UMikha 3
1 Ngasengisithi: Ake lizwe, lina zinhloko zakoJakobe, lani zinhloko zendlu yakoIsrayeli. Kakuyisikho okwenu yini ukwazi isahlulelo?
And I said: Listen, leaders of Jacob and chiefs of the house of Israel. Does it not belong to you to know judgment,
2 Elizonda okuhle, lithande okubi, elebula isikhumba lisisusa kubo, lenyama yabo emathanjeni abo;
you who hold hatred for good, and love evil, who violently steal their skins from over them and their flesh from over their bones?
3 futhi elidla inyama yabantu bami, lihlinze isikhumba sabo lisisusa kubo; lephule amathambo abo, liwaqobaqobe njengawembiza, lanjengenyama phakathi kwebhodo.
They have devoured the flesh of my people, and have stripped their skin from over them, and they have shattered and chopped their bones, as if for the kettle, and like flesh in the middle of the pot.
4 Khona bezakhala eNkosini, kodwa kayiyikubaphendula; njalo izabafihlela ubuso bayo ngalesosikhathi, njengalokho benze izenzo zabo zaba zimbi.
Then they will cry out to the Lord, and he will not heed them. And he will hide his face from them in that time, just as they have acted wickedly with their inventions.
5 Itsho njalo iNkosi mayelana labaprofethi abaduhisa abantu bami, abaluma ngamazinyo abo, abamemeza: Ukuthula; kodwa ongabeki lutho emlonyeni wabo, balungisa impi bemelene laye.
Thus says the Lord about the prophets who seduce my people: They bite with their teeth and preach peace, and if anyone does not give something to their mouth, they sanctify a battle against him.
6 Ngakho kuzakuba yibusuku kini, lingabi lombono; kube mnyama kini, lingabi lokuvumisa; lelanga lizabatshonela abaprofethi, losuku lube mnyama phezu kwabo.
Because of this, night will be yours for vision, and darkness yours for divination, and the sun will meet with death over the prophets, and the day will be darkened over them.
7 Khona ababoni bezayangeka, labavumisi babe lenhloni. Yebo bonke bazambomboza izindebe zangaphezulu; ngoba kungelampendulo kaNkulunkulu.
And those who see visions will be confounded, and the diviners will be confounded. And they will all cover their faces, because there is no response from God.
8 Kodwa isibili mina ngigcwele amandla ngomoya weNkosi, lesahlulelo, lobuqhawe, ukumemezela kuJakobe isiphambeko sakhe, lakuIsrayeli isono sakhe.
Nevertheless, truly I have been filled with the strength of the Spirit of the Lord, with judgment and virtue, in order to announce to Jacob his wickedness and to Israel his sin.
9 Ake lizwe lokhu, lina zinhloko zendlu kaJakobe, lani babusi bendlu kaIsrayeli, elenyanya isahlulelo, lihlanekele konke ukuqonda.
Hear this, leaders of the house of Jacob and judges of the house of Israel, you who abominate judgment and who pervert all that is right.
10 Elakha iZiyoni ngecala legazi, leJerusalema ngobubi.
You build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Inhloko zayo zahlulelela isipho, labapristi bayo bafundisela inkokhelo, labaprofethi bayo bavumisela imali; kanti beyame eNkosini, besithi: INkosi kayikho phakathi kwethu yini? Ububi kabuyikusehlela.
Her leaders have judged for tributes, and her priests have taught for payment, and her prophets divined for money. And they leaned upon the Lord, saying: “Is not the Lord in our midst? No disaster will overcome us.”
12 Ngakho ngenxa yenu iZiyoni izalinywa njengensimu, leJerusalema ibe zinqumbi, lentaba yendlu njengezindawo eziphakemeyo zehlathi.
For this reason, because of you, Zion will be plowed under like a field, and Jerusalem will become like a pile of stones, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of the forests.
