U-Amosi 8
1 INkosi uJehova yangibonisa kanje; khangela-ke, isitsha sezithelo zehlobo.
The Lord God showed me this: a basket of summer fruit.
2 Yasisithi: Ubonani, Amosi? Ngathi: Isitsha sezithelo zehlobo. INkosi yasisithi kimi: Ukuphela sekufikile ebantwini bami uIsrayeli; kangisayikubedlula futhi.
‘What do you see, Amos?’ he asked. I replied, ‘A basket of ripe summer fruit.’ Then the Lord said to me: The time is ripe for my people Israel, I will no longer overlook their crimes.
3 Kodwa izingoma zethempelini zizaqhinqa isililo mhlalokho, itsho iNkosi uJehova; kuzakuba lezidumbu ezinengi; kuyo yonke indawo bazaziphosela ngokuthula.
The singing women in the palace will howl on that day, says the Lord: Corpses everywhere, thrown out in silence.
4 Zwanini lokhu, lina eliginya oswelayo, lokuthi lichithe abayanga belizwe;
Listen to this, you who trample on the needy, who oppress the poor of the earth,
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.
saying: When will the feast of the new moon be over so that we may sell grain? And the sabbath ended so that we may offer wheat for sale? Reducing the measure and increasing the price, cheating with false scales,
6 Ukuze sithenge abayanga ngesiliva, loswelayo ngamanyathela amabili, yebo sithengise amakhoba amabele?
mixing the sweepings in with the wheat. Then we can buy the poor for money, the needy for a pair of shoes.
7 INkosi ifungile ngobukhosi bukaJakobe: Isibili kangiyikukhohlwa zonke izenzo zabo kuze kube nininini.
Now the Lord has taken an oath by the Pride of Jacob: I will never forget all their deeds!
8 Kawuyikuqhaqhazela yini umhlaba ngalokhu, alile laye wonke ohlala kuwo? Yebo ukhukhumale wonke njengomfula, uphoseke le lale utshone njengomfula weGibhithe.
Because of this won’t the land quake, and all its inhabitants mourn? Won’t the whole of it rise like the Nile, churn and subside like the Nile in Egypt?
9 Kuzakuthi-ke ngalolosuku, itsho iNkosi uJehova, ngizatshonisa ilanga emini enkulu, ngenze umhlaba ube mnyama emini ekhanyayo.
On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun set at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
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 feasts into mourning, all your songs into dirges. I will cause you to dress in sackcloth, every head shaved. I will make you mourn like you have lost your only son, all that happens will end in bitterness.
11 Khangela, insuku ziyeza, itsho iNkosi uJehova, lapho ngizathumela indlala elizweni, kungabi yindlala yokudla, kungabi ngeyokomela amanzi, kodwa eyokuzwa amazwi eNkosi.
The day is coming, says the Lord God, when I will send hunger in the land. Not a famine of bread or thirst for water, but for hearing the message 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.
Then they will wander from sea to sea, from the north to the east, to seek a message from the Lord, but they will not find it.
13 Ngalolosuku intombi ezimsulwa ezinhle lamajaha azaqaleka ngenxa yokoma.
In that day beautiful girls and strong young men will faint from thirst.
14 Labo abafunga ngecala leSamariya bathi: Kuphila kukankulunkulu wakho, Dani; lokuthi: Kuphila kwendlela yeBherishebha; bazakuwa-ke, bangabe besavuka.
Those who take oaths by the shameful idol of Samaria, who swear, “As surely as your God lives, O Dan!” and, “By the sacred way to Beer-sheba!” – they will fall and never rise again.
