< UHezekheli 15 >
1 Ilizwi leNkosi laselifika kimi lisithi:
Yahweh gave me another message. [He said],
2 Ndodana yomuntu, isihlahla sevini siyini ngaphezu kwaso sonke isihlahla, kumbe ugatsha oluphakathi kwezihlahla zegusu?
“You human, the wood of a grapevine is certainly not [RHQ] more useful that the branches of the trees in a forest.
3 Kuzathathwa kiso isigodo yini ukwenza umsebenzi? Bangathatha kiso isikhonkwane yini ukuthi balengise lasiphi isitsha kiso?
No one [RHQ] ever takes a branch of a grapevine and makes anything [useful] from it. No one [RHQ] even makes pegs from them to hang things on.
4 Khangela, siyanikelwa emlilweni sibe yikudla, umlilo uqede izihloko zaso zombili, lokuphakathi kwaso kutshiswe. Siselosizo kuwo umsebenzi yini?
And after a branch of a grapevine is thrown into a fire, and the fire burns both ends and chars/scorches the branch in the middle, will it then be useful for anything?
5 Khangela, lapho sisaphelele, asenziwanga sibe ngumsebenzi; kuncane kangakanani lapho umlilo ususiqedile sesitshile sisezakwenziwa sibe ngumsebenzi!
No; if it was not useful for anything before it was burned, it certainly cannot [made into something] useful after the fire has burned and charred it.
6 Ngakho itsho njalo iNkosi uJehova: Njengesihlahla sevini phakathi kwezihlahla zegusu, engisinikele emlilweni sibe yikudla, ngokunjalo ngizanikela abahlali beJerusalema.
Therefore, this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: The wood of grapevines is useful only for fuel in a fire. Similarly, the people who live in [are useless].
7 Ngoba ngizamisa ubuso bami bumelane labo; bazaphuma komunye umlilo kuthi omunye umlilo ubaqede; njalo lizakwazi ukuthi ngiyiNkosi, sengimise ubuso bami bamelana labo.
I will reject [IDM] them. [It will be as though] they have escaped from a fire, but there will still be a fire that will burn them up. And when I punish [EUP] them, you [people who remain alive] will know that I, Yahweh, [have done it].
8 Njalo ngizakwenza ilizwe libe lunxiwa, ngoba benze isiphambeko, itsho iNkosi uJehova.
I will cause your country to become a wasteland because your people have not been loyal [to me. That is what I], Yahweh, the Lord, say.”