UJeremiya 47

1 Leli yilizwi likaThixo elafika kuJeremiya umphrofethi mayelana lamaFilistiya ngesikhathi uFaro engakahlaseli iGaza:

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah, the prophet, against the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza.

2 UThixo uthi: “Khangela ukuphakama kwamanzi enyakatho; azakuba ngumfula okhukhulayo. Azakhukhula ilizwe lakho konke okukulo, amadolobho lalabo abahlala kuwo. Abantu bazakhala, bonke abahlala elizweni bazalila

Thus says the Lord: “Behold, waters will rise up from the north, and they will be like an inundating torrent, and they will cover the land and its plenitude, the city and its inhabitants. The men will cry out, and all the inhabitants of the land will wail,

3 ekuzweni umsindo wamasondo amabhiza agijimayo, lekuzweni umsindo wezinqola zesitha lomdumo wamasondo azo. Oyise kabayikuphenduka ukuba basize abantwababo; izandla zabo zizalenga zingelamandla.

before the uproar of a procession of weapons and of his soldiers, before the commotion of his four-horse chariots and the multitude of his wheels. The fathers have not looked back for the sons, because of feebleness of hands,

4 Ngoba usuku selufikile ukuba abhujiswe wonke amaFilistiya, lokuqeda bonke abasilayo abangasiza iThire leSidoni. Sekuseduze ukuba uThixo abhubhise amaFilistiya, insalela emakhunjini eKhafithori.

because of the arrival of the day on which all the Philistines will be devastated, and Tyre and Sidon will be destroyed, with all the rest of their helpers. For the Lord has depopulated the Philistines, the remnant of the island of Cappadocia.

5 IGaza izaphuca ikhanda layo ilila; i-Ashikheloni izathuliswa. Lina nsalela esemagcekeni, lizazisika kuze kube nini na?

Baldness has arrived over Gaza. Ashkelon has been silenced, along with the remnant of their valley. And how long will you continue to be cut down?

6 Likhala lisithi, ‘Maye, nkemba kaThixo, koba nini ukuze uphumule? Buyela emgodleni wakho; khawuka ungathi nyiki.’

O sharp sword of the Lord, how long will you be without rest? Enter your sheath; be refreshed and silenced.

7 Kodwa ingaphumula njani yona ilaywe nguThixo, ithunywe nguye ukuba ihlasele i-Ashikheloni lamakhumbi olwandle na?”

But how can it find rest, when the Lord has ordered it against Ashkelon and against its maritime regions, and when a task has been appointed to it there?”