UHezekheli 26
1 Kwasekusithi ngomnyaka wetshumi lanye, ngolokuqala lwenyanga, ilizwi leNkosi lafika kimi, lisithi:
Almost twelve [after we had been taken to Babylonia], on the first day of the month, Yahweh gave me another message. He said to me,
2 Ndodana yomuntu, ngenxa yokuthi iTire itshilo ngeJerusalema isithi: Aha, yephukile ebingamasango abantu; isiphendukele kimi; ngizagcwaliswa, ichithekile.
“You human, [the people of] Tyre [city] shouted joyfully and said about Jerusalem, ‘[Jerusalem, ] the city from which many traders/merchants went to many nations, is now destroyed. And now people from all over the world will come to us to buy and sell things. Because Jerusalem has now been ruined, we will prosper!’
3 Ngakho itsho njalo iNkosi uJehova: Khangela, ngimelane lawe, wena Tire, ngenze izizwe ezinengi zenyuke zimelane lawe, njengolwandle lusenza amagagasi alo enyuke.
Therefore, this is what [I, ] Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘I am now the enemy of [you people of] Tyre. I will [the armies of] many nations to come and attack your [city], like the waves of the sea beat against the shores.
4 Njalo zizachitha imiduli yeTire, zibhidlizele phansi imiphotshongo yayo; ngiphale inhlabathi yayo kuyo, ngiyenze ibe lidwala elize.
Their soldiers will destroy the walls around Tyre and tear down its towers. Tyre will become a place where people from many nations steal valuable things, [and then the city will be completely destroyed]. Then they will scrape away the rubble and cause the city to become a bare rock.
5 Izakuba yindawo yokuchayela amambule, phakathi kolwandle; ngoba mina ngikhulumile, itsho iNkosi uJehova; njalo izakuba yimpango yezizwe.
Out in the sea, Tyre will become an island where men spread [their fishing] nets to dry them. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh the Lord, have predicted it.
6 Lamadodakazi ayo asensimini azabulawa ngenkemba. Njalo bazakwazi ukuthi ngiyiNkosi.
The people in small villages on the coast near Tyre will be killed [their enemies’] swords. Then people will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].’
7 Ngoba itsho njalo iNkosi uJehova: Khangela, ngizaletha phezu kweTire uNebhukadirezari inkosi yeBhabhiloni, inkosi yamakhosi, evela enyakatho, elamabhiza, lezinqola, labagadi bamabhiza, lamaxuku, labantu abanengi.
This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, [is going to happen]: ‘From the north, I am going to bring the most powerful king [in the world], King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, [with his army] to attack Tyre. They will bring horses and chariots, and men who ride the horses [and men who drive the chariots]; it will be a huge army.
8 Uzabulala ngenkemba amadodakazi akho ensimini, enze umduli wokuvimbezela emelene lawe, abuthelele idundulu emelene lawe, aphakamise isihlangu esikhulu simelene lawe.
[In the battles in the small villages] on the coast, their soldiers will kill [many] people with their swords. [Then] they will set up devices to batter the wall around the city of Tyre, and they will build a dirt ramp up to the top of the wall, and they will all hold up shields [to protect themselves from arrows being shot from the ground].
9 Uzamisa imigqala yokudiliza imelane lemiduli yakho, adilizele phansi imiphotshongo yakho ngezinkemba zakhe.
The king will direct the soldiers who operate the (rams/things) to batter the walls, and who will use their iron bars to tear down the towers in the wall.
10 Ngenxa yobunengi bamabhiza akhe uthuli lwawo luzakusibekela; imiduli yakho izanyikinywa ngumsindo wabagadi bamabhiza lamavili lezinqola, nxa ezangena emasangweni akho, njengokungena emzini ofohlelwayo.
The king will have a huge number of horses, [the stamping of their hooves will result in] the city being covered with dust. [It will be as though] the walls will tremble because of the noise made by the horses, the [supply] wagons, and the chariots when they enter the city where the walls have been broken down.
11 Ngamasondo amabhiza akhe uzanyathela zonke izitalada zakho; uzabulala abantu bakho ngenkemba, lensika zakho eziqinileyo ziwele emhlabathini.
The horses will trample all of the [of the city] with their hooves. The soldiers will kill the people with their swords; and they will cause your strong pillars to (collapse/fall to the ground).
12 Njalo bazaphanga inotho yakho, bathumbe impahla yakho ethengiswayo, badilizele phansi imiduli yakho, babhidlize izindlu zakho eziloyisekayo, bafake amatshe akho lezigodo zakho lothuli lwakho phakathi kwamanzi.
They will take away all the people’s valuable possessions and steal the things that the merchants sell. They will tear down the walls of the houses and destroy their fine houses. Then they will throw into the sea the stones [from the walls] of those houses and the timber and the rubble.
13 Ngizakwenza kuphele umsindo wengoma zakho, lelizwi lamachacho akho kalisayikuzwakala.
No longer will you sing noisy songs, and people will not play their harps any more.
14 Njalo ngizakwenza ube lidwala elize; uzakuba yindawo yokuchayela amambule, kawusayikwakhiwa; ngoba mina Nkosi ngikhulumile, itsho iNkosi uJehova.
The enemy soldiers will cause the city to become a bare rock and [only] a place where men spread [their fishing] nets. And the city will never be rebuilt. [Those things will surely happen] because [I], Yahweh the Lord, have [that they will happen].’
15 Itsho njalo iNkosi uJehova kuyo iTire: Izihlenge kaziyikunyikinyeka yini ngomdumo wokuwa kwakho, lapho abalimeleyo bebubula, lapho kubulawa okubulawayo phakathi kwakho?
This is [also] what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say about [the people of] Tyre: ‘When the wounded [people in Tyre] groan and many people are slaughtered and the city is destroyed, [it will surely be as though] [RHQ] the areas along the coast will tremble.
16 Khona zonke iziphathamandla zolwandle zizakwehla ezihlalweni zazo zobukhosi, zikhulule izigqoko zazo, zikhuphe izembatho zazo ezifekethisiweyo; zizembathise ukuthuthumela, zihlale emhlabathini, zithuthumele ngaso sonke isikhathi, zimangale kakhulu ngawe.
Then all the kings [in the cities] along the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and their embroidered clothes. They will be terrified, and they will sit on the ground, trembling. They will be appalled because of what has happened to the city of Tyre.
17 Zizakuphakamisela isililo, zithi kuwe: Uchithwe njani ezinlwandle wena owawuhlalwa, umuzi olodumo, owawulamandla olwandle, wona labahlali bawo, abamisa ukwesabeka kwabo kuye wonke umhlali wawo!
Then they will sing a sad song about the city, and they will sing this: “The famous city [APO], in which many [who sailed on] the seas lived, is now destroyed! The people of that city had great power [because they had many ships that sailed] on the seas; they caused all the people who lived near them to be terrified.
18 Khathesi izihlenge zizathuthumela ngosuku lokuwa kwakho, yebo, izihlenge eziselwandle zizakhathazeka ngokuphuma kwakho.
Now on the day when that city is destroyed, [it is as though the people in] the areas along the coast tremble and the [the people on the] islands in the sea are terrified because of that city being ruined.”’
19 Ngoba itsho njalo iNkosi uJehova: Lapho ngizakwenza ube ngumuzi olunxiwa, njengemizi engahlalwayo; lapho ngizakwenyusa ukujula phezu kwakho, lamanzi amanengi akusibekele;
This is also what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘When I cause the city [of Tyre] to become desolate/empty, like [other] cities in which people no [longer] live, and when I cause the huge waves of the sea to cover it,
20 khona ngizakwehlisela phansi lalabo abehlela emgodini, ebantwini basendulo, ngikuhlalise ezindaweni eziphansi zomhlaba, emanxiweni asendulo, lalabo abehlela emgodini, ukuze ungahlalwa; njalo ngizabeka udumo elizweni labaphilayo.
then I will bring the people of that city down to be with those who have gone down to where the dead people are, people who lived long ago. I will cause them to remain in the place below the earth that is like old/ancient ruins, with those who have gone down to that pit [previously], and they will never return to the earth, to where people are alive.
21 Ngizakwenza ube ngokwesabekayo okukhulu, ungasabikho; lanxa udingwa, ungatholakali futhi kuze kube nininini, itsho iNkosi uJehova.
I will cause them to die in a horrible way (OR, people will be very afraid because of what happens to that city), and that will be the end of (them/their lives). People will search for that city but it will no longer exist. [That is what I, ] Yahweh the Lord, declare [will happen].’”
