U-Isaya 34
1 Sondelani, zizwe, ukuze lizwe; lani bantu, lilalele; umhlaba kawuzwe, lokugcwala kwawo; ilizwe, lakho konke okuvela kilo.
Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you people! The earth and all that fills it must listen, the world, and all things that come from it.
2 Ngoba intukuthelo yeNkosi iphezu kwazo zonke izizwe, lolaka phezu kwawo wonke amabutho azo; izitshabalalisile, izinikele ekubulaweni.
For Yahweh is angry with all the nations, and furious against all their armies; he has completely destroyed them, he has handed them over to the slaughter.
3 Ababuleweyo bazo labo bazaphoselwa phandle, levumba labo lizakwenyuka ezidunjini zabo, lezintaba zizancibilika ngegazi labo.
The bodies of their dead will be thrown out. The stench of the dead bodies will be everywhere; and the mountains will soak up their blood.
4 Lalo lonke ibutho lamazulu lizabola; lamazulu agoqwe njengomqulu; lalo lonke ibutho labo liwele phansi, njengehlamvu liwohloka evinini, lanjengomkhiwa owohlokayo esihlahleni somkhiwa.
All the stars of the sky will fade away, and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; and all their stars will fade away, as the leaf fades from off the vine, and as the overripe figs from the fig tree.
5 Ngoba inkemba yami izacwila emazulwini; khangela, izakwehlela phezu kukaEdoma laphezu kwabantu bokutshabalalisa kwami ngesigwebo.
For when my sword will have drunk its fill in heaven; look, it will now come down on Edom, on the people I am setting apart for destruction.
6 Inkemba yeNkosi igcwele igazi, inoniswe ngamafutha, ngegazi lamawundlu lelezimbuzi, ngamahwahwa ezinso zezinqama; ngoba iNkosi ilomhlatshelo eBhozira, lokubulala okukhulu elizweni leEdoma.
The sword of Yahweh is dripping with blood and covered with fat, dripping with the blood of lambs and goats, covered with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 Lezinyathi zizakwehla kanye lazo, lamajongosi kanye lezinkunzi. Njalo ilizwe labo lizacwila egazini, lothuli lwabo lunoniswe ngamahwahwa.
Wild oxen will fall with them, and young bulls with the older ones. Their land will be drunk with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
8 Ngoba kulusuku lwempindiselo yeNkosi, umnyaka wokubuyiselwa kwempikisano yeZiyoni.
For it will be a day of vengeance for Yahweh and a year when he will pay them back for the cause of Zion.
9 Lezifula zabo zizaphendulwa zibe yingcino, lothuli lwabo lube yisibabule; lelizwe labo lizakuba yingcino etshayo.
The streams of Edom will be turned into pitch, her dust into sulfur, and her land will become burning pitch.
10 Kaliyikucitshwa ubusuku lemini; intuthu yalo izakwenyuka laphakade; kusukela esizukulwaneni kusiya kusizukulwana lizakuba yinkangala; kakho ozadabula phakathi kwalo kuze kube nini lanini.
It will burn night and day; its smoke will rise forever; from generation to generation it will be a wasteland; no one will pass through it forever and ever.
11 Kodwa iwunkwe lenhloni kuzakudla ilifa lalo; isikhova laso lewabayi kuzahlala kulo. Njalo izakwelula phezu kwalo intambo yencithakalo, lamatshe onxiwa.
But wild birds and animals will live there; the owl and the raven will make their nest in it. He will stretch over it the measuring line of ruin and the plumbline of destruction.
12 Bazabizela izikhulu zalo embusweni, kodwa kakho ozakuba khona, leziphathamandla zalo zonke zizakuba yinto engelutho.
Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom, and all her princes will be nothing.
13 Lameva azakhula ezigodlweni zalo, imbabazane lokhula oluhlabayo ezinqabeni zalo; njalo libe yindawo yokuhlala yemigobho, umuzi wamadodakazi ezintshe.
Thorns will overgrow her palaces, nettles and thistles her fortresses. It will be a habitation of jackals, a place for ostriches.
14 Izilo zenkangala lazo zizahlangana lezilo ezihlaba umkhulungwane, legogo lizakhalela umngane walo; lesikhova esikhalayo sizaphumula khona, sizitholele indawo yokuphumula.
The wild animals and the hyenas will meet there, and the wild goats will cry to one another. Nocturnal animals will settle there and find for themselves a place of rest.
15 Lapho isikhova esikhulu sizakwakha isidleke, sibekele, sichamisele, sifukamele ngaphansi komthunzi waso; amanqe lawo azabuthana lapho, yilelo lalelo lomngane walo.
Owls will make nests, lay and hatch their eggs, hatch and protect their young. Yes, there hawks will gather, each one with its mate.
16 Dingani egwalweni lweNkosi, lifunde; kakukho lokukodwa kwalokhu okuzasilela, kakukho okuzaswela umngane wakho; ngoba umlomo wami ngokwawo ulayile, lomoya wayo ngokwawo ukubuthanisile.
Search through the scroll of Yahweh; not one of these will be missing. None will lack for a mate; for his mouth has commanded it, and his spirit has gathered them.
17 Ngoba yona ibenzele inkatho yokuphosa, lesandla sayo sibehlukanisele ngentambo; lizakuba yilifa labo kuze kube phakade, kusukela kusizukulwana kuze kube sesizukulwaneni bazahlala kulo.
He has cast lots for their places, and his hand has measured it out for them by a cord. They will possess it forever; from generation to generation they will live there.
