U-Isaya 37
1 Kwasekusithi inkosi uHezekhiya isikuzwile, yadabula izigqoko zayo, yazembesa ngesaka, yangena endlini yeNkosi.
On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.
2 Yasithuma uEliyakhimi umphathi wendlu, loShebina umabhalane, labadala babapristi bembethe amasaka, kuIsaya umprofethi indodana kaAmozi.
And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz
3 Basebesithi kuye: Utsho njalo uHezekhiya: Lolusuku lusuku lohlupho lolokusolwa lolokweyiswa, ngoba abantwana sebefikile emlonyeni wesizalo, kanti akulamandla okubeletha.
to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
4 Mhlawumbe iNkosi, uNkulunkulu wakho, izawezwa amazwi kaRabi-Shake, onkosi yeAsiriya, inkosi yakhe, emthume ukuthuka uNkulunkulu ophilayo, lokusola ngamazwi iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho ewazwileyo. Ngakho phakamisa umkhuleko ngensali etholakeleyo.
Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”
5 Ngakho inceku zenkosi uHezekhiya zafika kuIsaya.
So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,
6 UIsaya wasesithi kuzo: Lizakutsho njalo enkosini yenu: Itsho njalo iNkosi: Ungesabi amazwi owezwileyo, inceku zenkosi yeAsiriya ezingithuke ngawo.
who replied, “Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.
7 Khangela, ngizafaka umoya kuyo, njalo izakuzwa ihungahunga, ibuyele elizweni layo; njalo ngizayenza ukuthi iwe ngenkemba elizweni layo.
Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”
8 URabi-Shake wasebuyela, wafica inkosi yeAsiriya isilwa imelene leLibhina; ngoba wayezwile ukuthi isisukile eLakishi.
When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Wasesizwa ngoTirihaka inkosi yeEthiyophiya kuthiwa: Uphumile ukuzakulwa lawe. Esekuzwile wathuma izithunywa kuHezekhiya esithi:
Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “He has set out to fight against you.” On hearing this, Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 Lizakhuluma kanje kuHezekhiya inkosi yakoJuda lithi: UNkulunkulu wakho othembele kuye kangakukhohlisi esithi: IJerusalema kayiyikunikelwa esandleni senkosi yeAsiriya.
“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Khangela, wena usuzwile ukuthi amakhosi eAsiriya enzeni kuwo wonke amazwe ngokuwatshabalalisa. Wena-ke uzakhululwa yini?
Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared?
12 Onkulunkulu bezizwe bazikhulula yini obaba abazichithayo, iGozani leHarani leRezefi, labantwana beEdeni ababeseTelasari?
Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
13 Ingaphi inkosi yeHamathi, lenkosi yeArpadi, lenkosi yomuzi weSefavayimi, iHena, leIva?
Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
14 UHezekhiya wasesemukela izincwadi esandleni sezithunywa, wazifunda, wenyukela endlini yeNkosi; uHezekhiya wasezichaya phambi kweNkosi.
So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
15 UHezekhiya wasekhuleka eNkosini, esithi:
And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:
16 Nkosi yamabandla, Nkulunkulu kaIsrayeli, ohlala phakathi kwamakherubhi, nguwe wedwa onguNkulunkulu wayo yonke imibuso yomhlaba; wena wenze amazulu lomhlaba.
“O LORD of Hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.
17 Thoba indlebe yakho, Nkosi, uzwe, vula amehlo akho, Nkosi, ubone; uzwe wonke amazwi kaSenakheribi awathumele ukuklolodela uNkulunkulu ophilayo.
Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to all the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
18 Qiniso, Nkosi, amakhosi eAsiriya achithile zonke izizwe lamazwe azo;
Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all these countries and their lands.
19 aphosela onkulunkulu bazo emlilweni, ngoba babengeyisibo onkulunkulu, kodwa umsebenzi wezandla zabantu, izigodo lamatshe; ngalokho bababhubhisa.
They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.
20 Ngakho-ke, Nkosi Nkulunkulu wethu, sisindise esandleni sakhe, ukuze yonke imibuso yomhlaba yazi ukuthi wena wedwa uyiNkosi.
And now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”
21 UIsaya indodana kaAmozi wasethumela kuHezekhiya, esithi: Itsho njalo iNkosi, uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli: Lokho okukhuleke kimi ngoSenakheribi inkosi yeAsiriya,
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,
22 leli yilizwi iNkosi elikhulume ngaye: Intombi emsulwa, indodakazi yeZiyoni iyakudelela, iyakuklolodela; indodakazi yeJerusalema inikina ikhanda ngemva kwakho.
this is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.
23 Ngubani omeyisileyo wamhlambaza? Njalo uphakamisele bani ilizwi, waphakamisela amehlo akho phezulu? Umelene loNgcwele kaIsrayeli.
Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 Uklolodele iNkosi ngesandla sezinceku zakho, wathi: Ngobunengi bezinqola zami mina ngenyukele endaweni ephakemeyo yezintaba, ezinhlangothini zeLebhanoni. Njalo ngizagamula imisedari yayo emide, ikhethelo lezihlahla zamafiri ayo, ngingene ekuphakameni kwemingcele yayo, igusu leKharmeli layo.
Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest heights, the densest of its forests.
25 Mina ngagebha, nganatha amanzi, langengaphansi yenyawo zami ngomisa yonke imifula yendawo evinjelweyo.
I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
26 Kawuzwanga yini ukuthi ngakwenza endulo, ngakubumba ensukwini zendulo? Khathesi ngikufikisile, ukuthi ube ngowokudiliza imizi evikelweyo ibe zinqumbi zamanxiwa.
Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.
27 Ngakho abahlali bayo babelesandla esifitshane, besaba, baba lenhloni, baba njengotshani beganga, lemibhida eluhlaza, utshani bempahla, lamabele ahanguliweyo engakami.
Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.
28 Kodwa ngiyakwazi ukuhlala kwakho, lokuphuma kwakho, lokungena kwakho, lokungithukuthelela kwakho.
But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me.
29 Ngenxa yokungithukuthelela kwakho, lokuthi umsindo wakho wenyukele endlebeni zami, ngizakufaka umkhala wami emakhaleni akho, letomu lami endebeni zakho, ngikwenze ubuyele ngendlela oweza ngayo.
Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’
30 Lokhu-ke kuzakuba yisibonakaliso kuwe; lonyaka uzakudla okuzikhulelayo; langomnyaka wesibili umkhukhuzela; kuthi ngomnyaka wesithathu lihlanyele, livune, lihlanyele izivini, lidle izithelo zazo.
And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31 Lokuphephileyo kwendlu yakoJuda okuseleyo kuzaphinda kugxumeke impande phansi, kuthele izithelo ngaphezulu.
And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.
32 Ngoba kuzaphuma eJerusalema insali, lokuphephileyo entabeni yeZiyoni. Ukutshiseka kweNkosi yamabandla kuzakwenza lokhu.
For a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
33 Ngakho, utsho njalo uJehova ngenkosi yeAsiriya: Kayiyikungena kulumuzi, kayiyikutshoka umtshoko khona, kayiyikuza phambi kwawo ilesihlangu, kayiyikubuthelela idundulu maqondana lawo.
So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow into it. He will not come before it with a shield or build up a siege ramp against it.
34 Ngendlela eyeza ngayo, ngayo izabuyela, njalo kayiyikungena kulo umuzi, itsho iNkosi.
He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city,’
35 Ngoba ngizawuvikela lumuzi ukuwusindisa, ngenxa yami, langenxa kaDavida inceku yami.
‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
36 Khona kwaphuma ingilosi yeNkosi, yatshaya enkambeni yamaAsiriya abazinkulungwane ezilikhulu lamatshumi ayisificaminwembili lanhlanu. Kwathi bevuka ekuseni kakhulu, khangela-ke, bonke babeyizidumbu ezifileyo.
Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
37 Ngakho uSenakheribi inkosi yeAsiriya wasuka, wahamba ebuyela, wahlala eNineve.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
38 Kwasekusithi ekhonza endlini kaNisiroki unkulunkulu wakhe, oAdrameleki loSharezeri amadodana akhe bamtshaya ngenkemba; bona basebephephela elizweni leArarathi. UEsarihadoni indodana yakhe wasebusa esikhundleni sakhe.
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.
