UZekhariya 11
1 Vula iminyango yakho, wena Lebhanoni, ukuze umlilo udle imisedari yakho.
Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars.
2 Qhinqa isililo, wena sihlahla sefiri; ngoba umsedari usuwile, ngoba izihlahla zobukhosi ziyachithwa. Qhinqani isililo lina ma-okhi eBashani, ngoba igusu elingangenekiyo seliwile.
Wail, pine-tree, for the cedar is fallen. Wail, oaks of Bashan, for the inaccessible forest has fallen.
3 Kulelizwi lokuqhinqa isililo kwabelusi, ngoba udumo lwabo luyachithwa; ilizwi lokubhonga kwamabhongo ezilwane, ngoba ukuziqhenya kweJordani kuyachithwa.
Listen to the wailing of the shepherds! Their glory is destroyed. Listen to the roaring of young lions! Blasted is the thick forest of the Jordan.
4 Itsho njalo iNkosi uNkulunkulu wami: Yelusa izimvu zokuhlatshwa;
The Lord said to me: shepherd the flock destined for slaughter,
5 abathengi bazo bayazibulala, bathi kabalacala; labazithengisayo bathi: Kayibusiswe iNkosi; ngoba nginothile; labelusi bazo kabalasihawu ngazo.
whose possessors slaughter them, and hold themselves not guilty! The people who sell them say, Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich! And their own shepherds have no compassion for them.
6 Ngoba kangisayikuyekela abahlali belizwe, itsho iNkosi; kodwa khangela, ngizanikela abantu, ngulowo lalowo esandleni sikamakhelwane wakhe, lesandleni senkosi yakhe; njalo bazaliphahlaza ilizwe, njalo kangiyikubophula esandleni sabo.
I will no longer have pity on the people of this earth, says the Lord. I will turn neighbor against neighbor, and put everyone under the power of a king, and when the land is devastated I will not rescue them.
7 Njalo ngizakwelusa izimvu zokuhlatshwa, isibili, eziyangekileyo zezimvu. Njalo ngazithathela intonga ezimbili; enye ngayibiza ngokuthi nguBuhle, lenye ngayibiza ngokuthi nguZibopho; ngazelusa izimvu.
So I shepherded the flock of slaughter for the sheep-merchants. I took two staffs: one I called Mercy and the other I called Union. So I shepherded the sheep.
8 Ngasengiquma abelusi abathathu ngenyanga eyodwa; lomphefumulo wami wadabuka ngabo, lomphefumulo wabo lawo wangenyanya.
I set aside three of the shepherds in one month; for I was indignant against them, and they also were displeased at me.
9 Ngasengisithi: Kangisayikulelusa; ofayo kafe, loqunywayo kaqunywe; kakuthi-ke abaseleyo badle, ngulowo lalowo inyama yomunye.
I said, I will not shepherd you. What is dead, let it die. What is set aside, let it be set aside. And let those who are left devour one another’s flesh.
10 Ngasengithatha intonga yami, uBuhle, ngayiqamula, ukuze ngephule isivumelwano sami engangisenze labantu bonke.
And I took my staff, Mercy, and broke it, so as to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples.
11 Sephulwa-ke ngalolosuku; ngakho-ke eziyangekileyo zezimvu ezazilindele kimi zakwazi ukuthi yilizwi leNkosi.
In that day it was broken, and the sheep-merchants who watched me knew that it was the Lord’s message.
12 Ngasengisithi kizo: Uba kulungile emehlweni enu, nikani inkokhelo yami; kodwa uba kungenjalo, yekelani. Basebelinganisela inkokhelo yami, inhlamvu ezingamatshumi amathathu zesiliva.
And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wage. If not, don’t.” So they weighed out my wage, thirty pieces of silver.
13 INkosi yasisithi kimi: Ziphosele kumbumbi; intengo enkulu ebengiyilinganiselwe yibo! Ngasengithatha inhlamvu ezingamatshumi amathathu zesiliva, ngaziphosela kumbumbi endlini yeNkosi.
And the Lord said to me, Cast it into the treasury – the precious wage that at which I was valued by them! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them into the house of the Lord, into the treasury.
14 Ngasengiqamula intonga yami yesibili, uZibopho, ukuze ngephule ubuzalwane phakathi kukaJuda loIsrayeli.
Then I broke my second staff called Union so as to dissolve the brotherhood between Judah and Jerusalem.
15 INkosi yasisithi kimi: Zithathele futhi izikhali zomelusi oyisithutha.
And the Lord said to me: Take again the implements of a worthless shepherd.
16 Ngoba khangela, ngizavusa umelusi elizweni; ongayikuhambela eziqunyiweyo, ongayikudinga ezintsha, ongayikwelapha ezephukileyo, ongayikusekela ezizimeleyo; kodwa adle inyama yezinonileyo, adabule iziqa amasondo azo.
For I am about to appoint a shepherd over the land. Those who are thrust down he will not visit. Those who are scattered he will not seek out. The wounded he will not heal, the sick he will not make whole, but the flesh of the fat he will devour and even their hoofs he will tear.
17 Maye kumelusi ongasizi lutho otshiya izimvu! Inkemba izakuba phezu kwengalo yakhe, laphezu kwelihlo lakhe lokunene. Ingalo yakhe izatshwabhana isibili, lelihlo lakhe lokunene lifiphale ngokupheleleyo.
Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye. May his arm completely wither. And his right eye be blinded.
