U-Isaya 33
1 Maye kuwe, wena mchithi, wena ongachithwanga! Maye kuwe, wena mthengisi, wena ongacetshwanga! Lapho uyekela ukuthengisa, lawe uzacetshwa.
Woe to you who plunder! Will you yourselves not also be plundered? And woe to you who despise! Will you yourselves not also be despised? When you will have completed your plundering, you will be plundered. When, out of fatigue, you will have ceased acting with contempt, you will be treated with contempt.
2 Awu Thixo, woba lomusa kithi; siyakulangazelela. Woba ngamandla ethu ekuseni konke, ube yinsindiso yethu esikhathini sosizi.
O Lord, take pity on us. For we have waited for you. Be our arm in the morning and our salvation in the time of tribulation.
3 Ekukhwazeni kwelizwi lakho, izizwe ziyabaleka; lapho uphakama izizwe ziyahlakazeka.
From the voice of the Angel, the people fled. And from your exultation, the nations were scattered.
4 Elakuthumbayo, lina zizwe, kubuthwa sengangathi kuqoqwa yisikhongwane, abantu beqela kukho njengomtshitshi wentethe.
And your spoils will be gathered together, just as the locusts are collected when the ditches have become filled with them.
5 UThixo uphakeme ngoba uhlala phezulu, uzagcwalisa iZiyoni ngokufaneleyo langokulunga.
The Lord has been magnified, because he has lived on high. He has filled Zion with judgment and justice.
6 Uzakuba yisisekelo esithembekileyo sesikhathi senu, isiphala esigcwele usindiso, ukuhlakanipha lokwazi; ukumesaba uThixo kuyisiqokoqela sokuzuza ingcebo le.
And there will be faith in your times: the riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. For the fear of the Lord is his treasure.
7 Khangelani, amaqhawe akibo ahlaba umkhosi emigwaqweni! Izithunywa zokuthula ziyakhala kakhulu.
Behold, outside, those who see will cry out. The Angels of peace will weep bitterly.
8 Imigwaqo emikhulu ibetha umoya, akulazihambi kuyo. Isivumelwano sephulwe, ofakazi baso beyisiwe, kakho ohlonitshwayo.
The roads have become desolate. Travelers have ceased along the paths. The covenant has been nullified. He has tossed aside cities. He has disregarded men.
9 Ilizwe liyalila njalo liyachitheka. ILebhanoni iyangekile njalo iyabuna; iSharoni injengenkangala, iBhashani leKhameli akhithizwa amahlamvu awo.
The earth has mourned and languished. Lebanon has been confounded and desecrated. And Sharon has become like a desert. And Bashan and Carmel have been struck together.
10 UThixo uthi, “Khathesi sengizavuka, khathesi sengizadunyiswa, khathesi sengizaphakanyiswa.
“Now, I will rise up!” says the Lord. “Now I will be exalted! Now I will lift myself up!”
11 Liqukethe ngamakhoba, lizale izibi; umoya wenu eliwuphefumulayo ungumlilo oliqedayo.
You will conceive heat. You will give birth to stubble. Your own spirit will devour you like fire.
12 Abantu bazatshiswa bafane lekalaga; bazathungelwa ngomlilo njengamahlahla ameva aganyuliweyo.”
And the people will be like the ashes from a fire. They will be consumed by fire like a bundle of thorns.
13 Lina elikhatshana, zwanini engikwenzileyo; lina abaseduze, vumani amandla ami!
“You who are far away, listen to what I have done! And you who are near, acknowledge my strength!”
14 Izoni zaseZiyoni ziyathuthumela; abangamesabiyo uNkulunkulu bayaqhaqhazela: “Ngubani owakithi ongahlala lomlilo oqothulayo na? Ngubani owakithi ongahlala lokutshisa okungapheliyo na?”
The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has taken hold of the hypocrites. Who among you is able to live with a devouring fire? Who among you will live with an everlasting flame?
15 Ngulowo owenza okulungileyo, ekhuluma okuqotho oyalayo inzuzo yokuncindezelwa, ale ukwamukela isivalamlomo, owalayo ukulalela amaqhinga okubulala, avale amehlo akhe ukuze angaboni okubi,
The one who walks in justice and speaks the truth, who casts out avarice with oppression and shakes all bribes from his hands, who blocks his ears so that he may not listen to blood, and closes his eyes so that he may not see evil.
16 lo nguye umuntu ozahlala ekuphakameni, osiphephelo sakhe sizakuba yinqaba yasentabeni. Uzalethelwa isinkwa sakhe, lamanzi kayikuwaswela.
Such a one will live on high; the fortification of rocks will be his lofty place. Bread has been given to him; his waters are reliable.
17 Amehlo enu azayibona inkosi ebuhleni bayo, abuke lelizwe elibanzi.
His eyes will see the king in his elegance; they will discern the land from far away.
18 Ezingqondweni zenu lizakhumbula ukwesaba kwakuqala lithi: “Ingaphi induna yezikhulu leyana? Ungaphi owayethatha imali yemithelo? Singaphi isikhulu esigcina imiphotshongo na?”
Your heart will meditate on fear. Where are the learned? Where are those who ponder the words of the law? Where are the teachers of little ones?
19 Abantu labayana abaklolodayo kalisayikubabona futhi, abantu labayana abolimi olungazwakaliyo, abolimi olungaziwayo, olungaqondakaliyo.
You will not look upon a shameless people, a people of exalted words. For you are not able to understand the dissertation of a tongue in which there is no wisdom.
20 Khangelani iZiyoni, idolobho lemikhosi yethu; amehlo enu azabona iJerusalema indawo yokuhlala elokuthula, ithente elingeke lisuswe; izikhonkwane zalo kaziyikusitshunwa lezintambo zalo kaziyikuqamuka.
Look with favor upon Zion, the city of our solemnity. Your eyes will behold Jerusalem: an opulent habitation, a tabernacle that can never be taken away. Its stakes will not be taken away forever, nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 Khonapho uThixo uzakuba ngolaMandla wethu. Kuzafana lendawo elemifula ebanzi kanye lezifula. Akukho mkhumbi wempi ozagwedlwa khona, akukho mkhumbi olamandla ozahamba khona.
For only in that place has our Lord been magnified. It is a place of rivers, very broad and open. No ship with oars will cross through it, nor will the great Greek ship pass through it.
22 Ngoba uThixo ungumahluleli wethu, uThixo usinika imithetho, uThixo yinkosi yethu; nguye ozasikhulula.
For the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king. He himself will save us.
23 Izintambo zakho zeseyili ziyaxega. Insika kayiqiniswanga; iseyili kayivulekanga. Lapho-ke impango enengi izakwabiwa kuthi labaqhulayo labo bazazuza impango.
Your ropes have become loose, and they will not prevail. Your mast will be such that you will not be able to unfurl a flag. Then the spoils of much plunder will be divided. The lame will seize the spoils.
24 Akulamuntu ohlala eZiyoni ozakuthi, “Mina ngiyagula”; labantu abahlala khona bazathethelelwa izono zabo.
He who is nearby will not say: “I am too weak.” The people who live in it will have their iniquity taken away from them.
