U-Isaya 33
1 Maye kuwe ochithayo, kodwa ungachithwanga! Lowenza ngenkohliso, bengenzanga ngenkohliso kuwe! Lapho usuqedile ukuchitha, uzachithwa; lapho usucinile ukwenza ngenkohliso, bazakwenza ngenkohliso kuwe.
Woe to you who plunder! Will you yourselves not also be plundered? And woe to you who despise! Will you yourselves not also be despised? When you will have completed your plundering, you will be plundered. When, out of fatigue, you will have ceased acting with contempt, you will be treated with contempt.
2 Nkosi, woba lomusa kithi, sikulindele; woba yingalo yabo ekuseni konke, losindiso lwethu ngesikhathi socindezelo.
O Lord, take pity on us. For we have waited for you. Be our arm in the morning and our salvation in the time of tribulation.
3 Emsindweni wokuhlokoma abantu babaleka; ekuziphakamiseni kwakho izizwe zahlakazeka.
From the voice of the Angel, the people fled. And from your exultation, the nations were scattered.
4 Lempango yenu izabuthwa njengokubutha kwecimbi, njengokugijima kwentethe uzagijima phezu kwayo.
And your spoils will be gathered together, just as the locusts are collected when the ditches have become filled with them.
5 INkosi iphakeme, ngoba ihlala phezulu; igcwalise iZiyoni ngesahlulelo langokulunga.
The Lord has been magnified, because he has lived on high. He has filled Zion with judgment and justice.
6 Lenhlakanipho lolwazi kuzakuba yikuqina kwezikhathi zakho, amandla ezinsindiso; ukwesaba iNkosi kuligugu lakhe.
And there will be faith in your times: the riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. For the fear of the Lord is his treasure.
7 Khangela, amaqhawe abo azakhala ngaphandle; izithunywa zokuthula zizakhala inyembezi kabuhlungu.
Behold, outside, those who see will cry out. The Angels of peace will weep bitterly.
8 Imigwaqo emikhulu ize, owedlula ngendlela kakho; wephule isivumelwano, udelele imizi, kananzi muntu.
The roads have become desolate. Travelers have ceased along the paths. The covenant has been nullified. He has tossed aside cities. He has disregarded men.
9 Ilizwe liyalila lidangele; iLebhanoni ilenhloni iyabuna; iSharoni injengenkangala; njalo iBashani leKharmeli kuyakhithiza.
The earth has mourned and languished. Lebanon has been confounded and desecrated. And Sharon has become like a desert. And Bashan and Carmel have been struck together.
10 Khathesi ngizavuka, kutsho iNkosi; khathesi ngizadunyiswa; khathesi ngizaphakanyiswa.
“Now, I will rise up!” says the Lord. “Now I will be exalted! Now I will lift myself up!”
11 Lizakhulelwa ngamakhoba, beselizala izibi; umoya wenu, njengomlilo, uzaliqeda.
You will conceive heat. You will give birth to stubble. Your own spirit will devour you like fire.
12 Njalo abantu bazakuba njengokutshisiweyo kwekalaga; njengameva aqunyiweyo bazatshiswa emlilweni.
And the people will be like the ashes from a fire. They will be consumed by fire like a bundle of thorns.
13 Zwanini, lina elikhatshana, engikwenzileyo; lani eliseduze, vumani amandla ami.
“You who are far away, listen to what I have done! And you who are near, acknowledge my strength!”
14 Izoni zeZiyoni ziyesaba, ukuthuthumela kubabambile abazenzisi. Ngubani phakathi kwethu ongahlala lomlilo oqothulayo? Ngubani phakathi kwethu ongahlala lokutshisa okuphakade?
The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has taken hold of the hypocrites. Who among you is able to live with a devouring fire? Who among you will live with an everlasting flame?
15 Yena ohamba ngokulunga, akhulume ngobuqotho, odelela inzuzo yezincindezelo, othintitha izandla zakhe ekubambeni isivalamlomo, ovala indlebe yakhe ekuzweni ngamacala legazi, ocimeza amehlo akhe ukuze angaboni okubi;
The one who walks in justice and speaks the truth, who casts out avarice with oppression and shakes all bribes from his hands, who blocks his ears so that he may not listen to blood, and closes his eyes so that he may not see evil.
16 yena uzahlala ezindaweni eziphakemeyo; izinqaba zamadwala zibe yisivikelo sakhe; isinkwa sakhe asinikwe; amanzi akhe athembeke.
Such a one will live on high; the fortification of rocks will be his lofty place. Bread has been given to him; his waters are reliable.
17 Amehlo akho azabona iNkosi ebuhleni bayo; abone ilizwe elikhatshana kakhulu.
His eyes will see the king in his elegance; they will discern the land from far away.
18 Inhliziyo yakho izazindla ukwesabisa. Ungaphi umbhali? Ungaphi umlinganisi? Ungaphi obala imiphotshongo?
Your heart will meditate on fear. Where are the learned? Where are those who ponder the words of the law? Where are the teachers of little ones?
19 Kawuyikubona abantu abayiziqholo, abantu abenkulumo ejule okokuthi ungeyizwisise, abolimi olugagasayo ongeluqedisise.
You will not look upon a shameless people, a people of exalted words. For you are not able to understand the dissertation of a tongue in which there is no wisdom.
20 Khangela iZiyoni, umuzi wemikhosi yethu emisiweyo; amehlo akho azabona iJerusalema, indawo yokuhlala elokonwaba, ithente elingayikusuka, ozikhonkwane zalo ezizasitshulwa phakade, kakuyikuqamuka leyodwa yezintambo zalo.
Look with favor upon Zion, the city of our solemnity. Your eyes will behold Jerusalem: an opulent habitation, a tabernacle that can never be taken away. Its stakes will not be taken away forever, nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 Kodwa lapho iNkosi izakuba ngelobukhosi kithi, indawo yemifula, yezifula ezibanzi; umkolo olamaphini okugwedla ongahambi khona, lomkhumbi olamandla ongedluli khona.
For only in that place has our Lord been magnified. It is a place of rivers, very broad and open. No ship with oars will cross through it, nor will the great Greek ship pass through it.
22 Ngoba uJehova ungumahluleli wethu, uJehova ungumnikumthetho wethu, uJehova uyinkosi yethu, yena uzasisindisa.
For the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king. He himself will save us.
23 Ingoda zakho ziyaxega; kaziyikuqinisa iqonde insika yazo yomkolo, zingeyelule iseyili; khona kuzakwabiwa impango yempango enengi, abaqhulayo baphange impango.
Your ropes have become loose, and they will not prevail. Your mast will be such that you will not be able to unfurl a flag. Then the spoils of much plunder will be divided. The lame will seize the spoils.
24 Lomhlali kayikuthi: Ngiyagula. Abantu abahlala kuyo bazathethelelwa iziphambeko.
He who is nearby will not say: “I am too weak.” The people who live in it will have their iniquity taken away from them.
