UJoweli 1
1 Ilizwi likaThixo lafika kuJoweli indodana kaPhethuweli.
The Lord’s message 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, elders, pay attention, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days, or in the days of your ancestors?
3 Kutsheleni abantwabenu, abantwabenu labo batshele ababantwababo, abantwababo batshele isizukulwane esilandelayo.
Recount it to your children; let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the generation that follows.
4 Lokho okutshiywe ngumtshitshi wezintethe kudliwe yisikhongwane; okutshiywe yisikhongwane kudliwe yibuyane; okutshiywe yibuyane kudliwe ngezinye intethe.
That which the cutting locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten, that which the swarming locust has left, the hopping locust has eaten, and that which the hopping 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.
Awake, drunkards, and weep, and wail, all drinkers of wine; the new wine is cut off from your mouth.
6 Isizwe sihlasele ilizwe lami, silamandla asingeke sibalwe, silamazinyo esilwane, ingavula zesilwanekazi.
For a nation has come up on my land, powerful, and numberless; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its jaw-teeth are like those 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 vines, and barked my fig tree; it has peeled and cast it away, bleached are the branches.
8 Lilani njengentombi egqoke isaka idabukele umyeni wobutsha bayo.
Wail as a bride, clad in sack-cloth, for the husband of her youth.
9 Umnikelo wamabele lomnikelo wokunathwa kususiwe endlini kaThixo. Abaphristi bayalila, bona abakhonzayo phambi kukaThixo.
Cut off are the cereal and drink-offerings from the house of the Lord; in mourning are the priests, who minister at the Lord’s altar.
10 Amasimu atshabalele, umhlabathi womile; amabele onakele, iwayini elitsha liphelile, amafutha kawasekho.
The fields are blasted, the land is in mourning, for ruined is the grain, the new wine fails and the oil is dried up.
11 Delani, lina balimi, lilani, lina balimi bamavini; bubulelani ingqoloyi lebhali, ngoba isivuno sensimu sitshabalalisiwe.
Be dismayed, farmers; wail, vine-dressers. For the wheat and the barley; for the harvest is lost from the fields.
12 Ivini lomile lomkhiwa ubunile; iphomegranathi, lelala lesihlahla sama-aphula, zonke izihlahla zeganga, zomile. Impela ukuthokoza kwabantu kuphelile.
The vine fails to bear fruit, and the fig tree is drooping; the pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up. The people’s joy withers.
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 beat your breasts, priests; wail, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sack-cloth, ministers of God; for cereal-offering and drink-offering are cut off 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 a fast, summon an assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, cry to the Lord:
15 Maye ngalolosuku! Ngoba usuku lukaThixo seluseduze; luzafika njengencithakalo evela kuSomandla.
Alas for the day! Near at hand is the day of the Lord, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.
16 Ukudla akuzange kuphele phambi kwamehlo ethu, lokuthokoza kanye lokuthaba endlini kaNkulunkulu wethu na?
Is not food cut off from before us, gladness and joy from the house of our God?
17 Inhlanyelo itshwabhene ngaphansi kwamagade. Izindlu zamabele zingamanxiwa, iziphala zidiliziwe, ngoba amabele kawasekho.
The grains shrivel under their hoes, the storehouses are desolate, the barns broken down, for the grain is withered.
18 Yeka ukukhala kwezinkomo! Imihlambi yenkomo iyaphithizela ngoba kayilamadlelo; lemihlambi yezimvu iyahlupheka.
How the herds of cattle bellow in distress, for they have no pasture! The flocks of sheep are forlorn.
19 Ngiyakhala kuwe Thixo, ngoba umlilo usuqede amadlelo lamalangabi asetshise zonke izihlahla zeganga.
To you, the Lord, I cry. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has scorched all the trees of the field.
20 Lezinyamazana zeganga zifuna wena; izifula zamanzi sezicitshile njalo lomlilo usuqede amadlelo.
The wild animals also look up to you longingly, for the water-courses are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
