< UHezekheli 15 >
1 Ilizwi leNkosi laselifika kimi lisithi:
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2 Ndodana yomuntu, isihlahla sevini siyini ngaphezu kwaso sonke isihlahla, kumbe ugatsha oluphakathi kwezihlahla zegusu?
“Son of man, how is a vine better than any tree with branches that is among the trees in a forest?
3 Kuzathathwa kiso isigodo yini ukwenza umsebenzi? Bangathatha kiso isikhonkwane yini ukuthi balengise lasiphi isitsha kiso?
Do people take wood from a vine to make anything? Or do they make a peg from it to hang anything on it?
4 Khangela, siyanikelwa emlilweni sibe yikudla, umlilo uqede izihloko zaso zombili, lokuphakathi kwaso kutshiswe. Siselosizo kuwo umsebenzi yini?
See! If it is thrown into a fire as fuel, and if the fire has burned both of its ends and also the middle, is it good for anything?
5 Khangela, lapho sisaphelele, asenziwanga sibe ngumsebenzi; kuncane kangakanani lapho umlilo ususiqedile sesitshile sisezakwenziwa sibe ngumsebenzi!
See! When it was complete, it could not make anything; surely then, when the fire has burned, then it still will not make anything useful.
6 Ngakho itsho njalo iNkosi uJehova: Njengesihlahla sevini phakathi kwezihlahla zegusu, engisinikele emlilweni sibe yikudla, ngokunjalo ngizanikela abahlali beJerusalema.
Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Unlike the trees in the forests, I have given the vine as fuel for fires; I will act in the same way toward the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7 Ngoba ngizamisa ubuso bami bumelane labo; bazaphuma komunye umlilo kuthi omunye umlilo ubaqede; njalo lizakwazi ukuthi ngiyiNkosi, sengimise ubuso bami bamelana labo.
For I will set my face against them. Though they come out from the fire, yet the fire will consume them; so you will know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them.
8 Njalo ngizakwenza ilizwe libe lunxiwa, ngoba benze isiphambeko, itsho iNkosi uJehova.
Then I will make the land into an abandoned wasteland because they have committed sin—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.”