< UJobe 6 >

1 UJobe wasephendula wathi:
Then Job spoke again, saying [to Eliphaz],
2 Kungathi ukudabuka kwami bekungalinganiswa lokulinganiswa, lenhlupheko yami ibekwe ndawonye esikalini!
“If all my troubles and misery could be put on a scale and weighed,
3 Ngoba khathesi kungaba nzima kuletshebetshebe lolwandle. Ngenxa yalokho amazwi ami angawamawala.
they would be heavier than all the sands [on the shores] of the oceans. That is why I spoke (very rashly/without thinking clearly) [about the day that I was born].
4 Ngoba imitshoko kaSomandla iphakathi kwami, obuhlungu bayo umoya wami uyabunatha; izesabiso zikaNkulunkulu ziyazihlela zimelene lami.
[It is as though] Almighty [God] has shot me with arrows. [It is as though] those arrows had poison on their tips, and that poison has gone into my spirit. The things that God has done to me have terrified me.
5 Ubabhemi weganga uyakhala yini esohlazeni, kumbe inkabi iyakhonya yini ekudleni kwayo?
Just like a wild donkey does not [complain by] braying when it has plenty of grass to eat, and an ox does not [complain by] bellowing when it has food to eat [MET], [I would not complain if you were really helping/comforting me].
6 Kambe okuduma kungadliwa kungelatshwayi? Kulokuhlabusa kokumhlophe kweqanda yini?
People complain [RHQ] when they must eat food which has no salt or other tasteless food [MET], [and that is what your words are like, Eliphaz].
7 Umphefumulo wami uyala ukukuthinta, kunjengokudla kwami okunengekayo.
Just like I do not want to eat food [like that], and I loathe/detests that kind of food [MET], [I do not appreciate what you have said to me].
8 Kungathi isicelo sami singafika, njalo uNkulunkulu anginike ithemba lami,
“I wish that God would do for me what I have requested from him [DOU].
9 ukuthi kumthokozise uNkulunkulu ukungichoboza, ayekele isandla sakhe, angiqume.
I wish that he would crush me [and let me die]. I wish that he would reach out his hand and take away my life.
10 Khona kungahlala kube yinduduzo yami, bengingajabula ebuhlungwini obungayekeliyo; ngoba kangiwafihlanga amazwi oNgcwele.
If he would do that, I would be comforted by knowing that in spite of the great pain that I have suffered, I have always obeyed what [God, ] the Holy One, has commanded.
11 Ayini amandla ami ukuze ngithembe? Lokuphela kwami kuyini ukuze ngelule impilo yami?
But now I do not have [RHQ] enough strength to endure all these things. And since I have nothing [to hope for] in (the future/this life), it is difficult for me to be patient now [RHQ].
12 Amandla ami angamandla amatshe yini? Inyama yami ilithusi yini?
I am not [RHQ] strong like rocks are, and my body is not made of bronze.
13 Usizo lwami kalukimi yini? Lenhlakanipho iyaxotshwa kimi yini?
So I am not able to help myself, and [it seems that] there is no one to rescue me.”
14 Ohluphekayo nga ehawukelwa ngumngane wakhe, kodwa udela ukwesabeka kukaSomandla.
“When a man has many troubles, his friends should be kind to him, even if he stops revering Almighty [God].
15 Abafowethu kabenzanga ngokuthembeka njengesifula, njengempophoma yezifula bayedlula,
But [you, ] my friends, are not dependable. You are like streams: They spill over their banks [in the spring]
16 ezimnyama ngenxa yongqwaqwane, okucatsha kizo iliqhwa elikhithikileyo.
when [the melting] ice and snow make those streams overflow,
17 Ngesikhathi sokufudumala kwazo ziyanyamalala, sekutshisa zicitshe endaweni yazo.
but when the dry season comes, there is no water flowing [in those streams], and the channels dry up.
18 Imikhondo yendlela yazo iyajika, yenyukele enkangala ibhubhe.
[The caravans of merchants] turn off the path [to search for some water], but there is no water, so they die [in the desert].
19 Izihambi zeTema zakhangela, indwendwe zezihambi zeShebha zalindela kuyo.
The men in those caravans search [for some water] because they are sure that they will find some.
20 Zaba lenhloni ngoba zazithembile, zafika kuyo zayangeka.
But they do not find any, so they are very disappointed.
21 Ngoba khathesi kalisilutho; liyabona isesabiso, liyesaba.
Similarly, you friends have not helped me at all! You have seen that terrible things have happened to me, and you are afraid [that God might do similar things to you].
22 Ngitshilo yini ukuthi: Lethani kimi? Kumbe: Phanini isipho ngenxa yami empahleni yenu?
[After I lost all my wealth, ] did I ask any of you for money? [RHQ] Did I plead with any of you to spend some of your money to help me [RHQ]?
23 Kumbe: Ngikhululani esandleni sesitha? Kumbe: Lingihlenge esandleni sabalesihluku?
Have I asked any of you to rescue me from my enemies [RHQ]? Have I asked you to save me from those who (oppressed me/treated me badly) [RHQ]? [No!]”
24 Ngifundisani, khona mina ngizathula; lingenze ngiqedisise engiduhe khona.
“Answer me [now, and then] I will be quiet; tell me what wrong things I have done!
25 Alamandla angakanani amazwi aqotho; kodwa ukusola okuvela kini kusolani?
When people speak what is true, that will not hurt the person who hears it, but what you say, criticizing me, [is not true, so your saying it] proves nothing [RHQ]!
26 Likhumbula amazwi okusola yini, lezinkulumo zophelelwe lithemba zingumoya?
I am a man who has nothing to hope for, but you try to correct me, and you think what I say is nothing but wind [RHQ]!
27 Yebo, liziwisela phezu kwentandane, ligebhele umngane wenu umgodi.
You do not sympathize with me at all [for all that I am suffering]. [You are heartless!] You would even gamble to see who gets an orphan [as a prize]!
28 Ngakho-ke, vumani lingikhangele, ngoba kuphambi kobuso benu nxa ngiqamba amanga.
Please look at me! I will not [RHQ] lie to you.
29 Ake liphenduke, kungabi lobubi, yebo, libuye liphenduke, ukulunga kwami kukukho.
Stop [saying that I have sinned, and] stop criticizing me unjustly! You should realize that I have not done things that are wrong.
30 Kambe kukhona ububi olimini lwami? Ukunambitha kwami bekungehlukanise yini izinto ezimbi?
Do you think that I am lying? No, I am not lying, because I know what is right and what is wrong [RHQ].”

< UJobe 6 >