U-Amosi 8
1 INkosi uJehova yangibonisa kanje; khangela-ke, isitsha sezithelo zehlobo.
Yahweh showed me [in a vision] a basket full of ripe fruit.
2 Yasisithi: Ubonani, Amosi? Ngathi: Isitsha sezithelo zehlobo. INkosi yasisithi kimi: Ukuphela sekufikile ebantwini bami uIsrayeli; kangisayikubedlula futhi.
He asked me, “Amos, what do you see?” I replied, “A basket of [very] ripe fruit.” He said, “That indicates that it almost the end for my Israeli people. I will not change my mind again about punishing them.
3 Kodwa izingoma zethempelini zizaqhinqa isililo mhlalokho, itsho iNkosi uJehova; kuzakuba lezidumbu ezinengi; kuyo yonke indawo bazaziphosela ngokuthula.
[Soon, ] instead of singing in the temple, they will be wailing. There will be corpses everywhere [HYP]. So, remain silent (OR, Everyone will be silent). [These things will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it!”
4 Zwanini lokhu, lina eliginya oswelayo, lokuthi lichithe abayanga belizwe;
[It is as though] you people trample on needy people, and you destroy the poor people.
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 habitually say, “We wish that [RHQ] the new moon [festival] would end soon, in order that [restrictions on doing business during the festival will be ended] and we can sell grain. We wish that the Sabbath would end soon, in order that we will again be permitted to sell our wheat”— and [when you sell it], you charge a big price for it, and you cheat people by using scales that do not weigh correctly.
6 Ukuze sithenge abayanga ngesiliva, loswelayo ngamanyathela amabili, yebo sithengise amakhoba amabele?
You sell wheat that you have swept up from the floor, and as a result it is mixed with dirt. Those who are needy and poor [DOU] and who do not have money [to buy things], you cause them to become your slaves by buying them with the [small amount of] silver [with which you could buy] a pair of sandals!
7 INkosi ifungile ngobukhosi bukaJakobe: Isibili kangiyikukhohlwa zonke izenzo zabo kuze kube nininini.
Yahweh has declared, “Although you are very proud of [being descendants] [MTY] of Jacob, I solemnly declare that I will not forget the [evil things] that you have done.
8 Kawuyikuqhaqhazela yini umhlaba ngalokhu, alile laye wonke ohlala kuwo? Yebo ukhukhumale wonke njengomfula, uphoseke le lale utshone njengomfula weGibhithe.
[Because of those evil things], your country will certainly [RHQ] soon be shaken, and all of you will mourn. [It will be as though] it will repeatedly rise and fall like [SIM] the Nile [River] that gets full of water [and overflows it banks] and then settles back into its riverbed.
9 Kuzakuthi-ke ngalolosuku, itsho iNkosi uJehova, ngizatshonisa ilanga emini enkulu, ngenze umhlaba ube mnyama emini ekhanyayo.
On the day [when I punish my people], I will cause the sun to set at noontime, and the [entire] earth will be dark in 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 cause your [religious] celebrations to become times when you mourn; instead of singing, everyone will be weeping. Because of what I [will do], all of you will wear rough sackcloth and shave your heads [to show that you are sorrowing]. I will cause that time to be like when people mourn after an only son [has died]. All of you will be extremely sad all of that day.”
11 Khangela, insuku ziyeza, itsho iNkosi uJehova, lapho ngizathumela indlala elizweni, kungabi yindlala yokudla, kungabi ngeyokomela amanzi, kodwa eyokuzwa amazwi eNkosi.
And Yahweh our God says this: “It will [soon] be the time when I will cause something to be very scarce [MET] throughout the country. But it will not be a time when there is no food or water; it will instead be a time when there will be no messages from me for anyone to hear.
12 Njalo bazazula kusukela elwandle kuze kube selwandle, njalo kusukela enyakatho kuze kube sempumalanga, bagijimele le lale ukudinga ilizwi leNkosi, kodwa bengalitholi.
People will stagger from the [Dead] Sea to the [Mediterranean] Sea, and wander from the north to the east, searching for a message from me, but there will not be any.
13 Ngalolosuku intombi ezimsulwa ezinhle lamajaha azaqaleka ngenxa yokoma.
At that time, even beautiful young women and strong young men will faint because of being very thirsty.
14 Labo abafunga ngecala leSamariya bathi: Kuphila kukankulunkulu wakho, Dani; lokuthi: Kuphila kwendlela yeBherishebha; bazakuwa-ke, bangabe besavuka.
Those who (make oaths/solemnly promise to do something) using the names of their shameful gods of Samaria, and those who solemnly promise to do something [using the name of] the god of Dan, and those who solemnly promise to do something [using the name of] the god of Beersheba, will all die; and they will never live again.”
