his army
20 Ngimnike iGibhithe njengomvuzo wemizamo yakhe ngoba yena lebutho lakhe lokho bakwenzela mina, kutsho uThixo Wobukhosi.
and for the work by which he has served against it. I have given to him the land of Egypt, because he has labored for me, says the Lord God.
21 Ngalolosuku ngizakwenza uphondo lukhulele indlu ka-Israyeli, njalo ngizavula umlomo wakho phakathi kwabo. Lapho-ke bazakwazi ukuthi mina nginguThixo.”
In that day, a horn will spring forth for the house of Israel, and I will give to you an open mouth in their midst. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”
