U-Isaya 21
1 Umthwalo wenkangala yolwandle. Njengokudlula kwezivunguzane eningizimu, kuzavela enkangala, elizweni elesabekayo.
The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land.
2 Ngaziswe umbono olukhuni; umkhohlisi wenza ngenkohliso, lomchithi uyachitha. Yenyuka Elamu, uvimbezele Mede; ngiqede konke ukububula kwayo.
A grievous vision is declared to me. The treacherous man deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; attack! I have stopped all of Media’s sighing.
3 Ngenxa yalokhu ukhalo lwami lugcwele ubuhlungu, imihelo ingibambile njengemihelo yobelethayo; ngagotshiswa ngenxa yokuzwa, ngadideka ngenxa yokubona.
Therefore my thighs are filled with anguish. Pains have seized me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am in so much pain that I can’t hear. I am so dismayed that I can’t see.
4 Inhliziyo yami yaduha, uvalo lwangesabisa; ukuhwalala engikuloyisayo wakwenza kwaba yikuthuthumela kimi.
My heart flutters. Horror has frightened me. The twilight that I desired has been turned into trembling for me.
5 Lungisa itafula, linda emphotshongweni wokulinda, dlana, unathe; sukumani, ziphathamandla, ligcobe isihlangu.
They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield!
6 Ngoba yatsho njalo iNkosi kimi: Hamba umise umlindi; akhulume akubonayo.
For the Lord said to me, “Go, set a watchman. Let him declare what he sees.
7 Wasebona inqola, abagadi bamabhiza ababili, inqola kababhemi, inqola yekamela; walalela ngesineke, ngesineke esikhulu.
When he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with great attentiveness.”
8 Wasememeza esithi: Isilwane, Nkosi, ngimi njalonjalo emphotshongweni wokulinda emini, njalo ngimi emlindweni ubusuku bonke.
He cried like a lion: “Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post.
9 Khangela-ke, nansi inqola yomuntu isiza, labagadi bamabhiza ababili. Wasephendula wathi: Iwile, iwile iBhabhiloni; lazo zonke izithombe ezibaziweyo zabonkulunkulu bayo uzidilizele emhlabathini.
Behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs.” He answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground.
10 Lina okubhuliweyo kwami, lamabele ebala lami lokubhulela, engikuzwileyo eNkosini yamabandla, uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli, ngilitshelile khona.
You are my threshing, and the grain of my floor!” That which I have heard from Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, I have declared to you.
11 Umthwalo weDuma. Uyangimemeza eseSeyiri esithi: Mlindi, uthini ngobusuku? Mlindi, uthini ngobusuku?
The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”
12 Umlindi wathi: Kuyeza ukusa, lobusuku futhi. Uba libuza, buzani, libuye, lize.
The watchman said, “The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire. Come back again.”
13 Umthwalo phezu kweArabhiya. Ehlathini leArabhiya lizalala ubusuku, lina zindwendwe zeDedani.
The burden on Arabia. You will lodge in the thickets in Arabia, you caravans of Dedanites.
14 Mletheleni omileyo amanzi. Abahlali belizwe leTema bahlangabeza obalekayo ngokudla.
They brought water to him who was thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Tema met the fugitives with their bread.
15 Ngoba babalekela izinkemba, inkemba ehwatshiweyo, ledandili eligotshiweyo, lobunzima bempi.
For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle.
16 Ngoba itsho njalo iNkosi kimi: Kusesephakathi komnyaka, njengeminyaka yoqhatshiweyo, lonke udumo lweKedari luzaphela.
For the Lord said to me, “Within a year, as a worker bound by contract would count it, all the glory of Kedar will fail,
17 Lensali yenani labatshoki, amaqhawe amaKedari, bazakuba balutshwana. Ngoba iNkosi uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli isikhulumile.
and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, will be few; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken it.”
