2 Amakhosi 19
1 Kwasekusithi lapho inkosi uHezekhiya isizwile, yadabula izigqoko zayo, yazembesa ngesaka, yangena endlini yeNkosi.
And when king Hezekiah had heard this, he tore his garments, and he covered himself with sackcloth, and he entered the house of the Lord.
2 Yasithuma uEliyakhimi owayephezu kwendlu, loShebina umabhalane, labadala babapristi, bembeswe ngamasaka kuIsaya umprofethi indodana kaAmozi.
And he sent Eliakim, the first ruler of the house, and Shebnah, the scribe, and the elders from the priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz.
3 Basebesithi kuye: Utsho njalo uHezekhiya: Lolusuku lusuku lohlupho lolokusolwa lolokweyiswa; ngoba abantwana sebefikile emlonyeni wesizalo, kanti kakulamandla okubeletha.
And they said to him: “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy. The sons are ready to be born, but the woman in labor does not have the strength.
4 Mhlawumbe iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho izakuzwa wonke amazwi kaRabi-Shake, inkosi yeAsiriya inkosi yakhe eyamthumayo, ukuthi aklolodele uNkulunkulu ophilayo; njalo izasola amazwi iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho ewezwileyo: Ngakho phakamiselani insali etholakeleyo umkhuleko.
Perhaps the Lord, your God, may hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of the Assyrians, his lord, sent so that he would reproach the living God, and rebuke with words, which the Lord, your God, has heard. And so, offer a prayer on behalf of the remnant that has been found.”
5 Izinceku zenkosi uHezekhiya zasezifika kuIsaya.
And the servants of king Hezekiah went to Isaiah.
6 UIsaya wasesithi kuzo: Lizakutsho njalo enkosini yenu: Utsho njalo uJehova: Ungesabi amazwi owezwileyo inceku zenkosi yeAsiriya ezingithuke ngawo.
And Isaiah said to them: “So shall you say to your lord. Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid before the face of the words that you have heard, by which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me.
7 Khangela, ngizafaka umoya kuyo, njalo izakuzwa ihungahunga, ibuyele elizweni layo; ngizayenza ukuthi iwe ngenkemba elizweni layo.
Behold, I will send a spirit to him, and he will hear a report, and he will return to his own land. And I will bring him down by the sword in his own land.”
8 URabi-Shake wasebuyela, wafica inkosi yeAsiriya isilwa imelene leLibhina; ngoba wayezwile ukuthi isisukile eLakishi.
Then Rabshakeh returned, and he found the king of the Assyrians fighting against Libnah. For he had heard that he had withdrawn from Lachish.
9 Kwathi isizwa ngoTirihaka inkosi yeEthiyophiya kuthiwa: Khangela, uphumile ukuyakulwa emelene lawe, yabuya yathuma izithunywa kuHezekhiya, isithi:
And when he had heard from Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia, saying, “Behold, he has gone out so that he may fight against you,” and when he went forth against him, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying:
10 Lizakhuluma kanje kuHezekhiya inkosi yakoJuda, lithi: UNkulunkulu wakho omthembileyo kangakukhohlisi esithi: IJerusalema kayiyikunikelwa esandleni senkosi yeAsiriya.
“So shall you say to Hezekiah, the king of Judah: Let not your God, in whom you trust, lead you astray. And you should not say, ‘Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.’
11 Khangela, wena usuzwile ukuthi amakhosi eAsiriya enzeni kuwo wonke amazwe, ngokuwatshabalalisa. Wena-ke uzakhululwa yini?
For you yourself have heard what the kings of the Assyrians have done to all the lands, the manner in which they have laid waste to them. Therefore, how would you alone be able to be freed?
12 Onkulunkulu bezizwe bazikhululile yini, obaba abazichithayo, iGozani leHarani leRezefi labantwana bakaEdeni ababeseTelasari?
Have the gods of the nations freed any of those whom my fathers have destroyed, such as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, who were at Telassar?
13 Ingaphi inkosi yeHamathi, lenkosi yeArpadi, lenkosi yomuzi weSefavayimi, iHena, leIva?
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena, and of Avva?”
14 UHezekhiya waseyemukela incwadi esandleni sezithunywa, wayibala, wasesenyukela endlini yeNkosi, uHezekhiya wayichaya phambi kweNkosi.
And so, when Hezekiah had received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and had read it, he ascended to the house of the Lord, and he spread it out before the Lord.
15 UHezekhiya wasekhuleka phambi kweNkosi, wathi: Nkosi, Nkulunkulu kaIsrayeli, ohlala phakathi kwamakherubhi, wena unguNkulunkulu, wena wedwa, wayo yonke imibuso yomhlaba; wena wenze amazulu lomhlaba.
And he prayed in his sight, saying: “O Lord, God of Israel, who sits upon the cherubim, you alone are God, over all the kings of the earth. You made heaven and earth.
16 Nkosi, thoba indlebe yakho, uzwe, Nkosi, vula amehlo akho, ubone; uzwe amazwi kaSenakheribi amthume ngawo ukuklolodela uNkulunkulu ophilayo.
Incline your ear, and listen. Open your eyes, O Lord, and see. And hear all the words of Sennacherib, who sent so that he might reproach the living God before us.
17 Qiniso, Nkosi, amakhosi eAsiriya azichithile izizwe lelizwe lazo,
Truly, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have devastated all peoples and lands.
18 aphosela onkulunkulu bazo emlilweni; ngoba babengeyisibo onkulunkulu, kodwa umsebenzi wezandla zabantu, izigodo lamatshe; ngakho bababhubhisa.
And they have cast their gods into the fire. For they were not gods, but instead were the works of men’s hands, out of wood and stone. And so they destroyed them.
19 Ngakho-ke, Nkosi Nkulunkulu wethu, ngicela usisindise esandleni sakhe, ukuze yonke imibuso yomhlaba yazi ukuthi wena uyiNkosi uNkulunkulu, wena wedwa.
Now therefore, O Lord our God, bring us salvation from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord God.”
20 UIsaya indodana kaAmozi wasethumela kuHezekhiya esithi: Itsho njalo iNkosi, uNkulunkulu wakoIsrayeli: Lokho okukhuleke kimi mayelana loSenakheribi inkosi yeAsiriya ngikuzwile.
Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I have heard what you beseeched from me, concerning Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians.
21 Yileli ilizwi iNkosi elikhulume mayelana laye: Intombi emsulwa, indodakazi yeZiyoni, iyakudelela, iyakuklolodela; indodakazi yeJerusalema inikina ikhanda ngemva kwakho.
This is the word that the Lord has spoken about him: The virgin daughter of Zion has spurned and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head behind your back.
22 Ngubani omeyisileyo wamhlambaza? Njalo uphakamisele bani ilizwi, waphakamisela amehlo akho phezulu? Umelene loNgcwele kaIsrayeli.
Whom have you reproached, and whom have you blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice, and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 Ngesandla sezithunywa zakho uyeyisile iNkosi, wathi: Ngobunengi bezinqola zami ngenyuke indawo ephezulu yezintaba, inhlangothi zeLebhanoni. Ngizagamula imisedari yayo emide, lamafiri ayo akhethekileyo. Ngizangena endaweni yokuhlala yamaphethelo ayo, igusu eliminyeneyo.
By the hand of your servants, you have reproached the Lord, and you have said: ‘By the multitude of my chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the summit of Lebanon. And I have cut down its sublime cedars, and its elect spruce trees. And I have entered even to its limits. And its forest of Carmel,
24 Mina ngagebha nganatha amanzi angaziwayo, langengaphansi yenyawo zami ngomisa yonke imifula yezindawo ezivinjelweyo.
I have cut down. And I drank foreign waters, and I dried up all the enclosed waters with the steps of my feet.’
25 Kawuzwanga yini ukuthi ngakwenza endulo, ngakubumba ensukwini zendulo. Khathesi ngikufikisile, ukuthi ube ngowokudiliza imizi evikelweyo ibe zinqumbi zamanxiwa.
But have you not heard what I have done from the beginning? From the days of antiquity, I have formed it, and now I have brought it to be. And fortified cities of fighting men will become piles of ruins.
26 Ngakho abahlali bayo babelesandla esifitshane, besaba babe lenhloni, baba njengotshani beganga lemibhida eluhlaza, utshani bempahla, lamabele ahanguliweyo engakami.
And whoever may settle in these, they have trembled, with a weak hand, and they have been confounded. They have become like the hay of the field, and like weeds sprouting on the rooftops, which dry up before they reached maturity.
27 Kodwa ngiyakwazi ukuhlala kwakho lokuphuma kwakho lokungena kwakho lokungithukuthelela kwakho.
Your habitation, and your exit, and your entrance, and your way, I knew beforehand, along with your fury against me.
28 Ngenxa yokungithukuthelela kwakho, lokuthi umsindo wakho wenyukele endlebeni zami, ngizafaka umkhala wami emakhaleni akho, letomu lami endebeni zakho, ngikwenze ubuyele ngendlela oweza ngayo.
You have been maddened against me, and your arrogance has ascended to my ears. And so, I will place a ring in your nose, and a bit between your lips. And I will lead you back along the way by which you came.
29 Lokhu-ke kuzakuba yisibonakaliso kuwe; lonyaka uzakudla okuzikhulelayo, langomnyaka wesibili umkhukhuzela, kuthi ngomnyaka wesithathu lihlanyele livune, lihlanyele izivini lidle izithelo zazo.
But as for you, Hezekiah, this shall be a sign: Eat this year whatever you will find, and in the second year, whatever may spring up of itself. But in the third year, sow and reap; plant vineyards, and eat from their fruit.
30 Lokuphephileyo kwendlu yakoJuda okuseleyo kuzaphinda kugxumeke impande phansi, kuthele izithelo ngaphezulu.
And whatever will have been left behind, from the house of Judah, shall send a root downward, and shall bear fruit upward.
31 Ngoba kuzaphuma eJerusalema insali, lokuphephileyo entabeni yeZiyoni. Ukutshiseka kweNkosi yamabandla kuzakwenza lokhu.
Indeed, a remnant shall go forth from Jerusalem, and what may be saved shall go forth from mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall accomplish this.
32 Ngakho utsho njalo uJehova ngenkosi yeAsiriya: Kayiyikungena kulumuzi, kayiyikutshoka umtshoko khona, kayiyikuza phambi kwawo ilesihlangu, kayiyikubuthelela idundulu maqondana lawo.
For this reason, thus says the Lord about the king of the Assyrians: He shall not enter into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor overtake it with the shield, nor encircle it with fortifications.
33 Ngendlela eyeza ngayo, ngayo izabuyela, kayiyikungena kulo umuzi, itsho iNkosi.
By the way that he came, so shall he return. And he shall not enter this city, says the Lord.
34 Ngoba ngizawuvikela lumuzi ukuwusindisa, ngenxa yami, langenxa kaDavida inceku yami.
And I will protect this city, and I will save it for my own sake, and for the sake of my servant David.”
35 Kwasekusithi ngalobobusuku ingilosi yeNkosi yaphuma yatshaya enkambeni yamaAsiriya izinkulungwane ezilikhulu lamatshumi ayisificaminwembili lanhlanu. Lapho bevuka ekuseni kakhulu, khangela, bonke babeyizidumbu ezifileyo.
And so it happened that, in the same night, an Angel of the Lord went and struck down, in the camp of the Assyrians, one hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when he had risen up, at first light, he saw all the bodies of the dead. And withdrawing, he went away.
36 Ngakho uSenakheribi inkosi yeAsiriya wasuka wahamba wabuyela, wahlala eNineve.
And Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, returned and dwelled in Nineveh.
37 Kwasekusithi ekhonza endlini kaNisiroki unkulunkulu wakhe, oAdrameleki loSharezeri amadodana akhe bamtshaya ngenkemba, bona baphephela elizweni leArarathi. UEsarihadoni indodana yakhe wasebusa esikhundleni sakhe.
And while he was worshipping in the temple of his god, Nisroch, his sons, Adram-melech and Sharezer, struck him with the sword. And they fled into the land of the Armenians. And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his place.
