U-Amosi 8
1 INkosi uJehova yangibonisa kanje; khangela-ke, isitsha sezithelo zehlobo.
This is what the Lord God showed me. I saw a basket of fruit.
2 Yasisithi: Ubonani, Amosi? Ngathi: Isitsha sezithelo zehlobo. INkosi yasisithi kimi: Ukuphela sekufikile ebantwini bami uIsrayeli; kangisayikubedlula futhi.
He asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “A basket of fruit.” Then the Lord told me, “This is the end of my people Israel! I won't ignore their sins anymore.
3 Kodwa izingoma zethempelini zizaqhinqa isililo mhlalokho, itsho iNkosi uJehova; kuzakuba lezidumbu ezinengi; kuyo yonke indawo bazaziphosela ngokuthula.
On that day the Temple songs will become sorrowful wailing. There will be dead bodies scattered everywhere. Silence!” declares the Lord.
4 Zwanini lokhu, lina eliginya oswelayo, lokuthi lichithe abayanga belizwe;
Listen to this, you who trample down the needy, and wipe out the poor of the land.
5 elithi: Ukuthwasa kwenyanga kuzadlula nini ukuze sithengise amabele? lesabatha ukuze sivule ingqoloyi, sisenza i-efa libe lincinyane, sisenza ishekeli libe likhulu, siphambanisa izilinganiso zenkohliso.
You who ask, “When will the holy day be over so we can get back to selling grain? When will the Sabbath be over so we can open our storehouses, and cheat people with short measures and unfair scales?”
6 Ukuze sithenge abayanga ngesiliva, loswelayo ngamanyathela amabili, yebo sithengise amakhoba amabele?
You buy the poor for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals, and you sell grain mixed with chaff.
7 INkosi ifungile ngobukhosi bukaJakobe: Isibili kangiyikukhohlwa zonke izenzo zabo kuze kube nininini.
The Lord God, of whom the descendants of Jacob are so proud, has sworn an oath: I will never forget the evil you have done.
8 Kawuyikuqhaqhazela yini umhlaba ngalokhu, alile laye wonke ohlala kuwo? Yebo ukhukhumale wonke njengomfula, uphoseke le lale utshone njengomfula weGibhithe.
Shall not the land tremble because of this, and everyone who lives there mourn? The earth will rise up like the Nile river in flood, be tossed around, and then fall again.
9 Kuzakuthi-ke ngalolosuku, itsho iNkosi uJehova, ngizatshonisa ilanga emini enkulu, ngenze umhlaba ube mnyama emini ekhanyayo.
On that day, declares the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the land during the daytime.
10 Ngiphendule imikhosi yenu ibe yikulila, lengoma zenu zonke zibe yisililo, ngilethe isaka enkalweni zonke, lempabanga ekhanda lonke, ngikwenze kube njengesililo sendodana eyodwa, lokucina kwalo njengosuku olubabayo.
I will turn your festivals into times of mourning, your happy songs into laments. I will make you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make your mourning like that for an only son. At the end of it all it will be a bitter day.
11 Khangela, insuku ziyeza, itsho iNkosi uJehova, lapho ngizathumela indlala elizweni, kungabi yindlala yokudla, kungabi ngeyokomela amanzi, kodwa eyokuzwa amazwi eNkosi.
The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, or a lack of water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 Njalo bazazula kusukela elwandle kuze kube selwandle, njalo kusukela enyakatho kuze kube sempumalanga, bagijimele le lale ukudinga ilizwi leNkosi, kodwa bengalitholi.
People will wander from sea to sea, from north to east, running to and fro searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.
13 Ngalolosuku intombi ezimsulwa ezinhle lamajaha azaqaleka ngenxa yokoma.
On that day, even the beautiful girls and healthy young men will collapse from thirst.
14 Labo abafunga ngecala leSamariya bathi: Kuphila kukankulunkulu wakho, Dani; lokuthi: Kuphila kwendlela yeBherishebha; bazakuwa-ke, bangabe besavuka.
Those who swear by the disgraceful idols of Samaria, who take oaths like, “By the life of your god, Dan,” or “A pilgrimage to the god of Beersheba”—they will fall, and never rise again.
