< UNahume 3 >
1 Maye kumuzi wezingazi, wonke ugcwele amanga lempango! Okuphangiweyo kakusuki.
Woe to the bloody city! Full of lies and plunder, without end is the spoil.
2 Umsindo wesiswepu, lomsindo wokugedlezela kwamavili, lowamabhiza amathayo, lowezinqola ezeqayo.
Hear the crack of the whip, hear the rattle of wheels. Galloping horses, jolting chariots.
3 Umgadi webhiza uphakamisa kokubili inkemba ephazimayo lomkhonto ocwazimulayo, njalo kulexuku lababuleweyo, lenani elikhulu lezidumbu; yebo kakulasiphelo sezidumbu; bayakhubeka phezu kwezidumbu zabo.
Horsemen charging, swords flashing, spears glittering, a multitude of slain, a heap of bodies, no end to the corpses over which people stumble!
4 Ngenxa yobunengi bokufeba kwesiphingi, inkosazana ekhangayo yobuthakathi, esithengisa izizwe ngokuphinga kwaso, lemideni ngobuthakathi baso.
“Because you acted like a whore, bewitching the nations, enticing the peoples,
5 Khangela, ngimelene lawe, itsho iNkosi yamabandla; ngizakwembulela amalogwe akho phezu kobuso bakho, ngitshengise izizwe ubunqunu bakho, lemibuso ihlazo lakho.
I am against you, Nineveh” the Lord of hosts declares. “I will strip your clothes and show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.
6 Ngiphosele amanyala phezu kwakho, ngikwenze udeleleke, ngikumise njengento yokubukelwa.
“I will fling loathsome filth at you, and make you an object of contempt, a spectacle,
7 Kuzakuthi-ke wonke okubonayo akubalekele, athi: INineve ichithekile. Ngubani ozayililela? Ngizakudingela ngaphi abaduduzi?
so that everyone who sees you will flee from you and say: ‘Nineveh is laid waste, who will mourn for her?’
8 Ungcono yini kuleNo-Amoni eyayihlezi phakathi kwemifula, elamanzi inhlangothi zonke, omthangala wawo wawululwandle, umduli wawo wawusukela elwandle?
“Are you any better than Thebes, which stood on the banks of the Nile, with waters around as a rampart, whose wall was the sea of waters?
9 IEthiyophiya leGibhithe kwakungamandla ayo angelakuphela; iPuti leLubhimi babengabasizi bakho.
Her strength was Ethiopia and Egypt. The Libyans were her helpers, and Put with its countless people.
10 Kanti yona yathuthwa yaya ekuthunjweni; lezingane zayo zachotshozwa esihlokweni sazo zonke izitalada; njalo benza inkatho yokuphosa ngabahloniphekayo bayo, labo bonke abakhulu bayo babotshwa ngamaketane.
Yet she was exiled and made captive. On all corners of the streets her infants were dashed to pieces. Lots were cast for her nobles, all her great ones were bound in chains.
11 Lawe-ke uzadakwa, uzacatsha; futhi wena uzadinga isiphephelo ngenxa yesitha.
“You too, Nineveh, will be drunk with fear; you too will seek a place of escape from the foe.
12 Inqaba zakho zonke zizakuba njengezihlahla zemikhiwa ezilezithelo zokuqala; uba zinyikinywa, ziwela emlonyeni wodlayo.
All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; if shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater!
13 Khangela, abantu bakho bangabesifazana phakathi kwakho; amasango elizwe lakho azavulekela kakhulu izitha zakho; umlilo uzaqeda imigoqo yakho.
Your troops are weak as women before your foes; the gates of your land are wide open; your defenses burned down.
14 Zikhelele amanzi okuvinjezelwa, uqinise izinqaba zakho; ngena odakeni, uxove ibumba, uqinise ihondo yezitina.
“Draw water for the siege, strengthen your forts. Go to the clay pits and tread the clay; take up the brick moulds.
15 Lapho umlilo uzakuqeda, inkemba ikuqume, ikudle njengesikhonyane, uzandise njengesikhonyane, uzandise njengezintethe.
There the fire will consume you, the sword will cut you down. Multiply like the locust or a swarm of grasshoppers.
16 Wandise abathengisi bakho ngaphezu kwenkanyezi zamazulu; iqhwagi liyona, liphaphe lihambe.
Increase the numbers of your merchants until they are more than the stars of heaven,
17 Abetheswe umqhele bakho banjengezintethe, labalawulimabutho bakho banjengentethe ezinengi, ezimisa inkamba ezintangweni ngosuku lomqando; ilanga seliphumile, ziyasuka zibaleke, ingabe isaziwa indawo yazo ukuthi zingaphi.
until your watchmen are locusts, and your scribes like grasshoppers, which swarm in the hedges on a cold day; but when the sun rises they fly away, no one knows where.
18 Abelusi bakho bayawozela, wena nkosi yeAsiriya; abakhulu bakho bazahlala; abantu bakho bazahlakazeka ezintabeni, njalo kungekho obabuthayo.
“King of Assyria: your princes slumber, your nobles sleep! Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them!
19 Kakukho ukupholiswa kokwephuka kwakho, inxeba lakho libuhlungu; bonke abezwa umbiko ngawe baqakeza izandla ngawe; ngoba kukubani obungadlulanga kuye ububi bakho njalonjalo?
There is no healing for your hurt, your wound is incurable. All who hear of your fate clap their hands in joy, for who has escaped your limitless cruelty?”