U-Isaya 59
1 Ngeqiniso ingalo kaThixo kayimfitshane ukuba isindise, lendlebe yakhe kayibuthundu ukuba izwe.
Behold, Jehovah's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear;
2 Kodwa ububi benu sebulahlukanise loNkulunkulu wenu; lezono zenu sezisithe ubuso bakhe kini ukuze angezwa.
but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid [his] face from you, that he doth not hear.
3 Ngoba izandla zenu zingcolisiwe ngegazi, leminwe yenu ingcoliswe yibubi. Izindebe zenu zikhulume amanga lolimi lwenu luhlebeza izinto ezimbi.
For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips speak lies, your tongue muttereth unrighteousness:
4 Kakho odinga ukwahlulela okuhle, kakho okhuluma ecaleni lakhe ngobuqotho. Bathembe ukuphika ngeze bekhuluma amanga; bemula uhlupho, bazale ububi.
none calleth for justice, none pleadeth in truthfulness. They trust in vanity, and speak falsehood; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
5 Bachamisela amaqanda ezinhlangwana, beluke ubulembu besayobe. Langabe ngubani odla amaqanda azo uzakufa, njalo nxa elinye lawo lichanyiselwe kuphuma ibululu.
They hatch serpents' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.
6 Ubulembu babo kabusizi ekugqokeni; abangeke bazimboze ngabakwenzayo. Izenzo zabo yizenzo ezimbi, izenzo zodlakela zisezandleni zabo.
Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.
7 Inyawo zabo zigijimela ukona; bayaphangisa ukuchitha igazi elimsulwa. Imicabango yabo yimicabango emibi; ukuchitha lokubhubhisa kubonakalisa izindlela zabo.
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths;
8 Indlela yokuthula kabayazi; akukho kulunga ezindleleni zabo. Sebenze zaba yimigwaqo ezombelezayo, kakho ohamba ngazo ozakwazi ukuthula.
the way of peace they know not, and there is no judgment in their goings; they have made their paths crooked: whoso goeth therein knoweth not peace.
9 Ngakho-ke ukwahlulela okuhle kukhatshana lathi, lokulunga akufiki kithi. Sidinga ukukhanya, kodwa kulobumnyama kuphela; sidinga ukucazimula, kodwa sihamba emathunzini amnyama.
Therefore is justice far from us, and righteousness overtaketh us not: we wait for light, and behold darkness; for brightness, [but] we walk in obscurity.
10 Njengeziphofu siphumputha silandela umduli, siphumputhe indlela yethu njengabantu abangelamehlo. Sikhubeka emini ingathi kukusihlwa; kwabalamandla, sinjengabafileyo.
We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at midday as in the twilight; amongst the flourishing we are as the dead.
11 Sonke siyahwabha njengamabhele, sibubule ngosizi njengamajuba. Sidinga ukwahlulela okuhle, kodwa kasikutholi; sidinga ukuhlengwa, kodwa kukhatshana.
We roar all like bears, and mourn grievously like doves: we look for judgment, and there is none; for salvation, [but] it is far from us.
12 Ngoba ukona kwethu kuwe kunengi, lezono zethu zifakaza okubi ngathi. Ukona kwethu kuhlezi kulathi; siyabuvuma ububi bethu,
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us; and our iniquities, we know them:
13 ukuhlamuka lokungathembeki kuThixo, ukufulathela uNkulunkulu wethu, ukukhuthaza uncindezelo lomvukela, ukukhuluma amanga esiwacabange ngezinhliziyo zethu.
in transgressing and lying against Jehovah, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14 Ngakho ukwahlulela okuhle kufuqelwa emuva, ukulunga kume khatshana; iqiniso likhubekile ezindleleni, ubuqotho bungeke bungene.
And judgment is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth stumbleth in the street, and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Iqiniso kalitholwa ndawo; oxwaya ububi uyahlaselwa. UThixo wakhangela wadaniswa yikuswelakala kokwahlulela okuhle.
And truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And Jehovah saw [it], and it was evil in his sight that there was no judgment.
16 Wabona ukuthi kwakungelamuntu, wanengwa yikuthi kakho owayengalamula; ngakho waletha ukukhululwa ngamandla akhe, ukulunga kwakhe kwamqinisa.
And he saw that there was no man, and he wondered that there was no intercessor; and his arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness, it sustained him.
17 Wagqoka ukulunga njengesivikelo sakhe sasesifubeni, lengowane yensindiso ekhanda lakhe; wagqoka izembatho zokuphindisela njalo wazigoqela ngokutshiseka njengokuzigoqela ngengubo.
And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on garments of vengeance [for] clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.
18 Uzaphindisela ulaka ezitheni zakhe, kusiya ngalokho abakwenzileyo; lokujeziswa kwabamelana laye; izihlenge uzaziphindisela ngemfanelo yazo.
According to deeds, so will he repay: fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.
19 Kusukela entshonalanga abantu bazalesaba ibizo likaThixo, njalo kusukela ekuphumeni kwelanga bazadumisa ubukhosi bakhe. Ngoba uzafika njengesikhukhula esifutheleneyo esifuqwa ngumoya kaThixo.
And they shall fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and from the rising of the sun, his glory. When the adversary shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of Jehovah will lift up a banner against him.
20 “Umhlengi uzafika eZiyoni, kwabakaJakhobe abavuma izono zabo,” kutsho uThixo.
And the Redeemer will come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith Jehovah.
21 “Mina lesi yiso isivumelwano sami labo,” kutsho uThixo. “Umoya wami okuwe, lamazwi ami engiwabeke emlonyeni wakho akuyikusuka emlonyeni wakho, kumbe emilonyeni yabantwabakho, loba emilonyeni yezizukulwane zabo kusukela ngalesisikhathi kuze kube nininini,” kutsho uThixo.
And as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah: My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever.
