Isaiah 21
1 The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land.
Umthwalo wenkangala yolwandle. Njengokudlula kwezivunguzane eningizimu, kuzavela enkangala, elizweni elesabekayo.
2 A grievous vision is declared to me. The treacherous man deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; attack! I have stopped all of Media’s sighing.
Ngaziswe umbono olukhuni; umkhohlisi wenza ngenkohliso, lomchithi uyachitha. Yenyuka Elamu, uvimbezele Mede; ngiqede konke ukububula kwayo.
3 Therefore my thighs are filled with anguish. Pains have seized me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am in so much pain that I cannot hear. I am so dismayed that I cannot see.
Ngenxa yalokhu ukhalo lwami lugcwele ubuhlungu, imihelo ingibambile njengemihelo yobelethayo; ngagotshiswa ngenxa yokuzwa, ngadideka ngenxa yokubona.
4 My heart flutters. Horror has frightened me. The twilight that I desired has been turned into trembling for me.
Inhliziyo yami yaduha, uvalo lwangesabisa; ukuhwalala engikuloyisayo wakwenza kwaba yikuthuthumela kimi.
5 They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield!
Lungisa itafula, linda emphotshongweni wokulinda, dlana, unathe; sukumani, ziphathamandla, ligcobe isihlangu.
6 For the Lord said to me, “Go, set a watchman. Let him declare what he sees.
Ngoba yatsho njalo iNkosi kimi: Hamba umise umlindi; akhulume akubonayo.
7 When he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with great attentiveness.”
Wasebona inqola, abagadi bamabhiza ababili, inqola kababhemi, inqola yekamela; walalela ngesineke, ngesineke esikhulu.
8 He cried like a lion: “Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post.
Wasememeza esithi: Isilwane, Nkosi, ngimi njalonjalo emphotshongweni wokulinda emini, njalo ngimi emlindweni ubusuku bonke.
9 Behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs.” He answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground.
Khangela-ke, nansi inqola yomuntu isiza, labagadi bamabhiza ababili. Wasephendula wathi: Iwile, iwile iBhabhiloni; lazo zonke izithombe ezibaziweyo zabonkulunkulu bayo uzidilizele emhlabathini.
10 You are my threshing, and the grain of my floor!” That which I have heard from the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, I have declared to you.
Lina okubhuliweyo kwami, lamabele ebala lami lokubhulela, engikuzwileyo eNkosini yamabandla, uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli, ngilitshelile khona.
11 The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”
Umthwalo weDuma. Uyangimemeza eseSeyiri esithi: Mlindi, uthini ngobusuku? Mlindi, uthini ngobusuku?
12 The watchman said, “The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire. Come back again.”
Umlindi wathi: Kuyeza ukusa, lobusuku futhi. Uba libuza, buzani, libuye, lize.
13 The burden on Arabia. You will lodge in the thickets in Arabia, you caravans of Dedanites.
Umthwalo phezu kweArabhiya. Ehlathini leArabhiya lizalala ubusuku, lina zindwendwe zeDedani.
14 They brought water to him who was thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Tema met the fugitives with their bread.
Mletheleni omileyo amanzi. Abahlali belizwe leTema bahlangabeza obalekayo ngokudla.
15 For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle.
Ngoba babalekela izinkemba, inkemba ehwatshiweyo, ledandili eligotshiweyo, lobunzima bempi.
16 For the Lord said to me, “Within a year, as a worker bound by contract would count it, all the glory of Kedar will fail,
Ngoba itsho njalo iNkosi kimi: Kusesephakathi komnyaka, njengeminyaka yoqhatshiweyo, lonke udumo lweKedari luzaphela.
17 and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, will be few; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken it.”
Lensali yenani labatshoki, amaqhawe amaKedari, bazakuba balutshwana. Ngoba iNkosi uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli isikhulumile.
