U-Amosi 5
1 Zwanini lelilizwi engiliphakamisa phezu kwenu, isililo, ndlu kaIsrayeli.
Listen to this word, which I lift over you in lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, and it will no longer rise again.
2 Intombi emsulwa yakoIsrayeli iwile, kayiyikuvuka futhi; ideliwe emhlabathini wayo, kakho oyivusayo.
The virgin of Israel has been thrown onto her land, there is no one who can raise her up.
3 Ngoba itsho njalo iNkosi uJehova: Umuzi ophuma labayinkulungwane uzasala labalikhulu, lophuma labalikhulu uzasala labalitshumi, kuyo indlu kaIsrayeli.
For thus says the Lord God: In the city from which a thousand departed, a hundred will remain, and in that from which a hundred departed, ten will remain, in the house of Israel.
4 Ngoba itsho njalo iNkosi endlini kaIsrayeli: Ngidingani liphile.
For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek me and you will live.
5 Kodwa lingadingi iBhetheli, lingangeni eGiligali, lingedluleli eBherishebha, ngoba iGiligali izathunjwa lokuthunjwa, leBhetheli izakuba yize.
But do not be willing to seek Bethel, and do not be willing to enter Gilgal, and you will not cross into Beer-sheba. For Gilgal will be led into captivity, and Bethel will be useless.
6 Dingani iNkosi liphile, hlezi ifohlele indlu kaJosefa njengomlilo oqothulayo, kungabi khona owucitshayo eBhetheli.
Seek the Lord and live. Otherwise, the house of Joseph may be destroyed with fire, and it will devour, and there will be no one who can extinguish Bethel.
7 Lina eliphendula isahlulelo sibe ngumhlonyane, lilalise ukulunga emhlabathini.
You turn judgment into wormwood, and you abandon justice on earth.
8 Owenza isiLimela leziNja, lophendula umthunzi wokufa ube yikusa, lowenza imini ibe mnyama njengobusuku, obiza amanzi olwandle, awathulule ebusweni bomhlabathi; iNkosi libizo lakhe.
The Maker of Arcturus and Orion, who turns darkness into daybreak and who changes day into night; who calls forth the waters of the sea and who pours them out over the face of the earth: The Lord is his name.
9 Okhazimulisa incithakalo phezu kolamandla, ukuze incithakalo ize phezu kwenqaba.
It is he who smiles destruction on the healthy, and who brings pillaging upon the powerful.
10 Bayamzonda okhuzayo esangweni, banengwe ngokhuluma ngokuqonda.
They held hatred for the one who corrects at the gate, and they have abhorred the one who speaks perfectly.
11 Ngenxa yokuthi linyathelela phansi umyanga, limthathele umthwalo wamabele, lakhe izindlu zamatshe abaziweyo, kodwa kaliyikuhlala kuzo; lihlanyele izivini zentokozo, kodwa kaliyikunatha iwayini lazo.
Therefore, on his behalf, because you have torn apart the poor and stolen choice prey from him: you will build houses with square stones and you will not dwell in them; you will plant the most delightful vineyards, and you will not drink wine from them.
12 Ngoba ngiyazi ukuthi iziphambeko zenu zinengi, lokuthi izono zenu zilamandla; lina elihlupha olungileyo, elemukela isivalamlomo, eliphambula abayanga esangweni.
For I know your many wicked deeds and the strength of your sins, you enemies of the just, accepting bribes, and depriving the poor at the gate.
13 Ngakho ohlakaniphileyo uzathula ngalesosikhathi, ngoba kuyisikhathi esibi.
Therefore, the prudent will be silent at that time, for it is an evil time.
14 Dingani okuhle, hatshi-ke okubi, ukuze liphile, ukuze ngokunjalo iNkosi uNkulunkulu wamabandla ibe lani, njengokutsho kwenu.
Seek good and not evil, so that you may live. And the Lord God of hosts will be with you, just as you have asked.
15 Zondani ububi, lithande okuhle, limise isahlulelo esangweni; mhlawumbe iNkosi uNkulunkulu wamabandla ingaba lesisa kunsali yakoJosefa.
Hate evil and love good, and establish judgment at the gate. Perhaps then the Lord God of hosts may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.
16 Ngakho utsho njalo uJehova, uNkulunkulu wamabandla, iNkosi: Kuzakuba khona isililo emidangeni yonke, lakuzo zonke izitalada bazakuthi: Maye! Maye! Njalo bazabizela umlimi ekulileni, lesililo sizakuba labazi ukulila.
Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the Sovereign: In all the streets, there will be wailing. And in every place where they are outdoors, they will say, “Woe, woe!” And they will call the farmer to mourn, and those who know mourning to lamentation.
17 Lakuzo zonke izivini kuzakuba lokulila, ngoba ngizadabula phakathi kwenu, itsho iNkosi.
And in all the vineyards there will be wailing. For I will cross through your midst, says the Lord.
18 Maye kulabo abaloyisa usuku lweNkosi! Luzakuba ngolwani kini usuku lweNkosi? Luzakuba ngumnyama, hatshi ukukhanya.
Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord. What is it to you? The day of the Lord is this: darkness and not light.
19 Kunjengomuntu obaleke phambi kwesilwane, ahlangane lebhere; loba angene endlini abambelele ngesandla sakhe emdulini, lenyoka imlume.
It is as if a man flees from the face of a lion, only to have a bear meet him; or, he enters a house and leans with his hand against the wall, only to have a snake bite him.
20 Usuku lweNkosi kaluyikuba ngumnyama yini, hatshi-ke ukukhanya, lomnyama omkhulu ongelakukhanya kuwo?
Will not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?
21 Ngiyayizonda, ngiyayidelela imikhosi yenu, kangiyikunuka emihlanganweni yenu enzulu.
I hate and have rejected your feasts; and I will not accept the odor from your gatherings.
22 Ngoba lanxa linikela kimi iminikelo yokutshiswa leminikelo yenu yokudla, kangithokozi, leminikelo yokuthula yezifuyo zenu ezinonileyo kangiyinanzi.
For if you offer me holocausts and your gifts, I will not receive them; and I will not look upon the vows of your fatness.
23 Susani kimi umsindo wezingoma zenu, ngoba kangiyikuzwa ukukhala kwamachacho enu.
Take away from me the tumult of your songs, and I will not listen to the canticles of your lyre.
24 Kodwa isahlulelo kasikhukhule njengamanzi, lokulunga njengesifula esigeleza njalo.
And judgment will be revealed like water, and justice like a mighty torrent.
25 Lanikela yini kimi imihlatshelo leminikelo yokudla enkangala okweminyaka engamatshumi amane, lina ndlu kaIsrayeli?
Was it you who offered victims and sacrifices to me in the desert for forty years, house of Israel?
26 Kodwa lathwala uSikuthi inkosi yenu, loKhiwuni izithombe zenu, inkanyezi kankulunkulu wenu, elizenzele zona.
And you carried a tabernacle for your Moloch and the image of your idols: the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.
27 Ngakho ngizalithumbela ngaphetsheya kweDamaseko, itsho iNkosi, obizo layo nguNkulunkulu wamabandla.
And I will cause you to go into captivity across Damascus, says the Lord. The God of hosts is his name.
