U-Isaya 27
1 Ngalolosuku iNkosi ngenkemba yayo elukhuni lenkulu lelamandla izajezisa uLeviyathani, inyoka ebalekayo, ngitsho uLeviyathani inyoka egoqanayo, ibulale umgobho oselwandle.
At that time, Yahweh will punish Leviathan, the swift-moving monster/dragon, that coiling serpent that lives in the sea. Yahweh will kill it with his sharp, huge, and powerful sword.
2 Ngalolosuku hlabelelani ngaso isivini sewayini elibomvu.
At that time, [Yahweh will say], “You [Israeli people, who are like] [MET] a fruitful vineyard, must sing!
3 Mina Nkosi, ngiyasilondoloza, ngiyasithelela isikhathi sonke; hlezi kube khona osonayo ngisilondoloze ebusuku lemini.
I will [protect you] [like a farmer] [MET] waters his crops carefully [in order that they will grow well]. I will guard you day and night, in order that no one harms you.
4 Ukuthukuthela kakukho kimi. Ngubani ongabeka ukhula oluhlabayo lameva kumelane lami empini? Bengizamatsha ngidabule phakathi kwakho, ngikutshise kanyekanye.
I am no [longer] angry [with my people]; [if any of your enemies try to injure you like briers and thorns injure people] [MET], I will attack them [in battles]; I will get rid of them completely,
5 Kumbe kabambelele emandleni ami, enze ukuthula lami; uzakwenza ukuthula lami.
unless they request me to protect them; I strongly invite them to make peace with me [DOU]!”
6 Izakwenza abavela koJakobe bagxile, uIsrayeli uzahluma, akhahlele, agcwalise ubuso bomhlaba ngezithelo.
There will be a time when the (descendants of Jacob/Israeli people) will [prosper like] a plant that has good roots; they will be like [MET] trees that bud and blossom and bear a lot of fruit; [what they do will bless] all the people in the world.
7 Imtshayile yini njengokutshaya kwayo oyitshayayo? Ubulewe yini njengokubulawa kwababuleweyo bakhe?
[But now I ask], has Yahweh punished us Israelis like he punished our enemies? Has he punished us as much as he punished them?
8 Ngesilinganiso ekukuxotsheni izaphikisana lakho; izakususa ngomoya wayo olukhuni ngosuku lomoya wempumalanga.
[No, he has not done that], [but] he punished us Israeli people and (exiled us/forced us to leave our country); we were taken away from our land as though [SIM] we were struck by a windstorm from the east.
9 Ngakho ngalokhu isiphambeko sikaJakobe sizahlawulelwa; lalokhu kuyisithelo sonke sokususa isono sakhe, lapho esenza ukuthi wonke amatshe elathi abe njengamatshe ekalaga avuthuziweyo, izixuku lamalathi elanga kakuyikuma.
Yahweh did that in order to punish us for our sins, and remove our guilt. As a result [of our being exiled], all the altars to other gods [in Israel] will be demolished, and we will be forgiven for the sins that we have committed. There will be no more poles for worshiping the goddess Asherah, or altars for burning incense to other gods; they will all be torn down.
10 Ngoba umuzi obiyelweyo uzakuba wodwa, indawo yokuhlala ixotshwe, itshiywe njengenkangala; lapho ithole lizakudla khona, lilale khona, liqede izingatsha zawo.
The cities that have strong walls around them will be empty; like the desert, they will have no one living in them. The houses will be abandoned, and the streets will be full of weeds. Calves will eat grass there and lie down there; they will chew up all the leaves on the trees.
11 Lapho ingatsha zawo sezomile zizakwephulwa; abesifazana beze bazibase; ngoba kabasibantu abaqedisisayo; ngakho-ke lowo owabenzayo kayikubahawukela, lowababumbayo kayikubatshengisa umusa.
[The Israeli people are like] [MET] dry branches on a tree; women break them off and use them to make fires [under their cooking pots]. Our Israeli people do not have any sense; so Yahweh, who created them, will not act mercifully toward them or be kind to them.
12 Kuzakuthi-ke ngalolosuku iNkosi ibhule kusukela esifudlaneni somfula kuze kube semfuleni weGibhithe; lina-ke lizabuthwa ngamunye ngamunye, bantwana bakoIsrayeli.
[However], there will be a time when Yahweh will gather them together [again; he will separate them from the people who have conquered them, like people] separate wheat from chaff. He will bring them [back to Israel], one by one, from [the land between] the Euphrates River [in the northeast] and the brook at the border of Egypt [in the southwest].
13 Kuzakuthi-ke ngalolosuku kuvuthelwe uphondo olukhulu, lalabo ababebhubhe elizweni leAsiriya labaxotshelwe elizweni leGibhithe, bazabuya bayikhonze iNkosi entabeni engcwele eJerusalema.
At that time, a trumpet will be blown very loudly. And those who were exiled to Assyria and Egypt and who almost died there will return to Jerusalem, to worship Yahweh on [Zion], his holy hill.
