UJeremiya 46
1 Leli yilizwi likaThixo elafika kuJeremiya umphrofethi mayelana lezizwe:
THE word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles;
2 Mayelana leGibhithe: Leli yilizwi elimayelana lebutho likaFaro Nekho inkosi yaseGibhithe, elanqotshwayo eKharikhemishi emfuleni iYufrathe nguNebhukhadineza inkosi yaseBhabhiloni ngomnyaka wesine kaJehoyakhimi indodana kaJosiya inkosi yakoJuda:
Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.
3 “Lungisani amahawu enu, amakhulu lamancane, liphume liye empini.
Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
4 Bophani amabhiza, liwagade! Manini ezindaweni zenu lilezingowane zenu! Lolani imikhonto yenu, ligqoke impahla zempi!
Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.
5 Kuyini engikubonayo? Bayesaba, bahlehlela emuva, amabutho abo ehlulwe. Abaleka ngesiqubu anganyemukuli, njalo kulokwesaba izindawo zonke,” kutsho uThixo.
Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the Lord.
6 “Olejubane kasoze abaleke kumbe olamandla aphephe. Ngasenyakatho, emfuleni iYufrathe bayakhubeka bawe.
Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.
7 Ngubani lo ophakama njengeNayili, njengemifula elamanzi agubhazelayo na?
Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?
8 IGibhithe liphakama njengeNayili, njengemifula elamanzi agubhazelayo. Lithi: ‘Ngizaphakama ngembese umhlaba; ngizachitha amadolobho labantu bawo.’
Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
9 Hlaselani, lina mabhiza! Qhubekani ngentukuthelo, lina zinqola zempi! Yanini phambili, lina mabutho, madoda aseKhushi lawePhuthi, aphatha amahawu, madoda aseLudi agoba idandili.
Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
10 Kodwa usuku lolo ngolweNkosi, uThixo uSomandla, usuku lokuphindisela, olokuphindisela ezitheni zakhe. Inkemba izakudla ize isuthe, ize icitshe ukoma kwayo ngegazi. Ngoba iNkosi, uThixo uSomandla uzanikela umhlatshelo elizweni lasenyakatho ngasemfuleni iYufrathe.
For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
11 Yana eGiliyadi uyethatha umuthi wokwelapha, wena Ndodakazi egcweleyo yaseGibhithe. Kodwa imithi uyandisela ize; akukho kusila kuwe.
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.
12 Izizwe zizakuzwa ngehlazo lakho; ukukhala kwakho kuzagcwala umhlaba. Elinye ibutho lizakhubeka kwelinye; womabili azawela phansi ndawonye.”
The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together.
13 Leli yilizwi uThixo alikhuluma kuJeremiya umphrofethi ngokuza kukaNebhukhadineza inkosi yaseBhabhiloni ukuba ahlasele iGibhithe:
The word that the Lord spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.
14 “Memezelani lokhu eGibhithe, likubike laseMigidoli; kumemezeleni njalo laseMemfisi laseThahiphanesi lithi: ‘Manini ezindaweni zenu lilunge, ngoba inkemba idla abakhelene lani.’
Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.
15 Amabutho enu azabulawelwani na? Angeke ame, ngoba uThixo uzawalahlela phansi.
Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the Lord did drive them.
16 Azakhubeka kokuphela; azakuwa elekane. Azakuthi, ‘Vukani, kasibuyeleni emuva ebantwini bakithi lasemazweni akithi, kude kwenkemba yomncindezeli.’
He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.
17 Khonale bazamemeza bathi, ‘UFaro inkosi yaseGibhithe ingumsindo omkhulu nje kuphela; uselahlekelwe lithuba lakhe.’
They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.
18 Ngeqiniso elinjengokuthi ngikhona,” kutsho iNkosi, obizo layo nguThixo uSomandla, “kuzafika omunye onjengoThabhori phakathi kwezintaba, njengoKhameli ngasolwandle.
As I live, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.
19 Lungisani impahla zekuthunjweni, lina abahlala eGibhithe, ngoba iMemfisi izadilizwa ibe lunxiwa olungahlali muntu.
O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.
20 IGibhithe ilithokazi elihle, kodwa isibawu siyeza silisongela sivela enyakatho.
Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
21 Amabutho okuqatshwa aphakathi kwalo anjengamathole anonisiweyo. Lawo azaphenduka abaleke endawonye, kawayikuma, ngoba usuku lomonakalo luyeza phezu kwabo, isikhathi sabo sokujeziswa.
Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation.
22 IGibhithe izakhwaza njengenyoka ebalekayo lapho isitha sisondela ngobunengi baso; sizayihlasela ngamahloka okwabantu abagamula izihlahla.
The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
23 Sizagamula amahlathi ayo,” kutsho uThixo, “lanxa eminyene kanjani. Banengi kulentethe, ngeke babalwe.
They shall cut down her forest, saith the Lord, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.
24 Indodakazi yaseGibhithe izayangiswa, inikelwe ebantwini basenyakatho.”
The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
25 UThixo uSomandla, uNkulunkulu ka-Israyeli uthi: “Sekuseduze ukuba ngijezise u-Amoni unkulunkulu waseThebesi, loFaro, leGibhithe kanye labonkulunkulu balo lamakhosi alo, lalabo abathembe uFaro.
The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him:
26 Ngizabanikela kulabo abafuna ukubabulala, kuNebhukhadineza inkosi yaseBhabhiloni lezikhulu zakhe. Kodwa muva, iGibhithe lizahlalwa ngabantu futhi njengasezinsukwini zakudala,” kutsho uThixo.
And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the Lord.
27 “Ungesabi, wena Jakhobe nceku yami; ungathuthumeli, wena Israyeli. Impela ngizakukhulula endaweni ekude, lenzalo yakho elizweni lokuthunjwa kwayo. UJakhobe uzakuba lokuthula futhi kanye lokuvikeleka, njalo kakho ozamthuthumelisa.
But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
28 Ungesabi wena Jakhobe nceku yami ngoba ngilawe,” kutsho uThixo. “Lanxa ngizachitha ngokupheleleyo izizwe zonke engakuhlakazela kuzo, wena angiyikukuchitha ngokupheleleyo. Ngizakujezisa kodwa ngokufaneleyo kuphela; angiyikukuyekela nje ungajeziswanga.”
Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.
