< UMikha 3 >
1 Ngasengisithi: Ake lizwe, lina zinhloko zakoJakobe, lani zinhloko zendlu yakoIsrayeli. Kakuyisikho okwenu yini ukwazi isahlulelo?
And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel: [Is it] not for you to know judgment?
2 Elizonda okuhle, lithande okubi, elebula isikhumba lisisusa kubo, lenyama yabo emathanjeni abo;
Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from them, and their flesh from off their bones;
3 futhi elidla inyama yabantu bami, lihlinze isikhumba sabo lisisusa kubo; lephule amathambo abo, liwaqobaqobe njengawembiza, lanjengenyama phakathi kwebhodo.
Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
4 Khona bezakhala eNkosini, kodwa kayiyikubaphendula; njalo izabafihlela ubuso bayo ngalesosikhathi, njengalokho benze izenzo zabo zaba zimbi.
Then shall they cry to the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
5 Itsho njalo iNkosi mayelana labaprofethi abaduhisa abantu bami, abaluma ngamazinyo abo, abamemeza: Ukuthula; kodwa ongabeki lutho emlonyeni wabo, balungisa impi bemelene laye.
Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him:
6 Ngakho kuzakuba yibusuku kini, lingabi lombono; kube mnyama kini, lingabi lokuvumisa; lelanga lizabatshonela abaprofethi, losuku lube mnyama phezu kwabo.
Therefore night [shall be] to you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark to you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
7 Khona ababoni bezayangeka, labavumisi babe lenhloni. Yebo bonke bazambomboza izindebe zangaphezulu; ngoba kungelampendulo kaNkulunkulu.
Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yes, they shall all cover their lips; for [there is] no answer of God.
8 Kodwa isibili mina ngigcwele amandla ngomoya weNkosi, lesahlulelo, lobuqhawe, ukumemezela kuJakobe isiphambeko sakhe, lakuIsrayeli isono sakhe.
But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
9 Ake lizwe lokhu, lina zinhloko zendlu kaJakobe, lani babusi bendlu kaIsrayeli, elenyanya isahlulelo, lihlanekele konke ukuqonda.
Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
10 Elakha iZiyoni ngecala legazi, leJerusalema ngobubi.
They 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 heads judge for reward, and her priests teach for hire, and her prophets divine for money; yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, [Is] not the LORD among us? no evil can come upon us.
12 Ngakho ngenxa yenu iZiyoni izalinywa njengensimu, leJerusalema ibe zinqumbi, lentaba yendlu njengezindawo eziphakemeyo zehlathi.
Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed [as] a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.