UMikha 3
1 Ngasengisithi: Ake lizwe, lina zinhloko zakoJakobe, lani zinhloko zendlu yakoIsrayeli. Kakuyisikho okwenu yini ukwazi isahlulelo?
I said, “Please listen, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: Isn’t it for you to know justice?
2 Elizonda okuhle, lithande okubi, elebula isikhumba lisisusa kubo, lenyama yabo emathanjeni abo;
You who hate the good, and love the evil; who tear off their skin, 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 peel their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as meat within the cauldron.
4 Khona bezakhala eNkosini, kodwa kayiyikubaphendula; njalo izabafihlela ubuso bayo ngalesosikhathi, njengalokho benze izenzo zabo zaba zimbi.
Then they will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer them. Yes, he will hide his face from them at that time, because they made their deeds evil.”
5 Itsho njalo iNkosi mayelana labaprofethi abaduhisa abantu bami, abaluma ngamazinyo abo, abamemeza: Ukuthula; kodwa ongabeki lutho emlonyeni wabo, balungisa impi bemelene laye.
The LORD says concerning the prophets who lead my people astray—for those who feed their teeth, they proclaim, “Peace!” and whoever doesn’t provide for their mouths, they 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 is over you, with no vision, and it is dark to you, that you may not divine; and the sun will go down on the prophets, and the day will be black over them.
7 Khona ababoni bezayangeka, labavumisi babe lenhloni. Yebo bonke bazambomboza izindebe zangaphezulu; ngoba kungelampendulo kaNkulunkulu.
The seers shall be disappointed, and the diviners confounded. Yes, they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.”
8 Kodwa isibili mina ngigcwele amandla ngomoya weNkosi, lesahlulelo, lobuqhawe, ukumemezela kuJakobe isiphambeko sakhe, lakuIsrayeli isono sakhe.
But as for me, I am full of power by the LORD’s Spirit, and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Jacob his disobedience, and to Israel his sin.
9 Ake lizwe lokhu, lina zinhloko zendlu kaJakobe, lani babusi bendlu kaIsrayeli, elenyanya isahlulelo, lihlanekele konke ukuqonda.
Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity,
10 Elakha iZiyoni ngecala legazi, leJerusalema ngobubi.
who 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 judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money; yet they lean on the LORD, and say, “Isn’t the LORD among us? No disaster will come on us.”
12 Ngakho ngenxa yenu iZiyoni izalinywa njengensimu, leJerusalema ibe zinqumbi, lentaba yendlu njengezindawo eziphakemeyo zehlathi.
Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.
