UJoweli 1
1 Ilizwi likaThixo lafika kuJoweli indodana kaPhethuweli.
This is the word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:
2 Zwanini lokhu, lina badala; lalelani lonke lina elihlala elizweni. Into enjengale seyake yenzakala na ensukwini zenu loba ensukwini zabokhokho benu?
Hear this, O elders; and give ear, all who dwell in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your fathers?
3 Kutsheleni abantwabenu, abantwabenu labo batshele ababantwababo, abantwababo batshele isizukulwane esilandelayo.
Tell it to your children; let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.
4 Lokho okutshiywe ngumtshitshi wezintethe kudliwe yisikhongwane; okutshiywe yisikhongwane kudliwe yibuyane; okutshiywe yibuyane kudliwe ngezinye intethe.
What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
5 Vukani lina zidakwa likhale! Lilani lonke lina banathi bewayini; lilani ngenxa yewayini elitsha, ngoba lihluthunwe ezindebeni zenu.
Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.
6 Isizwe sihlasele ilizwe lami, silamandla asingeke sibalwe, silamazinyo esilwane, ingavula zesilwanekazi.
For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness.
7 Sesitshabalalise izivini zami, saqothula lezihlahla zami zemikhiwa. Sebule amaxolo azo sawaphosela khatshana, ingatsha zazo zasala sezimhlophe nke.
It has laid waste My grapevine and splintered My fig tree. It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away; the branches have turned white.
8 Lilani njengentombi egqoke isaka idabukele umyeni wobutsha bayo.
Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth, grieving for the husband of her youth.
9 Umnikelo wamabele lomnikelo wokunathwa kususiwe endlini kaThixo. Abaphristi bayalila, bona abakhonzayo phambi kukaThixo.
Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD.
10 Amasimu atshabalele, umhlabathi womile; amabele onakele, iwayini elitsha liphelile, amafutha kawasekho.
The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.
11 Delani, lina balimi, lilani, lina balimi bamavini; bubulelani ingqoloyi lebhali, ngoba isivuno sensimu sitshabalalisiwe.
Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.
12 Ivini lomile lomkhiwa ubunile; iphomegranathi, lelala lesihlahla sama-aphula, zonke izihlahla zeganga, zomile. Impela ukuthokoza kwabantu kuphelile.
The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple— all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.
13 Vunulani amasaka, lina baphristi, likhale. Lilani lina elikhonzayo phambi kwe-alithari. Wozani, lilale lembethe amasaka ebusuku, lina elikhonzayo phambi kukaNkulunkulu wami, ngoba iminikelo yamabele leminikelo yokunathwayo igodliwe, kayanikelwa endlini kaNkulunkulu wenu.
Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Memezelani ukuzila okungcwele; bizani ibandla elingcwele. Memani abadala labo bonke abahlala elizweni, baye endlini kaThixo uNkulunkulu wenu, likhale kuThixo.
Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
15 Maye ngalolosuku! Ngoba usuku lukaThixo seluseduze; luzafika njengencithakalo evela kuSomandla.
Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
16 Ukudla akuzange kuphele phambi kwamehlo ethu, lokuthokoza kanye lokuthaba endlini kaNkulunkulu wethu na?
Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes— joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 Inhlanyelo itshwabhene ngaphansi kwamagade. Izindlu zamabele zingamanxiwa, iziphala zidiliziwe, ngoba amabele kawasekho.
The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods; the storehouses are in ruins; the granaries are broken down, for the grain has withered away.
18 Yeka ukukhala kwezinkomo! Imihlambi yenkomo iyaphithizela ngoba kayilamadlelo; lemihlambi yezimvu iyahlupheka.
How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
19 Ngiyakhala kuwe Thixo, ngoba umlilo usuqede amadlelo lamalangabi asetshise zonke izihlahla zeganga.
To You, O LORD, I call, for fire has consumed the open pastures and flames have scorched all the trees of the field.
20 Lezinyamazana zeganga zifuna wena; izifula zamanzi sezicitshile njalo lomlilo usuqede amadlelo.
Even the beasts of the field pant for You, for the streams of water have dried up, and fire has consumed the open pastures.
