UJoweli 1
1 Ilizwi likaThixo lafika kuJoweli indodana kaPhethuweli.
The word of the LORD that came to Joel the 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, all of you old men, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the land. Has this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Kutsheleni abantwabenu, abantwabenu labo batshele ababantwababo, abantwababo batshele isizukulwane esilandelayo.
Tell all of you your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
4 Lokho okutshiywe ngumtshitshi wezintethe kudliwe yisikhongwane; okutshiywe yisikhongwane kudliwe yibuyane; okutshiywe yibuyane kudliwe ngezinye intethe.
That which the palmerworm has left has the locust eaten; and that which the locust has left has the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm has left has the caterpillar eaten.
5 Vukani lina zidakwa likhale! Lilani lonke lina banathi bewayini; lilani ngenxa yewayini elitsha, ngoba lihluthunwe ezindebeni zenu.
Awake, all of you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 Isizwe sihlasele ilizwe lami, silamandla asingeke sibalwe, silamazinyo esilwane, ingavula zesilwanekazi.
For a nation has come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the cheek teeth of a great lion.
7 Sesitshabalalise izivini zami, saqothula lezihlahla zami zemikhiwa. Sebule amaxolo azo sawaphosela khatshana, ingatsha zazo zasala sezimhlophe nke.
He has laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he has made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
8 Lilani njengentombi egqoke isaka idabukele umyeni wobutsha bayo.
Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
9 Umnikelo wamabele lomnikelo wokunathwa kususiwe endlini kaThixo. Abaphristi bayalila, bona abakhonzayo phambi kukaThixo.
The food offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn.
10 Amasimu atshabalele, umhlabathi womile; amabele onakele, iwayini elitsha liphelile, amafutha kawasekho.
The field is wasted, the land mourns; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languishes.
11 Delani, lina balimi, lilani, lina balimi bamavini; bubulelani ingqoloyi lebhali, ngoba isivuno sensimu sitshabalalisiwe.
Be all of you ashamed, O all of you husbandmen; wail, O all of you vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
12 Ivini lomile lomkhiwa ubunile; iphomegranathi, lelala lesihlahla sama-aphula, zonke izihlahla zeganga, zomile. Impela ukuthokoza kwabantu kuphelile.
The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languishes; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
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.
Gird yourselves, and lament, all of you priests: wail, all of you ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, all of you ministers of my God: for the food offering and the drink offering is 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.
Sanctify all of you a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,
15 Maye ngalolosuku! Ngoba usuku lukaThixo seluseduze; luzafika njengencithakalo evela kuSomandla.
Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
16 Ukudla akuzange kuphele phambi kwamehlo ethu, lokuthokoza kanye lokuthaba endlini kaNkulunkulu wethu na?
Is not the food cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 Inhlanyelo itshwabhene ngaphansi kwamagade. Izindlu zamabele zingamanxiwa, iziphala zidiliziwe, ngoba amabele kawasekho.
The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
18 Yeka ukukhala kwezinkomo! Imihlambi yenkomo iyaphithizela ngoba kayilamadlelo; lemihlambi yezimvu iyahlupheka.
How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 Ngiyakhala kuwe Thixo, ngoba umlilo usuqede amadlelo lamalangabi asetshise zonke izihlahla zeganga.
O LORD, to you will I cry: for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
20 Lezinyamazana zeganga zifuna wena; izifula zamanzi sezicitshile njalo lomlilo usuqede amadlelo.
The beasts of the field cry also unto you: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
