UGWA­LO

LWA­BA­HLU­LE­LI

Uku­lwa kwa­ba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li la­ma­Kha­na­ni

1Kwa­se­ku­si­thi emva ko­ku­fa ku­ka­Jo­shu­wa aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­bu­za iNko­sia be­si­thi: Ngu­ba­ni oza­se­nyu­ke­le­la uku­ya­me­la­na la­ma­Kha­na­ni ku­qa­lab uku­lwa eme­le­ne la­bo?

2 INko­si ya­si­si­thi: UJu­da uza­kwe­nyu­ka; kha­nge­la­ni, ngi­li­ni­ke­le ili­zwe esa­ndle­ni sa­khe.

3 UJu­da wa­se­si­thi ku­Si­me­yo­ni umfo­wa­bo: Ye­nyu­ka la­mi enka­thwe­ni ya­mi uku­ze si­lwe si­me­le­ne la­ma­Kha­na­ni; la­mi-ke ngi­za­ha­mba la­we enka­thwe­ni ya­khoc. USi­me­yo­ni wa­se­ha­mba la­ye.

4 UJu­da wa­se­se­nyu­ka, nja­lo iNko­si ya­ni­ke­la ama­Kha­na­ni la­ma­Pe­ri­zi esa­ndle­ni sa­bo; ba­wa­tsha­ya eBe­ze­kid, ama­do­da azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­li­tshu­mi.

5 Ba­se­be­fi­ca uA­do­ni-Be­ze­ki eBe­ze­ki, ba­lwa be­me­le­ne la­ye, ba­wa­tsha­ya ama­Kha­na­ni la­ma­Pe­ri­zi.

6 Ko­dwa uA­do­ni-Be­ze­ki wa­ba­le­ka, ba­xo­tsha­na la­ye, ba­mba­mba, ba­qu­ma izi­thu­pha ze­za­ndla za­khe la­ma­zwa­ne akhe ama­khu­lu.

7 UA­do­ni-Be­ze­ki wa­se­si­thi: Ama­kho­si anga­ma­tshu­mi ayi­si­kho­mbi­sa aqu­nywe izi­thu­pha ze­za­ndla za­wo le­ze­nya­wo za­wo aye­do­bha nga­pha­nsi kwe­ta­fu­la la­mi. Nje­ngo­kwe­nza kwa­mie, ngo­ku­nja­lo uNku­lu­nku­lu ungi­phi­ndi­se­le. Ba­se­be­mu­sa eJe­ru­sa­le­ma, wa­fe­la kho­na.

8 Aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Ju­da ba­lwa-ke be­me­le­ne le­Je­ru­sa­le­maf, ba­yi­thu­mba, ba­yi­tsha­ya ngo­bu­kha­li be­nke­mba, lo­mu­zi ba­wu­thu­nge­la ngo­mli­lo.

9 Emva kwa­lo­kho-ke aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Ju­da be­hla uku­ya­ku­lwa be­me­le­ne la­ma­Kha­na­ni aye­hla­la enta­be­ni le­ni­ngi­zi­mu le­si­ho­tshe­ni.

10 UJu­da wa­se­ha­mba wa­me­la­na la­ma­Kha­na­ni aye­hla­la eHe­bro­nig; le­bi­zo le­He­bro­ni ku­qa­la kwa­ku­yi­Ki­ri­ya­thi-A­rba; ba­tsha­ya uShe­sha­yih loA­hi­ma­ni lo­Ta­li­ma­yi.

11 Ba­su­ka la­pho ba­ya ba­me­la­na la­ba­hla­li be­De­bi­rii. Le­bi­zo le­De­bi­ri ku­qa­la kwa­ku­yi­Ki­ri­ya­thi-Se­fe­ri.

12 UKa­le­bij wa­se­si­thi: Oza­tsha­ya iKi­ri­ya­thi-Se­fe­ri, ayi­thu­mbe, ngi­za­mni­ka uA­ki­sa indo­da­ka­zi ya­mi ibe ngu­mkakhe.

13 UO­thi­ni­ye­li indo­da­na ka­Ke­na­zi umfo­wa­bo ka­Ka­le­bi, owa­ye­mnca­ne ku­la­yek, wa­se­yi­thu­mba; wa­se­mni­ka uA­ki­sa indo­da­ka­zi ya­khe uku­ba ngu­mkakhe.

14 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi eku­fi­ke­ni kwa­khe wa­mkhu­tha­za uku­thi ace­le ku­yi­se insi­mu; wa­se­se­hla ku­ba­bhe­mi, uKa­le­bi wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Ula­ni?

15 Wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Ngi­pha isi­bu­si­so. Nje­ngo­ba ungi­phe ili­zwe le­ni­ngi­zi­mu, ngi­pha nja­lo imi­tho­mbo ya­ma­nzi. UKa­le­bi wa­se­mni­ka imi­tho­mbo enga­phe­zu­lu le­mi­tho­mbo enga­pha­nsi.

16 Aba­ntwa­na bo­mKe­nil, uyi­se­za­la ka­Mo­zi­si, ba­se­be­se­nyu­ka be­su­ka emzi­ni wa­ma­la­lam, be­la­ba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Ju­da, ba­ya enka­nga­la ya­ko­Ju­da, ese­ni­ngi­zi­mu kweA­ra­din; ba­ya ba­hla­la pha­ka­thi kwa­ba­ntuo.

17 UJu­da wa­se­ha­mba lo­Si­me­yo­ni umfo­wa­bop, ba­wa­tsha­ya ama­Kha­na­ni aye­hla­la eZe­fa­thiq, ba­yi­tsha­ba­la­li­sa. Nga­kho ibi­zo lo­mu­zi la­thi­wa yi­Ho­rmar.

18 UJu­da wa­se­thu­mba iGa­zas lo­mngce­le wa­yo, leA­shi­ke­lo­nit lo­mngce­le wa­yo, leE­khi­ro­niu lo­mngce­le wa­yo.

19 INko­si ya­si­si­ba lo­Ju­dav, wa­dla ili­fa le­zi­nta­ba, ko­dwa we­ye­nge­la­ku­ba­xo­tsha eli­fe­ni aba­hla­li be­si­go­di, ngo­ba ba­be­le­zi­nqo­la ze­nsi­mbiw.

20 Ba­se­be­ni­ka uKa­le­bix iHe­bro­ni, nje­ngo­ku­tsho ku­ka­Mo­zi­si; wa­se­xo­tsha eli­fe­ni esu­ka la­pho ama­do­da­na ama­tha­thu kaA­na­ki.

21 Ko­dwa aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ka­ba­wa­xo­tsha­nga eli­fe­ni ama­Je­bu­si aye­hla­la eJe­ru­sa­le­may; nga­kho ama­Je­bu­si ahla­la la­ba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni eJe­ru­sa­le­ma ku­ze ku­be la­mu­hlaz.

22 Le­ndlu ka­Jo­se­fa, la­bo be­nyu­ke­la eBhe­the­li; nja­lo iNko­si ya­yi­la­bo.

23 Indlu ka­Jo­se­fa ya­si­thu­ma inhlo­li eBhe­the­lia; le­bi­zo lo­mu­zi ku­qa­la la­li­yi­Lu­zib.

24 Aba­li­ndi ba­se­be­bo­na umu­ntu ephu­ma emzi­ni, ba­thi ku­ye: Aku­si­tshe­ngi­se indle­la yo­ku­nge­na emzi­ni, be­se­si­kwe­nze­la umu­sac.

25 Ese­ba­tshe­ngi­se indle­la yo­ku­nge­na emzi­ni, ba­wu­tsha­ya umu­zi ngo­bu­kha­li be­nke­mba, ko­dwa lo­wo­mu­ntu lo­sa­pho lwa­khe lo­nke ba­ba­ye­ke­la ba­ha­mba.

26 Lo­wo­mu­ntu wa­se­si­ya eli­zwe­ni la­ma­He­thid, wa­kha umu­zi, wa­bi­za ibi­zo la­wo ngo­ku­thi yi­Lu­zi; yi­le­lo ibi­zo la­wo ku­ze ku­be la­mu­hla.

27 UMa­na­se ka­xo­tsha­nga-ke iBe­ti-She­ya­ni le­mi­za­na ya­yoe, le­Tha­ha­na­khi le­mi­za­na ya­yo, la­ba­hla­li be­Do­ri le­mi­za­na ya­yo, la­ba­hla­li beI­bi­le­ya­mu le­mi­za­na ya­yo, la­ba­hla­li be­Me­gi­do le­mi­za­na ya­yo; ko­dwa ama­Kha­na­ni afu­na uku­hla­la ku­le­lo­li­zwe.

28 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi uI­sra­ye­li ese­la­ma­ndla wa­wa­mi­sa ama­Kha­na­ni ku­si­bha­lo, ko­dwa ka­wa­xo­tsha­nga lo­ku­wa­xo­tsha eli­fe­ni.

29 UE­fra­yi­mi ka­wa­xo­tsha­nga-ke eli­fe­ni ama­Kha­na­ni aye­hla­la eGe­ze­rif, ko­dwa ama­Kha­na­ni ahla­la eGe­ze­ri pha­ka­thi kwa­bog.

30 UZe­bu­lu­ni ka­ba­xo­tsha­nga eli­fe­ni aba­hla­li be­Ki­tro­ni la­ba­hla­li be­Na­ha­lo­lih, ko­dwa ama­Kha­na­ni ahla­la pha­ka­thi kwa­bo, aba yi­zi­bha­lwa.

31 UA­she­ri ka­ba­xo­tsha­nga eli­fe­ni aba­hla­li beA­ko la­ba­hla­li be­Si­do­nii leA­hi­la­bi leA­ki­zi­bij le­He­li­ba leA­fi­kik le­Re­ho­bil;

32 ko­dwa aba­koA­she­ri ba­hla­la pha­ka­thi kwa­ma­Kha­na­nim aba­hla­li be­li­zwe, ngo­ba ka­ba­wa­xo­tsha­nga eli­fe­ni.

33 UNa­fi­tha­li ka­ba­xo­tsha­nga eli­fe­ni aba­hla­li be­Be­ti-She­me­shin la­ba­hla­li be­Be­ti-A­na­thio, ko­dwa wa­hla­la pha­ka­thi kwa­ma­Kha­na­nip, aba­hla­li be­li­zwe; ko­dwa aba­hla­li be­Be­ti-She­me­shi la­be­Be­ti-A­na­thi ba­ba yi­zi­bha­lwa ku­boq.

34 AmaA­mo­ri ase­ba­fu­qe­la aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Da­ni enta­be­nir, ngo­ba ka­wa­ba­vu­me­la­nga ukwe­hle­la esi­go­di­ni.

35 Ko­dwa amaA­mo­ri aye­fu­na uku­hla­la enta­be­ni ye­He­re­sis eA­ja­lo­nit le­Sha­ha­li­bi­miu, ko­dwa isa­ndla se­ndlu ka­Jo­se­fa sa­ba nzi­ma, aba yi­zi­bha­lwa.

36 Umngce­le wa­maA­mo­ri wa­wu­su­ke­la emqa­nswe­ni weA­ki­ra­bi­mi, uve­la edwa­le­ni usi­ya phe­zu­lu.

Ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si eBo­ki­mi

2Ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si ya­si­se­nyu­ka isu­ka eGi­li­ga­li isi­ya eBo­ki­mia, ya­thi: Nga­le­nyu­sa li­su­ka eGi­bhi­the, nga­li­le­tha eli­zwe­ni enga­li­fu­nge­la oyi­hlo, nja­lo nga­thi: Ka­ngi­yi­kwe­phu­la isi­vu­me­lwa­no sa­mib la­ni ku­ze ku­be se­pha­ka­de­ni.

2 La­ni-ke ka­li­yi­kwe­nza isi­vu­me­lwa­no la­ba­hla­li ba­le­li­li­zwec, li­za­di­li­za ama­la­thi abod. Ko­dwa ka­li­li­la­le­la­nga ili­zwi la­mie. Ku­yi­ni lo­khu eli­kwe­nzi­le­yo?

3 Nga­kho la­mi nga­thi: Ka­ngi­yi­ku­zi­xo­tsha eli­fe­ni pha­mbi kwe­nu, ko­dwa zi­za­ku­ba nje­nga­me­va enhla­ngo­thi­nif ze­nu, la­bo­nku­lu­nku­lu ba­zog ba­be ngu­mji­bi­la ki­nih.

4 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi la­pho ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si isi­khu­lu­me la­ma­zwi ku­bo bo­nke aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li, aba­ntu ba­pha­ka­mi­sa ili­zwi la­bo ba­kha­la inye­mbe­zi.

5 Ba­se­be­bi­za ibi­zo la­le­yo­nda­wo ngo­ku­thi yi­Bo­ki­mi, ba­yi­hla­be­la iNko­si la­pho.

Uku­fa ku­ka­Jo­shu­wa

6 Kwa­thi uJo­shu­wa ese­ba­ye­ke­le aba­ntu ba­ha­mbai, aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­ha­mba, ngu­lo­wo la­lo­wo wa­ya eli­fe­ni la­khe uku­dla ili­fa le­li­zwe.

7 Aba­ntu ba­se­be­yi­kho­nza iNko­si ku­zo zo­nke izi­nsu­ku zi­ka­Jo­shu­wa, la­zo zo­nke izi­nsu­ku za­ba­da­la aba­sa­la be­phi­la emva ku­ka­Jo­shu­wa, aba­be­wu­bo­ni­le wo­nke umse­be­nzi omkhu­lu we­Nko­si eya­yi­we­nze­le uI­sra­ye­li.

8 UJo­shu­wa indo­da­na ka­Nu­ni, ince­ku ye­Nko­si, wa­fa-ke, ele­mi­nya­ka eli­khu­lu le­tshu­mi.

9 Ba­se­be­mngcwa­be­la emngce­le­ni we­li­fa la­khe eThi­mi­na­thi-He­re­si enta­be­ni ya­koE­fra­yi­mij, enya­ka­tho kwe­nta­ba iGa­ha­shi.

10 Nja­lo la­le­so­si­zu­ku­lwa­na sa­bu­the­lwa ku­bo­yi­se. Kwa­se­ku­su­ku­ma esi­nye isi­zu­ku­lwa­na emva kwa­bo esa­si­nga­ya­zi iNko­sik nja­lo lo­mse­be­nzi eya­yi­we­nze­le uI­sra­ye­li.

Oku­bi ku­kaI­sra­ye­li

11 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­se­nza oku­bi eme­hlwe­ni eNko­si, ba­kho­nza oBha­li.

12 Ba­tshi­ya iNko­sil, uNku­lu­nku­lu wa­bo­yi­se, eya­ba­khu­pha eli­zwe­ni le­Gi­bhi­the, ba­la­nde­la aba­nye onku­lu­nku­lum, ku­bo­nku­lu­nku­lu be­zi­zwe eza­zi­ba­zi­nge­le­ze­le, ba­kho­tha­man ki­bo, ba­yi­thu­ku­the­li­sao iNko­si.

13 Ba­yi­de­la iNko­si, ba­kho­nza uBha­li la­boA­shi­ta­ro­thi*p.

14 Nga­kho ula­ka lwe­Nko­si lwa­vu­tha kuI­sra­ye­liq, ya­ba­ni­ke­la esa­ndle­ni sa­ba­pha­ngi aba­ba­pha­nga­yor; ya­ba­the­ngi­sa esa­ndle­ni se­zi­tha za­bo inhla­ngo­thi zo­nkes, uku­ze ba­nga­be be­sa­ba la­kho uku­ma pha­mbi kwa­zot.

15 Lo­ba be­phu­ma be­si­ya nga­phi, isa­ndla se­Nko­si sa­me­la­na la­bo ngo­ku­bi, nje­ngo­ku­tsho kwe­Nko­si la­nje­ngo­ku­fu­nga kwe­Nko­si ki­bou, nja­lo ba­ci­nde­ze­le­ka ka­khu­lu.

Uku­mi­swa kwa­ba­hlu­le­li

16 INko­si ya­si­mi­sa aba­hlu­le­liv aba­bo­phu­la esa­ndle­ni sa­la­bo aba­ba­pha­nga­yo.

17 Ka­nti ka­ba­ba­la­le­la­nga la­ba­hlu­le­li ba­bo, ko­dwa ba­phi­nga ngo­ku­la­nde­la aba­nye onku­lu­nku­luw, ba­kho­tha­ma ki­bo; ba­pha­mbu­ka ma­si­nya­ne endle­le­ni oyi­se aba­be­ha­mba ku­yox, be­la­le­la imi­la­yo ye­Nko­si. Bo­na ka­be­nza­nga nja­lo.

18 La­la­pho iNko­si iba­mi­se­la aba­hlu­le­li, iNko­si ya­yi­lo­ma­hlu­le­liy, ya­bo­phu­la esa­ndle­ni se­zi­tha za­bo zo­nke izi­nsu­ku zi­ka­ma­hlu­le­li; ngo­ba iNko­si ya­zi­so­laz nge­nxa yo­ku­bu­bu­la kwa­bo nge­nxa ya­la­bo aba­ba­ci­nde­ze­la­yo la­ba­ba­hlu­ku­lu­za­yoa.

19 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi eku­fe­ni ku­ka­ma­hlu­le­lib, ba­bu­ye­la emu­va ba­xhwa­la okwe­dlu­la oyi­se, ngo­ku­la­nde­la aba­nye onku­lu­nku­lu, ngo­ku­ba­kho­nza la­ngo­ku­ba­kho­tha­me­la; ka­ba­la­hla­nga okwe­mi­se­be­nzi ya­bo lo­kwe­ndle­la ya­bo ye­nka­ni.

20 Nga­kho ula­ka lwe­Nko­si lwa­vu­tha kuI­sra­ye­lic, ya­thi: Ngo­ba le­si­si­zwe se­qe isi­vu­me­lwa­no sa­mi enga­si­la­ya oyi­sed, ka­si­la­le­la­nga ili­zwi la­mi,

21 la­mi ka­ngi­sa­yi­ku­xo­tsha lo­ba ngu­ba­ni eli­fe­ni pha­mbi kwa­bo ezi­zwe­ni uJo­shu­wa azi­tshi­ya eku­fe­ni kwa­khee,

22 uku­ze ngi­hlo­le nga­zo uI­sra­ye­lifg uku­thi ba­za­gci­na yi­ni indle­la ye­Nko­si uku­ha­mba ku­yo nje­nga­bo­yi­se bayi­gci­na, ku­mbe ha­tshi.

23 Nga­kho iNko­si ya­zi­ye­ke­la le­zo­zi­zwe, uku­ze inga­zi­xo­tshi eli­fe­ni ma­si­nya­ne, nja­lo ka­yi­zi­ni­ke­la­nga esa­ndle­ni si­ka­Jo­shu­wa.

INko­si itshi­ya izi­zwe ezi­thi­le uku­ze ihlo­le uI­sra­ye­li nga­zo

3La­le­zi yi­zi­zwe iNko­si eya­zi­tshi­ya­yoa uku­ze ihlo­le uI­sra­ye­li nga­zo, bo­nke aba­nga­za­za­nga zo­nke izi­mpi ze­Kha­na­ni;

2 ku­phe­la uku­ze izi­zu­ku­lwa­na za­ba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li za­zi, uku­zi­fu­ndi­sa impi, ku­phe­la aba­nga­za­za­nga pha­mbi­li:

3 Ama­kho­si ama­hla­nu ama­Fi­li­stib, la­wo wo­nke ama­Kha­na­ni, la­ma­Si­do­ni, la­ma­Hi­vi aye­hla­la enta­be­ni ye­Le­bha­no­nic, ku­su­ke­la enta­be­ni ye­Bha­li-He­rmo­ni ku­ze ku­be se­ku­nge­ne­ni kwe­Ha­ma­thi.

4 Za­zi­nge­zo­ku­hlo­la uI­sra­ye­li nga­zod ukwa­zi uku­thi ba­za­yi­la­le­la yi­ni imi­la­yo ye­Nko­si eya­ba­la­ya yo­na oyi­se nge­sa­ndla si­ka­Mo­zi­si.

5 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­hla­la-ke pha­ka­thi kwa­ma­Kha­na­nie, ama­He­thi, la­maA­mo­ri, la­ma­Pe­ri­zi, la­ma­Hi­vi, la­ma­Je­bu­si.

6 Ba­se­be­tha­tha ama­do­da­ka­zi awo uku­ba ngo­mka­bof, la­ma­do­da­ka­zi abo ba­wa­ni­ka ama­do­da­na awo, ba­kho­nza onku­lu­nku­lu ba­wo.

7 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­se­nza oku­bi eme­hlwe­ni eNko­sig, ba­yi­kho­hlwa iNko­si uNku­lu­nku­lu wa­bo, ba­kho­nza oBha­lih le­zi­xu­kui.

UO­thi­ni­ye­li

8 Nga­kho ula­ka lwe­Nko­si lwa­vu­tha kuI­sra­ye­lij, ya­ba­the­ngi­sa esa­ndle­nik si­ka­Ku­sha­ni-Ri­sha­tha­yi­mil inko­si ye­Me­so­po­ta­mi­ya. Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­yi­se­be­nze­la inko­si uKu­sha­ni-Ri­sha­tha­yi­mi imi­nya­ka eyi­si­fi­ca­mi­nwe­mbi­li.

9 Kwa­thi aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li be­kha­la eNko­si­nim, iNko­si ya­ba­vu­se­la aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li umkhu­lu­lin owa­ba­khu­lu­la­yo, uO­thi­ni­ye­li indo­da­na ka­Ke­na­zio umfo­wa­bo ka­Ka­le­bi ongu­mna­wa­khe.

10 Nja­lo uMo­ya we­Nko­si wa­ye­phe­zu kwa­khep, wa­hlu­le­la uI­sra­ye­li, wa­phu­ma impi, iNko­si ya­ni­ke­la esa­ndle­ni sa­khe uKu­sha­ni-Ri­sha­tha­yi­mi inko­si ye­Si­ri­ya, le­sa­ndla sa­khe sa­ba la­ma­ndla phe­zu ku­ka­Ku­sha­ni-Ri­sha­tha­yi­mi.

11 Le­li­zwe la­ba lo­ku­thu­la imi­nya­ka enga­ma­tshu­mi ama­neq. UO­thi­ni­ye­li indo­da­na ka­Ke­na­zi wa­se­si­fa.

UE­hu­di

12 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­bu­ya be­se­nza oku­bi eme­hlwe­ni eNko­sir. INko­si ya­si­mqi­ni­sa uE­gi­lo­ni inko­si ya­ko­Mo­wa­bi uku­me­la­na loI­sra­ye­lis, nge­nxa yo­ku­thi ba­be­nzi­le oku­bi eme­hlwe­ni eNko­si.

13 Wa­se­zi­bu­the­la aba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­nit loA­ma­le­kiu, wa­ya wa­mtsha­ya uI­sra­ye­li, ba­dla ili­fa lo­mu­zi wa­ma­la­lav.

14 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­se­be­nze­la uE­gi­lo­ni inko­si ya­ko­Mo­wa­biw imi­nya­ka eli­tshu­mi le­yi­si­fi­ca­mi­nwe­mbi­li.

15 Kwa­thi aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li be­kha­la eNko­si­nix, iNko­si ya­ba­vu­se­la umkhu­lu­li, uE­hu­di indo­da­na ka­Ge­ra, umBhe­nja­mi­ni owa­ye­li­nxe­le. Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­thu­me­la nge­sa­ndla sa­khe isi­pho kuE­gi­lo­ni inko­si ya­ko­Mo­wa­biy.

16 UE­hu­di wa­se­ze­nze­la inke­mba ebu­kha­li inhla­ngo­thi ezi­mbi­li, ubu­de ba­yo bu­yi­nga­lo, wa­yi­bo­phe­la nga­pha­nsi kwe­zi­gqo­ko za­khe etha­nga­zi­ni la­khe lo­ku­ne­ne.

17 Wa­so­nde­za isi­pho kuE­gi­lo­ni inko­si ya­ko­Mo­wa­bi. Nja­lo uE­gi­lo­ni wa­ye­ngu­mu­ntu okhu­lu­phe­le­yo ka­khu­lu.

18 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi ese­qe­di­le uku­so­nde­za isi­pho, wa­se­phe­le­ke­ze­la aba­ntu aba­be­thwe­le isi­phoz.

19 Ko­dwa ye­na wa­bu­ye­la emu­va ezi­tho­mbe­ni ezi­ba­zi­we­yo eza­zi­se­Gi­li­ga­lia, wa­thi: Nko­si, ngi­le­nda­ba eyi­mfi­hlo ku­we. Ya­si­si­thi: Thu­la. Bo­nke aba­be­mi la­ye ba­se­be­phu­ma.

20 UE­hu­di wa­se­si­za ku­ye ehle­zi endli­ni ephe­zu­lu epho­li­le­yo eya­yi­nge­ya­khe ye­dwa. UE­hu­di wa­thi: Ngi­le­nda­ba ka­Nku­lu­nku­lu ku­we. Wa­se­su­ku­ma esi­hla­lwe­ni.

21 UE­hu­di wa­se­se­lu­la isa­ndla sa­khe so­kho­hlo, wa­tha­tha inke­mba etha­nga­zi­ni la­khe lo­ku­ne­ne, wa­yi­the­la esi­swi­ni sa­khe,

22 kwa­ze kwa­nge­na le­si­la­nda emva ko­bu­kha­li, ama­hwa­hwa agu­bu­ze­la ubu­kha­li, ngo­ba ka­yi­ngco­thu­la­nga inke­mba esi­swi­ni sa­khe, kwa­se­ku­phu­ma umswa­ne.

23 UE­hu­di wa­se­phu­ma ekhu­lu­si­ni, wa­va­la imi­nya­ngo ye­ndlu ephe­zu­lu emva kwa­kheb, wa­yi­khi­yac.

24 Ye­na ese­phu­mi­le, kwa­fi­ka izi­nce­ku za­khe; kwa­thi zi­bo­na, kha­nge­la-ke, imi­nya­ngo ye­ndlu ephe­zu­lu ya­yi­khi­yi­we, za­thi: Si­bi­li we­mbe­se inya­wo za­khe endli­ni epho­li­le­yo.

25 Nja­lo za­li­nda za­ze za­ba le­nhlo­ni; kha­nge­la-ke ka­vu­la­nga imi­nya­ngo ye­ndlu ephe­zu­lu; nga­kho za­tha­tha isi­hlu­thu­le­lo za­vu­la, kha­nge­la-ke, inko­si ya­zo ya­yi­we­le pha­nsi ifi­le.

26 UE­hu­di wa­se­phu­nyu­ka zi­sa­li­be­led, ye­na we­dlu­la ezi­tho­mbe­ni ezi­ba­zi­we­yoe, wa­phu­nyu­ka wa­ya eSe­yi­ra.

27 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi eku­fi­ke­ni kwa­khe wa­vu­the­la upho­ndof enta­be­ni ya­koE­fra­yi­mig. Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­se­hla la­ye ezi­nta­be­ni, ye­na epha­mbi kwa­bo.

28 Wa­se­si­thi ki­bo: La­nde­la­ni emva kwa­mi, ngo­ba iNko­si ini­ke­le izi­tha ze­nu ama­Mo­wa­bi esa­ndle­ni se­nuh. Nga­kho be­hla ba­mla­nde­la, ba­thu­mba ama­zi­bu­ko eJo­da­ni aye ko­Mo­wa­bii, ka­ba­vu­me­la­nga mu­ntu uku­cha­pha.

29 Ba­se­be­bu­la­la ama­Mo­wa­bi nga­le­so­si­kha­thi anga­ba zi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­li­tshu­mi, ama­do­da wo­nke aqa­tha la­wo wo­nke ama­do­da ala­ma­ndla, nja­lo ka­ku­phu­nyu­ka­nga mu­ntu.

30 Nga­lo­kho uMo­wa­bi we­hli­se­lwa pha­nsi mhla­lo­kho nga­pha­nsi kwe­sa­ndla si­kaI­sra­ye­li. Le­li­zwe la­ba lo­ku­thu­la imi­nya­ka enga­ma­tshu­mi ayi­si­fi­ca­mi­nwe­mbi­lij.

USha­mi­ga­ri

31 Le­mva kwa­khe kwa­ba lo­Sha­mi­ga­ri indo­da­na kaA­na­thi, owa­tsha­ya ama­Fi­li­sti ama­do­da anga­ma­khu­lu ayi­si­thu­pha ngo­ci­jo lwe­nka­bi; la­ye wa­se­mkhu­lu­la uI­sra­ye­lik.

UDe­bo­ra lo­Ba­ra­ki ba­nqo­ba uSi­se­ra

4Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­bu­ya be­se­nza oku­bi eme­hlwe­ni eNko­sia ese­fi­le uE­hu­di.

2 INko­si ya­si­ba­the­ngi­sab esa­ndle­ni si­ka­Ja­bi­ni inko­si ye­Kha­na­nic owa­ye­bu­sa eHa­zo­rid. Le­ndu­na ye­bu­tho la­khe ya­yi­ngu­Si­se­ra, owa­ye­hla­la eHa­ro­she­thie la­be­zi­zwe.

3 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­kha­la eNko­si­nif, ngo­ba wa­ye­le­zi­nqo­la ze­nsi­mbig ezi­nga­ma­khu­lu ayi­si­fi­ca­mu­nwe­mu­nye, wa­ba­ci­nde­ze­la nga­ma­ndla aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­lih imi­nya­ka enga­ma­tshu­mi ama­bi­li.

4 UDe­bo­ra umfa­zi owa­ye­ngu­mpro­fe­thi­ka­zi umka­La­pi­do­thi ye­na wa­hlu­le­la uI­sra­ye­li nga­le­so­si­kha­thi.

5 Wa­ye­hla­la nga­pha­nsi kwe­si­hla­hla se­la­la si­ka­De­bo­ra pha­ka­thi kwe­Ra­mai le­Bhe­the­li enta­be­ni ya­koE­fra­yi­mij. Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­se­nyu­ke­la ku­ye ukwa­hlu­le­lwa.

6 Wa­se­thu­ma wa­bi­za uBa­ra­ki indo­da­na kaA­bi­no­wa­ma eKe­de­shik ko­Na­fi­tha­li, wa­thi ku­ye: INko­si uNku­lu­nku­lu wa­koI­sra­ye­li ka­yi­la­ya­nga yi­ni isi­thi: Ha­mba uso­nde­le enta­be­ni ye­Tha­bho­ril, uzi­tha­the­le ama­do­da azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­li­tshu­mi eba­ntwa­ne­ni ba­ko­Na­fi­tha­li le­ba­ntwa­ne­ni ba­ko­Ze­bu­lu­ni?

7 Nja­lo ngi­za­do­nse­la ku­we esi­fu­le­ni iKi­sho­ni uSi­se­ram indu­na ye­bu­tho li­ka­Ja­bi­ni le­nqo­la za­khe le­xu­ku la­khe, ngi­mni­ke­le esa­ndle­ni sa­khon.

8 UBa­ra­ki wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Uba uha­mba la­mio, ngi­za­ha­mba; ko­dwa uba unga­ha­mbi la­mi, ka­ngi­yi­ku­ha­mba.

9 Wa­se­si­thi: Ngi­za­ha­mba lo­ku­ha­mba la­we, ko­dwa udu­mo ka­lu­yi­ku­ba ngo­lwa­kho nge­ndle­la oha­mba nga­yo, ngo­ba iNko­si iza­the­ngi­sa uSi­se­ra esa­ndle­ni so­we­si­fa­za­nap. Wa­se­su­ku­ma uDe­bo­ra, wa­ha­mba lo­Ba­ra­ki wa­ya eKe­de­shi.

10 UBa­ra­ki wa­se­bi­ze­la oZe­bu­lu­ni lo­Na­fi­tha­liq eKe­de­shi. Kwa­se­ku­se­nyu­ka ama­do­da azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­li­tshu­mi amla­nde­lar, lo­De­bo­ra we­nyu­ka la­ye.

11 UHe­be­ri umKe­nis wa­ze­hlu­ka­ni­sa-ke la­ma­Ke­ni, aba­ntwa­na ba­ka­Ho­ba­bi uyi­se­za­la ka­Mo­zi­sit, wa­mi­sa ithe­nte la­khe kwa­ze kwa­ba se­si­hla­hle­ni se-o­khi* eZa­ha­na­ni­miu ese­du­ze le­Ke­de­shi.

12 Ba­se­be­bi­ke­la uSi­se­ra uku­thi uBa­ra­ki indo­da­na kaA­bi­no­wa­ma use­nyu­ke­le enta­be­ni ye­Tha­bho­riv.

13 USi­se­ra wa­se­bi­za zo­nke izi­nqo­law za­khe, inqo­la ezi­nga­ma­khu­lu ayi­si­fi­ca­mu­nwe­mu­nye ze­nsi­mbi, la­bo bo­nke aba­ntu aba­be­la­ye, ku­su­ke­la eHa­ro­she­thi la­be­zi­zwe ku­ze ku­fi­ke esi­fu­le­ni iKi­sho­ni.

14 UDe­bo­ra wa­se­si­thi ku­Ba­ra­ki: Vu­ka! Ngo­ba yi­lo lo­lu­su­ku iNko­si eni­ke­le nga­lo uSi­se­ra esa­ndle­ni sa­khox. Ka­yi­ha­mba­nga yi­ni iNko­si pha­mbi kwa­khoy? Nga­kho uBa­ra­ki we­hla enta­be­ni iTha­bho­riz la­ma­do­da azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­li­tshu­mi nge­mva kwa­khe.

15 INko­si ya­si­msa­nga­ni­sa uSi­se­raa la­zo zo­nke izi­nqo­la le­bu­tho lo­nke ngo­bu­kha­li be­nke­mba pha­mbi ku­ka­Ba­ra­ki, kwa­ze kwa­thi uSi­se­ra we­hla enqo­le­ni wa­ba­le­ka nge­nya­wo za­khe.

16 UBa­ra­ki wa­se­xo­tsha­na le­zi­nqo­la le­bu­tho, wa­ze wa­fi­ka eHa­ro­she­thi la­be­zi­zwe; ibu­tho lo­nke li­ka­Si­se­ra la­se­li­si­wa ngo­bu­kha­li be­nke­mba; ka­ku­sa­la­nga lo­ye­dwa.

17 Ko­dwa uSi­se­ra wa­ba­le­ka nge­nya­wo za­khe wa­ya ethe­nte­ni li­ka­Ja­ye­li umka­He­be­ri umKe­ni, ngo­ba kwa­ku­lo­ku­thu­la pha­ka­thi ku­ka­Ja­bi­ni inko­si ye­Ha­zo­ri le­ndlu ka­He­be­ri umKe­ni.

18 UJa­ye­li wa­se­phu­ma uku­hla­nga­be­za uSi­se­ra, wa­thi ku­ye: Pha­mbu­ka, nko­si ya­mi, pha­mbu­ke­la ki­mi, unge­sa­bi. Wa­se­pha­mbu­ke­la ku­ye ethe­nte­ni, wa­me­mbe­sa nge­ngu­bo.

19 Wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Aku­ngi­na­thi­se ama­nzi ama­lu­tshwa­na ngo­ba ngo­mi­le. Wa­se­si­bu­ku­la igu­la lo­cha­gob, wa­mna­thi­sa, wa­me­mbe­sa.

20 Wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Ma­na emnya­ngo we­the­nte; ku­za­ku­thi-ke, uba ku­fi­ka umu­ntu ku­we eku­bu­za esi­thi: Ku­lo­mu­ntu la­pha yi­ni? Uza­ku­thi: Ka­ku­la­mu­ntu.

21 Ko­dwa uJa­ye­li umka­He­be­ri wa­tha­tha isi­kho­nkwa­ne se­the­ntec, wa­fa­ka isa­ndo esa­ndle­ni sa­khe, wa­mnye­nye­la, wa­be­the­la isi­kho­nkwa­ne enhla­fu­nwe­ni ya­khe sa­nge­na emhla­ba­thi­ni, ngo­ba ye­na wa­ye­le­le ubu­tho­ngo obu­khu­lu, edi­ni­we, wa­se­si­fa.

22 Kha­nge­la-ke, uBa­ra­ki wa­xo­tsha uSi­se­ra; uJa­ye­li wa­se­phu­ma uku­mhla­nga­be­za wa­thi ku­ye: Wo­za, ngi­za­ku­tshe­ngi­sa umu­ntu omdi­nga­yo. Wa­se­nge­na ethe­nte­ni la­khe, kha­nge­la-ke, uSi­se­ra wa­ye­le­le efi­le, le­si­kho­nkwa­ne sa­si­se­nhla­fu­nwe­ni ya­khe.

23 Nga­kho nga­lo­lo­su­ku uNku­lu­nku­lu wa­me­hli­se­la pha­nsi uJa­bi­ni inko­si ye­Kha­na­ni pha­mbi kwa­ba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­lid.

24 Isa­ndla sa­ba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li sa­qhu­be­ka-ke sa­ba nzi­ma phe­zu ku­ka­Ja­bi­ni inko­si ye­Kha­na­ni, ba­ze ba­mchi­tha uJa­bi­ni inko­si ye­Kha­na­ni.

Ihu­bo li­ka­De­bo­ra lo­Ba­ra­ki

5UDe­bo­ra lo­Ba­ra­ki indo­da­na kaA­bi­no­wa­ma ba­se­be­hla­be­laa nga­lo­lo­su­ku be­si­thi:

2 Nge­nxa yo­ku­phi­ndi­se­la kwe­zi­mpi­ndi­se­lo koI­sra­ye­lib, nxa aba­ntu be­zi­ni­ke­la ngo­ku­zi­tha­nde­lac, bu­si­sa­ni iNko­si!

3 Zwa­ni­ni ma­kho­si, li­be­ke indle­be zi­pha­tha­ma­ndlad, mi­na, mi­na ngi­za­hla­be­la eNko­si­ni, ngi­hu­be­le iNko­si, uNku­lu­nku­lu kaI­sra­ye­li.

4 Nko­si, eku­phu­me­ni kwa­kho eSe­yi­rie, eku­nya­the­le­ni kwa­kho usu­ka ensi­mi­ni yeE­do­maf, umhla­ba wa­za­ma­za­mag, la­ma­zu­lu atho­nta, la­ma­ye­zi atho­nti­sa ama­nzi.

5 Izi­nta­ba za­ge­le­za pha­mbi kwe­Nko­sih, iSi­na­yii le pha­mbi kwe­Nko­si, uNku­lu­nku­lu kaI­sra­ye­li.

6 Ensu­kwi­ni zi­ka­Sha­mi­ga­ri indo­da­na kaA­na­thij, ensu­kwi­ni zi­ka­Ja­ye­lik, izi­ndle­la za­phe­lal, la­ba­be­ha­mba ezi­ndle­dla­ne­ni ba­ha­mba nge­zi­ndle­la ezi­ma­zo­mba­zo­mbe.

7 Iza­kha­mi­zi ze­ma­kha­ya za­phe­lam koI­sra­ye­li, za­phe­la, nga­ze nga­su­ku­ma mi­na De­bo­ra, nga­su­ku­ma, uni­na koI­sra­ye­li.

8 Wa­khe­tha onku­lu­nku­lu aba­tshan, kho­na kwa­ba le­mpi ema­sa­ngwe­ni. Sa­bo­nwa yi­ni isi­hla­ngu lo­mkho­ntoo pha­ka­thi kwa­ba­zi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­nga­ma­tshu­mi ama­ne koI­sra­ye­li?

9 Inhli­zi­yo ya­mi iku­ba­ni­ki­mi­the­tho ba­koI­sra­ye­li, aba­zi­ni­ke­la ngo­ku­zi­tha­nde­la pha­ka­thi kwa­ba­ntup. Bu­si­sa­ni iNko­si!

10 Ba­ga­di ba­bo­ba­bhe­mi aba­mhlo­pheq, ba­hla­li be­si­gca­bhar, la­ba­ha­mbi endle­le­ni, khu­lu­ma­ni.

11 Eli­zwi­ni la­ba­tsho­ki, pha­ka­thi kwe­zi­nda­wo zo­ku­kha ama­nzis, la­pho ba­ya­la­ndi­sa nge­mi­se­be­nzi elu­ngi­le­yo ye­Nko­si, imi­se­be­nzi elu­ngi­le­yo ye­za­kha­mi­zi ze­ma­kha­ya za­koI­sra­ye­lit. Nga­le­so­si­kha­thi aba­ntu be­Nko­si be­hle­la ema­sa­ngwe­ni.

12 Vu­kau, vu­ka, De­bo­ra! Vu­ka, vu­ka, khu­lu­ma ingo­ma! Su­ku­ma Ba­ra­ki, uthu­mbe aba­thu­nji­we­yo ba­khov, ndo­da­na kaA­bi­no­wa­ma.

13 Kho­na ya­ye­nza insa­li ya­bu­sa phe­zu kwe­zi­ndu­na eba­ntwi­niw; iNko­si ya­nge­nza nga­bu­sa phe­zu kwa­ba­la­ma­ndla.

14 Ku­ve­la koE­fra­yi­mix impa­nde ya­bo ya­yi­me­le­ne loA­ma­le­kiy; emva kwa­kho, Bhe­nja­mi­ni, pha­ka­thi kwa­ba­ntu ba­kho; ku­ve­la ku­Ma­ki­riz kwe­hla aba­ni­ku­mthe­thoa, la­ko­Ze­bu­lu­ni aba­do­nsa nge­nto­nga yo­mbha­li.

15 Le­zi­pha­tha­ma­ndla za­koI­sa­ka­ri za­zi­lo­De­bo­ra; lanje­ngoI­sa­ka­ri, wa­ba nja­lo uBa­ra­kib; wa­thu­njwa esi­go­di­ni nge­nya­wo za­khe. Ekwe­hlu­ka­ne­ni ku­ka­Ru­be­ni izi­nqu­mo ze­nhli­zi­yo za­zi­zi­nku­lu.

16 Wa­hla­le­la­ni pha­ka­thi kwe­zi­ba­yac uku­zwa umhla­nga wo­ku­kha­li­se­lwad izi­mvue? Izi­fu­nda za­ko­Ru­be­ni za­ba lo­ku­hlo­lwa oku­khu­lu kwe­nhli­zi­yo.

17 UGi­le­ya­di wa­hla­la nga­phe­tshe­ya kwe­Jo­da­nif. Lo­Da­ni wa­hla­le­la­ni emi­khu­nji­nig? UA­she­ri wa­hla­la ekhu­nji­ni lo­lwa­ndleh, wa­hla­la ethe­kwi­ni.

18 UZe­bu­lu­nii uyi­si­zwe esa­de­la umphe­fu­mu­lo wa­so kwa­ze kwa­ba se­ku­fe­ni, lo­Na­fi­tha­li, emi­qo­lwe­ni ye­nsi­mu.

19 Ama­kho­si afi­ka alwa; kho­na ama­kho­si eKha­na­ni alwa eTha­ha­na­khij nga­se­ma­nzi­ni eMe­gi­dok; ka­wa­tha­tha­nga impa­ngo ye­si­li­val.

20 Zi­se­ma­zu­lwi­ni za­lwa, inka­nye­zi zi­se­ndle­le­ni za­zo za­lwa lo­Si­se­ra.

21 Isi­fu­la iKi­sho­ni sa­ba­khu­khu­lam, isi­fu­la se­ndu­lo, isi­fu­la iKi­sho­ni. Mphe­fu­mu­lo wa­mi, unya­the­la nga­ma­ndla!

22 Kho­na atsha­ya pha­nsi ama­so­ndo ama­bhi­za, ngo­ku­ma­tha, uku­ma­tha kwa­ba­la­ma­ndlan ba­khe.

23 Qa­le­ki­sa­ni iMe­ro­zi, ku­tsho ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si, qa­le­ki­sa­ni ngo­ku­qa­le­ki­sa aba­khi­le­yo ku­yo, ngo­ba ka­be­za­ngao ku­nce­do lwe­Nko­sip, ku­nce­do lwe­Nko­si, la­ma­qha­we.

24 Uza­bu­si­swa phe­zu kwa­be­si­fa­za­na uJa­ye­li umka­He­be­ri umKe­niq; ubu­si­si­we phe­zu kwa­be­si­fa­za­na ethe­nte­ni.

25 Wa­ce­la ama­nzir, wamni­ka ucha­go, wa­le­tha ama­si ngo­mga­nu wo­bu­kho­si.

26 We­lu­le­la isa­ndla sa­khe esi­kho­nkwa­ne­nis, le­sa­ndla sa­khe so­ku­ne­ne esa­ndwe­ni se­zi­se­be­nzi, wa­mtsha­ya uSi­se­ra, wa­cho­bo­za ikha­nda la­khe, wa­hla­ba wa­bho­bo­za inhla­fu­no ya­khe.

27 Pha­ka­thi la­pha­ka­thi kwe­nya­wo za­khe wa­kho­tha­ma wa­wa wa­la­la; pha­ka­thi la­pha­ka­thi kwe­nya­wo za­khe wa­kho­tha­ma wa­wa, la­pho akho­tha­me­la kho­na, wa­wa la­pho efi­le echi­the­ki­le.

28 Uni­na ka­Si­se­ra wa­lu­ngu­za nge­wi­ndit, wa­nqo­lo­nga nge­mi­nxi­bo ye­wi­ndiu wa­thi: Ku­nga­ni inqo­la ya­khe iphu­za uku­zav? Ku­nga­ni ephu­zi­le ama­vi­li ezi­nqo­la za­khe?

29 Izi­hla­ka­ni­phi za­ma­kho­sa­za­na akhe za­phe­ndu­la, ye­bo ye­na wa­zi­bu­yi­se­la impe­ndu­lo ya­khe wa­thi:

30 Ka­ba­tho­la­nga yi­ni ba­ya­ba impa­ngow, into­mba­za­na, ama­nto­mba­za­na ama­bi­li ku­le­yo la­le­yo­ndo­da, impa­ngo ya­ma­le­mbu aco­nji­we­yo ka­Si­se­ra, impa­ngo ya­ma­le­mbu aco­nji­we­yo afe­ke­thi­si­we­yo nge­na­li­thi, ama­le­mbu ama­bi­li aco­nji­we­yo afe­ke­thi­si­we­yo nge­na­li­thi, awe­nta­mo zo­mpha­ngi?

31 Ngo­ku­nja­lo ka­zi­bhu­bhe zo­nke izi­tha za­khox, Nko­si. Ko­dwa aba­yi­tha­nda­yo ka­ba­be nje­ngo­ku­phu­ma kwe­la­ngay nga­ma­ndla aloz.

Le­li­zwe la­thu­la imi­nya­ka enga­ma­tshu­mi ama­nea.

Ubi­zo lu­ka­Gi­di­yo­ni

6Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­se­nza oku­bi eme­hlwe­ni eNko­sia; iNko­si ya­si­ba­ni­ke­la esa­ndle­ni si­ka­Mi­di­ya­nib imi­nya­ka eyi­si­kho­mbi­sa.

2 Le­sa­ndla si­ka­Mi­di­ya­ni sa­ba la­ma­ndla phe­zu ku­kaI­sra­ye­li. Nge­nxa ka­Mi­di­ya­nic aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­ze­nze­la imi­hu­me ese­zi­nta­be­ni, le­mba­lud, le­zi­nqa­ba.

3 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi uI­sra­ye­li ese­hla­nye­le, enyu­ka ama­Mi­di­ya­nie la­maA­ma­le­kif la­ba­ntwa­na be­mpu­ma­la­ngag, be­nyu­ka ba­me­la­na la­bo,

4 ba­mi­sa inka­mba ma­qo­nda­na la­bo, ba­chi­tha izi­the­lo ze­li­zweh, uze ufi­ke eGa­zai, nja­lo ka­ba­tshi­ya­nga oko­ndla­yo koI­sra­ye­li lo­ba imvu lo­ba inka­bi lo­ba uba­bhe­mi.

5 Ngo­ba bo­na be­nyu­ka le­zi­fu­yo za­bo la­ma­the­nte abo, ba­fi­ka nje­ngo­ku­gcwa­la kwe­nte­the ngo­bu­ne­ngij, oko­ku­thi bo­na la­ma­ka­me­la abo ba­be­nge­la­na­ni; ba­se­be­nge­na eli­zwe­ni uku­li­chi­tha.

6 UI­sra­ye­li wa­se­si­ba ngu­mya­nga ka­khu­lu nge­nxa ya­ma­Mi­di­ya­ni, la­ba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­kha­la eNko­si­nik.

7 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi la­pho aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li be­kha­la eNko­si­nil nge­nxa ya­ma­Mi­di­ya­nim,

8 iNko­si ya­thu­ma umpro­fe­thi ku­ba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li, owa­thi ki­bo: Itsho nja­lo iNko­si, uNku­lu­nku­lu wa­koI­sra­ye­li: Mi­na nga­le­nyu­sa li­su­ka eGi­bhi­then nga­li­khu­pha endli­ni yo­bu­gqi­li,

9 nga­li­hlu­thu­na esa­ndle­ni sa­ma­Gi­bhi­the, le­sa­ndle­ni sa­bo bo­nke aba­li­ci­nde­ze­la­yo, nga­ba­xo­tsha pha­mbi kwe­nuo, nga­li­ni­ka ili­zwe la­bo,

10 nga­thi ki­ni: Ngi­yi­Nko­si uNku­lu­nku­lu we­nu; li­nge­sa­bi onku­lu­nku­lu ba­maA­mo­rip eli­hla­la eli­zwe­ni la­wo. Ko­dwa ka­li­li­la­le­la­nga ili­zwi la­mi.

11 Kwa­se­ku­fi­ka ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si, ya­hla­la nga­pha­nsi kwe­si­hla­hla se-o­khi esi­seO­fi­ra, esa­si­nge­si­ka­Jo­wa­shi umA­bi­ye­ze­riq, le­ndo­da­na ya­khe uGi­di­yo­ni ya­yi­bhu­la ingqo­lo­yi esi­kha­me­lwe­ni se­wa­yi­ni, uku­ze iyi­fi­hle­le ama­Mi­di­ya­nir.

12 Ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si ya­si­bo­na­ka­la ku­yes, ya­thi ku­ye: INko­si ila­wet, qha­we eli­la­ma­ndla.

13 UGi­di­yo­ni wa­se­si­thi ku­yo: Ha­wu Nko­si ya­mi, uba iNko­si ila­thi, ku­nga­ni ko­nke lo­khu ku­se­hle­leu? Ka­nti zi­nga­phi zo­nke izi­ma­nga­li­sov za­yo aba­si­tshe­la zo­na oba­baw be­si­thi: INko­si ka­yi­se­nyu­sa­nga si­phu­ma eGi­bhi­the yi­ni? Ko­dwa kha­the­si iNko­si isi­de­li­le, ya­si­ni­ke­la esa­ndle­ni sa­ma­Mi­di­ya­nix.

14 INko­si ya­si­phe­ndu­ke­la ku­ye ya­thi: Ha­mba nga­la­ma­ndla akhoy, ukhu­lu­le uI­sra­ye­li esa­ndle­ni sa­ma­Mi­di­ya­niz. Ka­ngi­ku­thu­ma­nga yi­nia?

15 Wa­se­si­thi ku­yo: Ha­wu Nko­si ya­mi, ngi­za­mkhu­lu­la nga­ni uI­sra­ye­li? Kha­nge­la, use­ndo lwa­mi lu­ngu­mya­nga ko­Ma­na­seb, nja­lo ngi­ngo­mnci­nya­ne endli­ni ka­ba­ba.

16 INko­si ya­si­si­thi ku­ye: Ngo­ba ngi­za­ku­ba la­wec, uza­wa­tsha­ya-ke ama­Mi­di­ya­nid nje­nge­ndo­da­nye.

17 Wa­se­si­thi ku­yo: Uba kha­the­si ngi­tho­le umu­sa eme­hlwe­ni akhoe, nge­nze­la isi­bo­na­ka­li­sof so­ku­thi ngu­we okhu­lu­ma la­mi.

18 Ake unga­su­kig la­pha, ngi­ze ngi­bu­ye ku­we, ngi­khu­phe isi­pho sa­mi, ngi­si­be­ke pha­mbi kwa­kho. Ya­si­si­thi: Mi­na ngi­za­hla­la uze uphe­ndu­ke.

19 UGi­di­yo­ni wa­se­nge­nah, wa­lu­ngi­sa izi­nya­ne le­mbu­zi, le­zi­nkwa ezi­nge­la­mvu­be­lo nge-e­fa* le­mpu­phu, inya­ma wa­yi­fa­ka esi­tshe­ni, lo­mhlu­zi wa­wu­fa­ka embi­ze­ni, wa­ku­khu­phe­la ku­yo nga­pha­nsi kwe­si­hla­hla se-o­khi, wa­ku­so­nde­za.

20 Ingi­lo­si ka­Nku­lu­nku­lu ya­si­si­thi ku­ye: Tha­tha inya­ma le­zi­nkwa ezi­nge­la­mvu­be­lo, uku­be­ke phe­zu kwa­le­li­dwa­lai, ubu­su­the­la umhlu­zij. Wa­se­se­nza nja­lo.

21 Ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si ya­si­se­lu­la isi­hlo­ko so­mqwa­yi owa­wu­se­sa­ndle­ni sa­yo, ya­thi­nta inya­ma le­zi­nkwa ezi­nge­la­mvu­be­lo; kwa­se­ku­se­nyu­ka umli­lo uphu­ma edwa­le­nik, wa­dla inya­ma le­zi­nkwa ezi­nge­la­mvu­be­lo. Le­ngi­lo­si ye­Nko­si ya­su­ka eme­hlwe­ni akhe.

22 UGi­di­yo­ni wa­se­bo­na uku­thi ya­yi­yi­ngi­lo­si ye­Nko­sil. UGi­di­yo­ni wa­thi: Ma­ye, Nko­si Je­ho­va! Nge­nxa yo­ku­thi ngi­bo­ne ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si ubu­so ngo­bu­som.

23 Ko­dwa iNko­si ya­thi ku­ye: Uku­thu­la ka­ku­be ku­wen, unge­sa­bi, ka­wu­yi­ku­fa.

24 UGi­di­yo­ni wa­se­ya­khe­la iNko­si ila­thi la­pho, wa­li­bi­za ngo­ku­thi uJe­ho­va-sha­lo­mi. Ku­ze ku­be la­mu­hla li­se­se­kho­na eO­fi­ra la­maA­bi­ye­ze­rio.

25 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi nga­lo­bo­bu­su­ku iNko­si ya­thi ku­ye: Tha­tha ijo­ngo­si le­nku­nzi enge­ka­yi­hlo, ngi­tsho ijo­ngo­si le­si­bi­li eli­le­mi­nya­ka eyi­si­kho­mbi­sa, udi­li­ze ila­thi li­ka­Bha­li eli­nge­li­ka­yi­hlo, le­si­xu­ku esi­pha­nsi kwa­lo usi­ga­mu­lep;

26 wa­khe­le iNko­si uNku­lu­nku­lu wa­kho ila­thi phe­zu kwe­ngqo­nga ya­li­nqa­ba, nje­ngo­kwe­jwa­ye­le­ki­le­yo; ubu­su­tha­tha ijo­ngo­si le­si­bi­li, uni­ke­le umni­ke­lo wo­ku­tshi­swa nge­nku­ni ze­si­xu­ku oza­si­ga­mu­la.

27 UGi­di­yo­ni wa­se­tha­tha ama­do­da ali­tshu­mi ezi­nce­kwi­ni za­khe, we­nza nje­ngo­ku­tsho kwe­Nko­si ku­ye; ko­dwa kwa­thi nge­nxa yo­ku­thi wa­ye­se­sa­ba indlu ka­yi­se la­ma­do­da omu­zi uku­kwe­nza emi­ni, wa­kwe­nza ebu­su­ku.

28 La­pho ama­do­da omu­zi evu­ka eku­se­ni ka­khu­lu, kha­nge­la, ila­thi li­ka­Bha­li la­li­di­li­zi­we, le­si­xu­ku esa­si­pha­nsi kwa­lo se­si­ga­nyu­li­we, le­jo­ngo­si le­si­bi­li la­ni­ke­lwa phe­zu kwe­la­thi ela­se­la­khi­we.

29 Ba­se­be­si­thi omu­nye ko­mu­nye: Ngu­ba­ni owe­nze lo­lu­da­ba? Nxa se­be­di­ngi­le be­bu­za ba­thi: UGi­di­yo­ni indo­da­na ka­Jo­wa­shi we­nze lo­lu­da­ba.

30 Ama­do­da omu­zi ase­si­thi ku­Jo­wa­shi: Khu­pha indo­da­na ya­kho uku­ze ife, ngo­ba idi­li­zi­le ila­thi li­ka­Bha­li, la­ngo­ba iga­mu­le isi­xu­ku esa­si­pha­nsi kwa­lo.

31 Ko­dwa uJo­wa­shi wa­thi ku­bo bo­nke aba­be­mi nga­ku­ye: Li­na li­za­mlwe­la uBha­li yi­ni, ku­mbe li­na li­msi­ndi­se? Omlwe­la­yo uza­bu­la­wa ku­se­se­ku­se­ni. Uba engu­nku­lu­nku­lu, ka­zi­lwe­le, ngo­ba ila­thi la­khe li­di­li­zi­we.

32 Nga­kho nga­lo­lo­su­ku wa­mbi­za ngo­ku­thi ngu­Je­ru­ba­li, esi­thi: UBha­li ka­lwe la­ye, ngo­ba uli­di­li­zi­le ila­thi la­khe.

33 La­wo wo­nke ama­Mi­di­ya­ni la­maA­ma­le­ki la­ba­ntwa­na be­mpu­ma­la­ngaq ba­bu­tha­na nda­wo­nye, ba­cha­pha, ba­mi­sa inka­mba esi­go­di­ni se­Ji­ze­re­ye­lir.

34 Lo­Mo­ya we­Nko­si we­mbe­sa uGi­di­yo­nis; wa­vu­the­la upho­ndot, la­maA­bi­ye­ze­ri abi­zwa emva kwa­khe.

35 Wa­se­thu­ma izi­thu­nywa ku­ye wo­nke uMa­na­se, la­bo fu­thi ba­bi­zwa emva kwa­khe. Wa­se­thu­ma izi­thu­nywa koA­she­ri la­ko­Ze­bu­lu­ni la­ko­Na­fi­tha­li; ba­se­be­si­za uku­ba­hla­nga­be­za.

36 UGi­di­yo­ni wa­se­si­thi ku­Nku­lu­nku­lu: Uba uza­si­ndi­sa uI­sra­ye­li nge­sa­ndla sa­mi nje­ngo­ku­tsho kwa­kho,

37 kha­nge­lau, ngi­za­be­ka ubo­ya be­zi­mvu obu­gu­ndi­we­yo eba­le­ni lo­ku­bhu­le­la; uba ama­zo­lo eza­ku­ba phe­zu ko­bo­ya obu­gu­ndi­we­yo ku­phe­la, lo­ko­ma emhla­ba­thi­ni wo­nke, ngi­za­kwa­zi-ke uku­thi uza­msi­ndi­sa uI­sra­ye­li nge­sa­ndla sa­mi, nje­ngo­ku­tsho kwa­kho.

38 Kwa­se­ku­si­ba nja­lo. La­pho evu­ka ngo­vi­vi ku­si­sa, wa­ci­nde­ze­la ubo­ya obu­gu­ndi­we­yo, wa­kha­ma ama­zo­lo ebo­ye­ni obu­gu­ndi­we­yo, umga­nu ogcwe­le ama­nziv.

39 UGi­di­yo­ni wa­se­si­thi ku­Nku­lu­nku­lu: Ula­ka lwa­kho lu­nga­ngi­vu­the­liw, ngi­za­khu­lu­ma kha­the­si ku­phe­la; ake ngi­hlo­le kha­the­si ku­phe­la ngo­bo­ya obu­gu­ndi­we­yo; ake ku­be lo­ko­ma ebo­ye­ni obu­gu­ndi­we­yo ku­phe­la, le­mhla­ba­thi­ni wo­nke ka­ku­be la­ma­zo­lo.

40 UNku­lu­nku­lu wa­se­se­nza nja­lo nga­lo­bo­bu­su­ku; ngo­ba kwa­ba lo­ko­ma ebo­ye­ni obu­gu­ndi­we­yo ku­phe­la, ko­dwa emhla­ba­thi­ni wo­nke kwa­ba la­ma­zo­lo.

UGi­di­yo­ni unqo­ba ama­Mi­di­ya­ni

7UJe­ru­ba­lia, ongu­Gi­di­yo­ni, la­bo bo­nke aba­ntu aba­be­la­ye ba­se­be­vu­ka ngo­vi­vi, ba­mi­sa inka­mba nga­se­mtho­nje­ni we­Ha­ro­dib, oko­ku­thi wa­ba le­nka­mba ya­ma­Mi­di­ya­ni enya­ka­tho, nga­se­qa­qe­ni lwe­Mo­rec esi­go­di­nid.

2 INko­si ya­si­si­thi ku­Gi­di­yo­ni: Aba­ntu aba­la­we ba­ne­ngi ka­khu­lu uku­thi ngi­ni­ke­le ama­Mi­di­ya­ni esa­ndle­ni sa­bo, hle­zi uI­sra­ye­li azi­du­mi­se eme­le­ne la­mie, esi­thi: Isa­ndla sa­mi si­ngi­si­ndi­si­le.

3 Nga­kho kha­the­si me­me­ze­la-ke endle­be­ni za­ba­ntu usi­thi: Lo­ba ngu­ba­ni owe­sa­ba­yof lo­thu­thu­me­la­yog ka­phe­ndu­ke asu­ke ma­si­nya­ne enta­be­ni ye­Gi­le­ya­di. Nga­kho kwa­phe­ndu­ka eba­ntwi­ni aba­zi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­nga­ma­tshu­mi ama­bi­li la­mbi­li, le­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­li­tshu­mi za­sa­la.

4 INko­si ya­si­si­thi ku­Gi­di­yo­ni: Aba­ntu ba­se­se­ba­ne­ngi ka­khu­lu; be­hli­se­le ema­nzi­ni, ngi­za­ku­hlo­le­lah bo­na kho­na; ku­za­ku­thi-ke lo­wo engi­za­ku­thi nga­ye ku­we: Lo uza­ha­mba la­we, ye­na uza­ha­mba la­we; ko­dwa lo­ba ngu­ba­ni engi­za­ku­thi nga­ye ku­we: Lo ka­yi­ku­ha­mba la­we, ye­na ka­yi­ku­ha­mba.

5 Wa­se­be­hli­se­la aba­ntu ema­nzi­ni. INko­si ya­si­si­thi ku­Gi­di­yo­ni: Wo­nke oxha­pha ema­nzi­ni ngo­li­mi lwa­khe nje­nge­nja ixha­pha, uza­mbe­ka ye­dwa, la­ye wo­nke ogu­qa nga­ma­do­lo akhe uku­na­tha.

6 Le­na­ni la­la­bo aba­xha­pha­yo nge­sa­ndla sa­bo be­si­sa emlo­nye­ni wa­bo ba­be­nga­ma­do­da anga­ma­khu­lu ama­tha­thu, ko­dwa bo­nke aba­se­le­yo ba­ba­ntu ba­gu­qa nga­ma­do­lo abo uku­na­tha ama­nzi.

7 INko­si ya­si­si­thi ku­Gi­di­yo­ni: Nga­ma­do­da anga­ma­khu­lu ama­tha­thu axha­phi­le­yo ngi­za­li­si­ndi­sai, ngi­ni­ke­le ama­Mi­di­ya­ni esa­ndle­ni sa­kho; ba­ye­ke­le-ke bo­nke aba­ntu ba­ha­mbe, ngu­lo­wo la­lo­wo enda­we­ni ya­khe.

8 Nga­kho aba­ntu ba­tha­tha umpha­ko esa­ndle­ni sa­bo, le­mpo­ndo za­bo. Wa­se­wa­ye­ke­la wo­nke ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li aha­mba, ngu­lo­wo ethe­nte­ni la­khe, ko­dwa wa­gci­na ama­do­da anga­ma­khu­lu ama­tha­thu. Le­nka­mba ya­ma­Mi­di­ya­ni ya­ba nga­pha­nsi kwa­khe esi­go­di­nij.

9 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi nga­lo­bo­bu­su­kuk iNko­si ya­thi ku­ye: Su­ku­ma, we­hle­le enka­mbe­ni, ngo­ba ngi­yi­ni­ke­le esa­ndle­ni sa­khol.

10 Ko­dwa uba use­sa­ba ukwe­hla, ye­hla we­na lo­Pu­ra ince­ku ya­kho uye enka­mbe­ni.

11 Uza­ku­zwa aba­ku­khu­lu­ma­yom; le­mva kwa­lo­kho iza­ndla za­kho zi­za­qi­ni­swa uku­ze we­hle­le enka­mbe­ni. Wa­se­se­hla ye­na lo­Pu­ra ija­ha la­khe, ba­ya ephe­the­lwe­ni la­ba­nga­ma­tshu­mi ama­hla­nu aba­be­se­nka­mbe­ni.

12 Nja­lo ama­Mi­di­ya­ni la­maA­ma­le­ki la­bo bo­nke aba­ntwa­na be­mpu­ma­la­ngan ba­be­le­le esi­go­di­nio nje­nge­nte­the ngo­bu­ne­ngip, la­ma­ka­me­la abo aye­nge­la­na­ni, nje­nge­tshe­be­tshe­be eli­se­khu­nji­ni lo­lwa­ndle ngo­bu­ne­ngiq.

13 Kwa­thi uGi­di­yo­ni efi­ka, kha­nge­la umu­ntu ela­ndi­se­la umnga­ne wa­khe iphu­pho, wa­thi: Kha­nge­la, ngi­phu­phe iphu­pho, kha­nge­la-ke, iqe­be­le­ngwa­na le­si­nkwa se­bha­li* li­gi­qi­ke­la enka­mbe­ni ya­ma­Mi­di­ya­ni, la­fi­ka ethe­nte­ni, la­li­tsha­ya la­wa la­li­ge­nqu­la la­kha­nge­la phe­zu­lu, oko­ku­thi ithe­nte la­wa.

14 Umnga­ne wa­khe wa­se­phe­ndu­la wa­thi: Lo­khu ka­ku­si­lu­tho nga­pha­ndle kwe­nke­mba ka­Gi­di­yo­ni indo­da­na ka­Jo­wa­shi, indo­da ya­koI­sra­ye­li. UNku­lu­nku­lu uni­ke­le esa­ndle­ni sa­khe iMi­di­ya­ni le­nka­mba yo­nke.

15 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi uGi­di­yo­ni ese­zwe uku­la­ndi­swa kwe­phu­pho le­ngca­ze­lo ya­lo, wa­kho­nza, wa­bu­ye­la enka­mbe­ni ya­koI­sra­ye­li, wa­thi: Vu­ka­ni, ngo­ba iNko­si ini­ke­le esa­ndle­ni se­nu inka­mba ya­ma­Mi­di­ya­ni.

16 Wa­se­se­hlu­ka­ni­sa ama­do­da anga­ma­khu­lu ama­tha­thu, aba yi­zi­ga­ba ezi­nta­thu, wa­ni­ka impo­ndo esa­ndle­ni sa­wo wo­nke, le­nqa­yi ezi­nge­la­lu­tho, le­zi­hla­nti pha­ka­thi kwe­zi­nqa­yi.

17 Wa­se­si­thi ku­wo: Ngi­kha­nge­la­ni, le­nze nja­lo. Kha­nge­la­ni-ke, nxa ngi­fi­ka ephe­the­lwe­ni le­nka­mba, ku­za­ku­thi nje­ngo­kwe­nza kwa­mi le­nze nja­lo.

18 Nxa ngi­vu­the­la impo­ndo, mi­na la­bo bo­nke aba­la­mi, la­pho la­ni li­za­vu­the­la izi­mpo­ndo, li­ha­nqe inka­mba yo­nke, li­thi: Owe­Nko­sir lo­ka­Gi­di­yo­ni!

19 Nga­kho uGi­di­yo­ni la­ma­do­da ali­khu­lu aye­la­yes ba­fi­ka ephe­the­lwe­ni le­nka­mba eku­qa­le­ni ko­mli­ndo wo­bu­su­ku wa­pha­ka­thi, se­be­sa­nda uku­mi­sa nje aba­li­ndi; ba­se­be­vu­the­la impo­ndo, ba­bu­la­la izi­nqa­yi eza­zi­se­sa­ndle­ni sa­bo.

20 Le­zi­ga­ba ezi­nta­thu za­vu­the­la izi­mpo­ndo, za­bu­la­la izi­nqa­yi, za­pha­tha esa­ndle­ni sa­zo se­kho­hlo izi­hla­nti le­sa­ndle­ni sa­zo so­ku­ne­ne impo­ndo zo­ku­vu­the­lwa, za­me­me­za zi­si­thi: Inke­mba ye­Nko­si le­ka­Gi­di­yo­ni!

21 Za­se­zi­si­mat, ngu­lo­wo enda­we­ni ya­kheu, be­ha­nqe inka­mba, le­nka­mba yo­nke ya­gi­ji­mav ya­me­me­za ya­ba­le­ka.

22 La­pho aba­nga­ma­khu­lu ama­tha­thu be­vu­the­la impo­ndow, iNko­si ya­mi­sax inke­mba yo­mu­nye ko­mu­nyey, le­nka­mbe­ni yo­nke; le­nka­mba ya­ba­le­ka kwa­ze kwa­ba se­Be­ti-Shi­ta eZe­re­raz, kwa­ze kwa­ba se­mngce­le­ni weA­be­li-Me­ho­laa edu­ze kwe­Ta­ba­thi.

23 La­ma­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li abi­ze­lwa nda­wo­nyeb eve­la ko­Na­fi­tha­lic la­koA­she­ri la­ko­Ma­na­se wo­nke, axo­tsha­na la­ma­Mi­di­ya­ni.

24 UGi­di­yo­ni wa­se­thu­ma izi­thu­nywa ku­yo yo­nke inta­ba ya­koE­fra­yi­mid esi­thi: Ye­hla­ni li­hla­nga­be­ze ama­Mi­di­ya­ni, li­thu­mbe ama­nzi pha­mbi kwa­wo ku­ze ku­be se­Be­ti-Ba­ra le­Jo­da­ni. Nga­kho wo­nke ama­do­da akoE­fra­yi­mi abi­ze­lwa nda­wo­nyee, athu­mba ama­nzif ku­ze ku­be se­Be­ti-Ba­ra le­Jo­da­nig.

25 Athu­mba izi­pha­tha­ma­ndla ezi­mbi­li eMi­di­ya­nih, uO­re­bi lo­Ze­bi; abu­la­la uO­re­bi edwa­le­ni leO­re­bii, lo­Ze­bi ambu­la­la esi­kha­me­lwe­ni se­wa­yi­ni se­Ze­bi, axo­tsha­na la­ma­Mi­di­ya­ni; ale­tha ama­kha­nda aboO­re­bi lo­Ze­bi ku­Gi­di­yo­ni nga­phe­tshe­ya kwe­Jo­da­ni.

8Ama­do­da akoE­fra­yi­mia ase­si­thi ku­ye: Iyi­ni li­nto oye­nze ki­thi uku­thi awu­si­bi­za­nga nxa usi­ya uku­lwa la­ma­Mi­di­ya­ni? Amso­la nga­ma­ndla.

2 Wa­se­si­thi ki­wo: Nge­nze­ni kha­the­si nje­nga­ni? Uku­do­jwa kwe­zi­the­lo ezi­se­le­yo koE­fra­yi­mi ka­ku­ku­hle yi­ni ku­le­si­vu­no se­vi­ni sa­koA­bi­ye­ze­rib?

3 UNku­lu­nku­lu uni­ke­le esa­ndle­ni se­nu izi­pha­tha­ma­ndla ze­Mi­di­ya­nic, uO­re­bi lo­Ze­bi; nga­ngi­nge­nza­ni nje­nga­ni? Kwa­se­ku­de­da ku­ye uku­thu­ku­the­la kwa­bod la­pho ekhu­lu­ma le­li­li­zwi.

UGi­di­yo­ni uthu­mba ama­kho­si eMi­di­ya­ni

4 La­pho uGi­di­yo­ni efi­ka eJo­da­ni wa­cha­pha, ye­na la­ma­do­da anga­ma­khu­lu ama­tha­thue aye­la­ye, be­di­ni­we ko­dwa be­xo­tsha.

5 Wa­se­si­thi ema­do­de­ni eSu­ko­thif: Ake li­phe aba­ntu aba­ngi­la­nde­la­yog ama­qe­be­le­ngwa­na ezi­nkwa, ngo­ba ba­di­ni­we, ngi­xo­tsha­na lo­Ze­ba lo­Za­li­mu­na ama­kho­si eMi­di­ya­ni.

6 Le­ndu­na ze­Su­ko­thi za­thi: Inte­nde ye­sa­ndla si­ka­Ze­ba lo­Za­li­mu­na isi­se­sa­ndle­ni sa­kho yi­nih, uku­thi si­phe ibu­tho la­kho isi­nkwa?

7 UGi­di­yo­ni wa­se­si­thi: Nga­kho nxa iNko­si isi­ni­ke­le uZe­ba lo­Za­li­mu­na esa­ndle­ni sa­mi, ngi­za­bhu­la inya­ma ye­nu nga­me­va enka­nga­la la­ngo­khu­la olu­hla­ba­yoi.

8 Wa­se­se­nyu­ka la­pho wa­ya ePe­nu­we­lij, wa­khu­lu­ma la­bo ngo­ku­fa­na­na­yo; la­ma­do­da ePe­nu­we­li amphe­ndu­la nje­nga­ma­do­da eSu­ko­thi abe­phe­ndu­li­le.

9 Wa­se­khu­lu­ma fu­thi ema­do­de­ni ePe­nu­we­li esi­thi: Eku­bu­ye­ni kwa­mi ngo­ku­thu­lak ngi­za­di­li­za lo umpho­tsho­ngol.

10 Nja­lo uZe­ba lo­Za­li­mu­na ba­be­se­Ka­ri­ko­ri le­nka­mba ya­bo ila­bo, pho­se inku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­li­tshu­mi la­nhla­nu, bo­nke aba­be­se­le ebu­thwe­nim lo­nke la­ba­ntwa­na be­mpu­ma­la­ngan, ngo­ba aba­be­wi­le ba­be­nga­ma­do­da azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­li­khu­lu la­ma­tshu­mi ama­bi­li aba­hwa­tsha inke­mba.

11 UGi­di­yo­ni wa­se­se­nyu­ka nge­ndle­la ya­ba­hla­la ema­the­nte­ni empu­ma­la­nga kwe­No­ba le­Jo­gi­be­hao, wa­yi­tsha­ya inka­mba, ngo­ba inka­mba ya­yi­li­be­lep.

12 UZe­ba lo­Za­li­mu­na ba­se­be­ba­le­ka, wa­se­xo­tsha­na la­bo, wa­thu­mba ama­kho­si ama­bi­li eMi­di­ya­niq, uZe­ba lo­Za­li­mu­na, we­thu­sa inka­mba yo­nke.

13 La­pho uGi­di­yo­ni indo­da­na ka­Jo­wa­shi ese­bu­ya eve­la empi­ni pha­mbi ko­ku­phu­ma kwe­la­nga,

14 wa­ba­mba ija­ha ema­do­de­ni eSu­ko­thi, wa­li­bu­za; la­se­li­mbha­le­la izi­pha­tha­ma­ndla ze­Su­ko­thi la­ba­da­la ba­yo, ama­do­da anga­ma­tshu­mi ayi­si­kho­mbi­sa le­si­kho­mbi­sa.

15 Wa­se­fi­ka ema­do­de­ni eSu­ko­thi, wa­thi: Kha­nge­la­ni oZe­ba lo­Za­li­mu­na ela­li­ngi­klo­lo­de­la nga­bo li­si­thi: Inte­nde ye­sa­ndla si­ka­Ze­ba lo­Za­li­mu­na isi­se­sa­ndle­ni sa­kho yi­nir, uku­thi si­phe ama­do­da akho ase­di­ni­we isi­nkwa?

16 Wa­se­tha­tha aba­da­la bo­mu­zis, la­me­va enka­nga­la lo­khu­la olu­hla­ba­yo, we­nza ama­do­da eSu­ko­thi aqe­di­si­se nga­wo.

17 Lo­mpho­tsho­ngo we­Pe­nu­we­lit wa­wu­di­li­za, wa­bu­la­la ama­do­da omu­zi.

18 Wa­se­si­thi ku­Ze­ba la­ku­Za­li­mu­na: Nga­ma­do­da anja­ni ela­wa­bu­la­la eTha­bho­riu? Ba­se­be­si­thi: Nje­nga­we ba­be­nja­lo, ngu­lo­wo nje­nge­si­mo se­ndo­da­na ye­nko­si.

19 Wa­se­si­thi: Ba­be­nga­ba­fo­we­thu, aba­ntwa­na ba­ka­ma­ma. Ku­phi­la ku­ka­Je­ho­vav, uba be­li­ba­ye­ke­le ba­phi­la, be­ngi­nga­yi­ku­li­bu­la­la.

20 Wa­se­si­thi ku­Je­the­ri izi­bu­lo la­khe: Su­ku­ma uba­bu­la­le. Ko­dwa umfa­na ka­yi­hwa­tsha­nga inke­mba ya­khe, ngo­ba wa­ye­se­sa­ba ngo­ba ese­se­ngu­mfa­na.

21 UZe­ba lo­Za­li­mu­na ba­se­be­si­thi: Su­ku­ma we­na uwe­le phe­zu kwe­thu, ngo­ba nje­ngo­ba inja­lo indo­da, anja­lo ama­ndla ayo. Wa­se­su­ku­ma uGi­di­yo­ni wa­bu­la­la uZe­ba lo­Za­li­mu­naw. Wa­se­tha­tha izi­nya­nga­na eza­zi­se­nta­nye­ni za­ma­ka­me­la abo.

UGi­di­yo­ni wa­la uku­be­kwa inko­si

22 Ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li ase­si­thi ku­Gi­di­yo­ni: Si­bu­se, we­na-ke, le­ndo­da­na ya­kho, le­ndo­da­na ye­ndo­da­na ya­kho, ngo­ba usi­si­ndi­si­le esa­ndle­ni sa­ma­Mi­di­ya­ni.

23 Ko­dwa uGi­di­yo­ni wa­thi ki­bo: Mi­na ka­ngi­yi­ku­li­bu­sa, le­ndo­da­na ya­mi ka­yi­yi­ku­li­bu­sa; iNko­si iza­li­bu­sax.

24 UGi­di­yo­ni wa­se­si­thi ki­bo: Ake ngi­ce­le isi­ce­lo ki­ni; ngi­ni­ka­ni nga­mu­nye ici­ci le­mpa­ngoy ya­khe. Ngo­ba ba­be­la­ma­ci­ci ego­li­de, ngo­ba ba­be­nga­maI­shma­ye­liz.

25 Ba­se­be­si­thi: Si­za­ni­ka lo­ku­ni­ka. Ba­se­be­se­ndla­la ise­mba­tho, ba­pho­se­la la­pho nga­mu­nye ici­ci le­mpa­ngo ya­khe.

26 Le­si­si­ndo sa­ma­ci­ci ego­li­de aye­wa­ce­li­le sa­si­nga­mashe­ke­li* ego­li­de ayi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne la­ma­khu­lu ayi­si­kho­mbi­sa, nga­pha­ndle kwe­zi­nya­nga­naa, le­zi­ce­ci­so ezi­le­nga­yo, le­ze­mba­tho ezi­yi­bu­be­nde eza­zi­se­ma­kho­si­ni eMi­di­ya­nib, la­nga­pha­ndle kwa­ma­ke­ta­ne aye­se­zi­nta­nye­ni za­ma­ka­me­la awoc.

27 UGi­di­yo­ni wa­se­se­nza i-e­fo­di*d nga­kho, wa­yi­be­ka emzi­ni wa­khe, eO­fi­rae. LoI­sra­ye­li wo­nke wa­phi­nga la­pho ngo­ku­yi­la­nde­laf; ya­si­si­ba ngu­mji­bi­la ku­Gi­di­yo­nig le­ndlu ya­khe.

Uku­fa ku­ka­Gi­di­yo­ni

28 Ngo­ku­nja­lo ama­Mi­di­ya­ni ehli­se­lwa pha­nsi pha­mbi kwa­ba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li, ka­wa­phi­nda­nga apha­ka­mi­sa ikha­nda la­wo. Le­li­zwe la­ba lo­ku­thu­la imi­nya­ka enga­ma­tshu­mi ama­neh ensu­kwi­ni zi­ka­Gi­di­yo­ni.

29 UJe­ru­ba­li indo­da­na ka­Jo­wa­shi wa­ya­hla­la-ke endli­ni ya­khe.

30 Nja­lo uGi­di­yo­ni wa­ye­la­ma­do­da­na anga­ma­tshu­mi ayi­si­kho­mbi­sa aphu­ma okha­lwe­ni lwa­khei, ngo­ba wa­ye­la­ba­fa­zi aba­ne­ngi.

31 Lo­mfa­zi wa­khe omnca­ne owa­ye­se­She­ke­maj la­ye wa­mza­le­la indo­da­na, wa­yi­tha ibi­zo lo­ku­thi nguA­bhi­me­le­ki.

32 UGi­di­yo­ni indo­da­na ka­Jo­wa­shi wa­se­si­fa ese­lu­phe­le ku­hlek, wa­ngcwa­tshe­lwa engcwa­be­ni li­ka­Jo­wa­shi uyi­se, eO­fi­ra ya­maA­bi­ye­ze­ril.

33 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi la­pho uGi­di­yo­ni ese­fi­lem, aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­phe­ndu­ka, ba­phi­nga ngo­ku­la­nde­la oBha­lin, ba­zi­mi­se­la uBha­li-Be­ri­thio wa­ba ngu­nku­lu­nku­lu.

34 Nja­lo aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ka­ba­yi­khu­mbu­la­nga iNko­si uNku­lu­nku­lu wa­bop eya­bo­phu­la esa­ndle­ni se­zi­tha za­bo zo­nke inhla­ngo­thi zo­nke.

35 Ka­be­nza­nga umu­sa endli­ni ka­Je­ru­ba­liq, ongu­Gi­di­yo­ni, nje­nga­kho ko­nke oku­hle akwe­nza kuI­sra­ye­li.

Uku­bu­sa ku­kaA­bhi­me­le­ki

9UA­bhi­me­le­ki indo­da­na ka­Je­ru­ba­li wa­se­si­ya eShe­ke­ma ku­ba­fo­wa­bo ba­ka­ni­naa, wa­khu­lu­ma ki­bo la­ku­se­ndo lo­nke lwe­ndlu ka­yi­se ka­ni­na, esi­thi:

2 Ake li­khu­lu­me endle­be­ni za­bo bo­nke aba­hla­li be­She­ke­mab li­thi: Yi­ku­phi oku­ngco­no ki­ni uku­thi wo­nke ama­do­da­na ka­Je­ru­ba­li ama­do­da anga­ma­tshu­mi ayi­si­kho­mbi­sac ali­bu­se, ku­mbe indo­da eyo­dwa ili­bu­se? Khu­mbu­la­ni fu­thi uku­thi ngi­li­tha­mbo le­nu le­nya­ma ye­nud.

3 La­ba­fo­wa­bo ba­ka­ni­na ba­mkhu­lu­me­la ezi­ndle­be­ni za­bo bo­nke aba­hla­li be­She­ke­ma wo­nke la ama­zwie. Inhli­zi­yo ya­bo ye­ya­me­la uku­mla­nde­la uA­bhi­me­le­ki, ngo­ba ba­thi: Ungu­mfo­we­thuf.

4 Ba­mni­ka inhla­mvu ze­si­li­va ezi­nga­ma­tshu­mi ayi­si­kho­mbi­sa eza­ve­la endli­ni ka­Bha­li-Be­ri­thig; uA­bhi­me­le­ki wa­se­qa­tsha nga­zo aba­ntu aba­yi­zeh la­ba­nga­kha­tha­li­yoi aba­mla­nde­la­yo.

5 Wa­se­si­ya endli­ni ka­yi­se eO­fi­raj, wa­bu­la­la aba­fo­wa­bo ama­do­da­na ka­Je­ru­ba­lik, ama­do­da anga­ma­tshu­mi ayi­si­kho­mbi­sa, phe­zu kwe­dwa­la eli­lo­dwa; ko­dwa uJo­tha­mu indo­da­na eli­ci­na­thu­nja­na ka­Je­ru­ba­li wa­sa­la, ngo­ba wa­ca­tsha.

6 La­bo bo­nke aba­hla­li be­She­ke­mal la­bo bo­nke abe­Be­ti-Mi­lom ba­bu­tha­na, ba­ha­mba ba­me­nza wa­bu­sa uA­bhi­me­le­ki abe yi­nko­si, esi­hla­hle­ni se-o­khi* esa­mi­swa si­se­She­ke­man.

7 La­pho be­mtshe­la uJo­tha­mu, wa­ya­ku­ma phe­zu kwe­ngqo­nga ye­nta­ba ye­Ge­ri­zi­mio, wa­pha­ka­mi­sa ili­zwi la­khe wa­me­me­za wa­thi ki­bo: Ngi­zwa­ni ba­hla­li be­She­ke­map uku­ze uNku­lu­nku­lu ali­zwe.

8 Izi­hla­hla za­ha­mba lo­ku­ha­mba uku­zi­gco­be­la inko­siq. Za­thi esi­hla­hle­ni so­mhlwa­thi: Si­bu­ser.

9 Ko­dwa isi­hla­hla so­mhlwa­thi sa­thi ku­zo: Ka­mbe ngi­za­tshi­ya ama­fu­tha ami aba­du­mi­sa nga­wo uNku­lu­nku­lu la­ba­ntus nga­mi, uku­ze ngi­ye­zu­ngu­za phe­zu kwe­zi­hla­hla?

10 Izi­hla­hla za­se­zi­si­thi esi­hla­hle­ni so­mkhi­wa: Wo­za we­na usi­bu­se.

11 Ko­dwa isi­hla­hla so­mkhi­wa sa­thi ku­zo: Ka­mbe ngi­za­tshi­ya ubu­mna­ndi ba­mi le­zi­the­lo za­mi ezi­nhle, uku­ze ngi­ye­zu­ngu­za phe­zu kwe­zi­hla­hla?

12 Izi­hla­hla za­se­zi­si­thi esi­hla­hle­ni se­vi­ni: Wo­za we­na usi­bu­se.

13 Ko­dwa isi­hla­hla se­vi­ni sa­thi ku­zo: Ka­mbe ngi­za­tshi­ya iwa­yi­ni la­mi eli­tsha eli­tho­ko­zi­sa uNku­lu­nku­lu la­ba­ntut, uku­ze ngi­ye­zu­ngu­za phe­zu kwe­zi­hla­hla?

14 Izi­hla­hla zo­nke za­se­zi­si­thi emba­ba­za­ne­ni: Wo­za we­na usi­bu­se.

15 Imba­ba­za­ne ya­si­si­thi ezi­hla­hle­ni: Uba nge­qi­ni­so li­ngi­gco­ba ngi­be yi­nko­si phe­zu kwe­nu, wo­za­ni li­di­nge uku­vi­ke­lwa emthu­nzi­niu wa­mi; uba ku­nge­nja­lo-ke, umli­lo uza­phu­ma emba­ba­za­ne­niv udle izi­hla­hla ze­mi­se­da­ri ze­Le­bha­no­niw.

16 Nga­kho kha­the­si, uba li­kwe­nzi­le nge­qi­ni­so la­ngo­ku­the­mbe­kax uku­thi li­be­ki­le uA­bhi­me­le­ki abe yi­nko­si, lo­ku­thi uba le­nzi­le oku­hle ngo­Je­ru­ba­li la­nge­ndlu ya­khe, lo­ku­thi uba le­nze ku­ye ngo­ku­fa­ne­le iza­ndla za­khey;

17 ngo­ba uba­ba wa­li­lwe­la, wa­la­hle­la kha­tsha­na impi­lo ya­khe, wa­lo­phu­la esa­ndle­ni sa­ma­Mi­di­ya­ni;

18 ko­dwa li­na se­li­yi­vu­ke­le indlu ka­ba­ba la­mu­hla, la­bu­la­la ama­do­da­na akhez, ama­do­da anga­ma­tshu­mi ayi­si­kho­mbi­sa, phe­zu kwe­dwa­la eli­lo­dwa, la­be­ka uA­bhi­me­le­ki indo­da­na ye­nce­ku­ka­zia ya­khe uku­thi abe yi­nko­si ya­ba­hla­li be­She­ke­ma, ngo­ba engu­mfo­we­nub;

19 uba-ke nge­qi­ni­so la­ngo­ku­the­mbe­kac le­nzi­le ngo­Je­ru­ba­li la­nge­ndlu ya­khe nga­lo­lu­su­ku, tho­ko­za­ni ngoA­bhi­me­le­kid, la­ye atho­ko­ze nga­ni;

20 Ko­dwa uba ku­nge­nja­lo, ka­ku­phu­me umli­lo kuA­bhi­me­le­kie udle aba­hla­li be­She­ke­maf le­Be­ti-Mi­lo, nja­lo ka­ku­phu­me umli­lo ku­ba­hla­li be­She­ke­ma le­Be­ti-Mi­lo udle uA­bhi­me­le­ki.

21 UJo­tha­mu wa­se­phu­nyu­ka wa­ba­le­ka, wa­ya eBe­rig, wa­hla­la kho­na, nge­nxa kaA­bhi­me­le­ki umfo­wa­bo.

22 Kwa­thi uA­bhi­me­le­ki ese­bu­se uI­sra­ye­li imi­nya­ka emi­tha­thu,

23 uNku­lu­nku­lu wa­thu­ma umo­ya omu­bi pha­ka­thi ku­kaA­bhi­me­le­ki la­ba­hla­li be­She­ke­mah, nja­lo aba­hla­li be­She­ke­ma ba­zi­pha­tha ngo­ku­nga­the­mbe­ki kuA­bhi­me­le­kii,

24 uku­ze udla­ke­la olwe­nzi­wa ku­ma­do­da­na ka­Je­ru­ba­li anga­ma­tshu­mi ayi­si­kho­mbi­sa lu­bu­ye­lej, le­ga­zi li­be­kwe phe­zu ku­kaA­bhi­me­le­ki umfo­wa­bo owa­wa­bu­la­la­yo, la­phe­zu kwa­ba­hla­li be­She­ke­ma aba­be­qi­ni­se iza­ndla za­khe uku­bu­la­la aba­fo­wa­bo.

25 Aba­hla­li be­She­ke­ma ba­se­be­mbe­ke­la aba­ca­tha­me­li ezi­ngqo­nge­ni ze­zi­nta­ba, ba­pha­nga bo­nke aba­be­be­dlu­la nga­le­yo­ndle­la; uA­bhi­me­le­ki wa­se­ku­bi­ke­lwa.

26 UGa­ha­li indo­da­na kaE­be­di wa­se­si­za la­ba­fo­wa­bo, be­dlu­le­la eShe­ke­ma; nja­lo aba­hla­li be­She­ke­ma ba­mthe­mba.

27 Ba­se­be­phu­ma ba­ya ema­si­mi­ni, ba­kha izi­the­lo za­ma­vi­ni ezi­vi­ni­ni za­bo, ba­zi­nya­the­la, be­nza indu­mi­so, ba­nge­na endli­ni ka­nku­lu­nku­lu wa­bok, ba­dla ba­na­tha, ba­mthu­ka uA­bhi­me­le­ki.

28 UGa­ha­li indo­da­na kaE­be­di wa­se­si­thi: Ungu­ba­ni uA­bhi­me­le­kil nja­lo ungu­ba­ni uShe­ke­ma uku­thi si­mse­be­nze­le? Ka­si­ndo­da­na ka­Je­ru­ba­li yi­ni, lo­Ze­bu­li indu­na ya­yo? Se­be­nze­la­ni ama­do­da ka­Ha­mo­ri uyi­se ka­She­ke­mam. Ngo­ba thi­na si­za­mse­be­nze­le­la­ni?

29 Se­nga­thi nga­be la­ba­ba­ntu be­be­se­sa­ndle­ni sa­min, be­ngi­za­mkhu­pha-ke uA­bhi­me­le­ki. Wa­se­si­thi kuA­bhi­me­le­ki: Ya­ndi­sa ibu­tho la­kho, uphu­me.

30 Kwa­thi uZe­bu­li umbu­si wo­mu­zi esi­zwa ama­zwi ka­Ga­ha­li indo­da­na kaE­be­di, ula­ka lwa­khe lwa­vu­tha.

31 Wa­thu­ma izi­thu­nywa kuA­bhi­me­le­ki ngo­bu­qi­li, esi­thi: Kha­nge­la, uGa­ha­li indo­da­na kaE­be­di la­ba­fo­wa­bo ba­fi­ki­le eShe­ke­ma, kha­nge­la-ke, se­be­qi­ni­sa umu­zi uku­me­la­na la­we.

32 Kha­the­si-ke su­ku­ma ebu­su­ku we­na la­ba­ntu aba­la­we, uye­ca­tha­ma ega­nge­ni.

33 Ku­za­ku­thi-ke eku­se­ni eku­phu­me­ni kwe­la­nga, uvu­ke ngo­vi­vi uwu­hla­se­le umu­zi; kha­nge­la, la­pho ye­na la­ba­ntu aba­la­ye be­phu­ma uku­me­la­na la­we, uza­kwe­nza ku­ye nje­nga­lo­kho isa­ndla sa­kho esi­ku­tho­la­yo.

34 UA­bhi­me­le­ki wa­se­su­ku­ma la­bo bo­nke aba­ntu aba­be­la­ye, ebu­su­ku, ba­se­be­yi­ca­tha­me­la iShe­ke­ma nge­zi­ga­ba ezi­ne.

35 UGa­ha­li indo­da­na kaE­be­di wa­se­phu­ma we­ma esi­kha­le­ni se­sa­ngo lo­mu­zi. UA­bhi­me­le­ki wa­se­su­ku­ma la­ba­ntu aba­be­la­ye eku­ca­tha­me­ni.

36 Kwa­thi uGa­ha­li ebo­na aba­ntu, wa­thi ku­Ze­bu­li: Kha­nge­la, aba­ntu ba­ye­hla ezi­ngqo­nge­ni ze­zi­nta­bao. Ko­dwa uZe­bu­li wa­thi ku­ye: Ubo­na ama­thu­nzi ezi­nta­ba ku­nga­thi nga­ba­ntu.

37 UGa­ha­li wa­qhu­be­ka fu­thi ekhu­lu­ma wa­thi: Kha­nge­la, aba­ntu ba­ye­hla be­ve­la pha­ka­thi kwe­li­zwe, le­li­nye ixu­ku li­ve­la endle­le­ni ya­ma­gce­ke aba­vu­mi­sip.

38 UZe­bu­li wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Usu­nga­phi umlo­mo wa­kho owa­thi nga­wo: Ungu­ba­ni uA­bhi­me­le­kiq uku­thi si­mkho­nze? La­ba ka­yi­si­bo aba­ntu oba­de­le­le­yo yi­ni? Ake uphu­me kha­the­si uye­ku­lwa la­bo.

39 UGa­ha­li wa­se­phu­ma pha­mbi kwa­ba­hla­li be­She­ke­ma, wa­lwa loA­bhi­me­le­ki.

40 UA­bhi­me­le­ki wa­mxo­tsha, wa­se­ba­le­ka pha­mbi kwa­khe; aba­ne­ngi ba­wa be­li­me­le kwa­ze kwa­ba se­ku­nge­ne­ni kwe­sa­ngo.

41 UA­bhi­me­le­ki wa­se­hla­la eA­ru­ma. UZe­bu­li wa­se­mxo­tsha uGa­ha­li la­ba­fo­wa­bo, uku­ze ba­nga­hla­li eShe­ke­ma.

42 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi ku­si­sa aba­ntu ba­phu­ma ba­ya ega­nge­ni; ba­mtshe­la uA­bhi­me­le­ki.

43 Wa­se­tha­tha aba­ntu, wa­be­hlu­ka­ni­sa ba­ba nga­ma­xu­ku ama­tha­thu, wa­ca­tha­ma ega­nge­ni, wa­bo­na, kha­nge­la-ke, aba­ntu be­phu­ma emzi­ni, wa­ba­su­ke­la wa­ba­tsha­ya.

44 UA­bhi­me­le­ki le­xu­ku ela­li­la­ye ba­se­be­ba­hla­se­lar be­ma eku­nge­ne­ni kwe­sa­ngo lo­mu­zi, la­ma­xu­ku ama­bi­li ahla­se­la bo­nke aba­be­se­ga­nge­nis, aba­tsha­ya.

45 UA­bhi­me­le­ki wa­se­si­lwa eme­le­ne lo­mu­zi lo­lo­su­ku lo­nke, wa­wu­thu­mba umu­zi, wa­bu­la­la aba­ntu aba­be­ki­wo, wa­di­li­ze­la pha­nsi umu­zit, wa­wu­hla­nye­la nge­tshwa­yiu.

46 La­pho bo­nke aba­hla­li bo­mpho­tsho­ngo we­She­ke­ma be­ku­zwav, ba­nge­na enqa­be­ni ye­ndluw kaE­li-Be­ri­thix.

47 Kwa­bi­ke­lwa uA­bhi­me­le­ki uku­thi bo­nke aba­hla­li be­mpho­tsho­ngwe­ni we­She­ke­ma ba­bu­the­ne nda­wo­nyey.

48 UA­bhi­me­le­ki wa­se­se­nyu­ke­la enta­be­ni ye­Za­li­mo­niz, ye­na la­bo bo­nke aba­ntu aba­be­la­ye; uA­bhi­me­le­ki wa­tha­tha ihlo­ka esa­ndle­ni sa­khe, wa­ga­mu­la uga­tsha lwe­zi­hla­hla, wa­lu­tha­tha wa­lwe­tsha­ta ehlo­mbe la­khe, wa­thi eba­ntwi­ni aba­be­la­ye: Lo­khu eli­bo­na ngi­kwe­nza, pha­ngi­sa­ni li­kwe­nze nje­nga­mi.

49 Nga­kho bo­nke aba­ntu la­bo ba­ga­mu­la, ngu­lo­wo uga­tsha lwa­khe, ba­mla­nde­la uA­bhi­me­le­ki ba­zi­be­ka enqa­be­nia, ba­thu­nge­la inqa­ba ngo­mli­lo phe­zu kwa­bo, kwa­ze kwa­thi bo­nke aba­ntu bo­mpho­tsho­ngo we­She­ke­ma la­bo ba­fab, pho­se abe­si­li­sa la­be­si­fa­za­na aba­yi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne.

50 UA­bhi­me­le­ki wa­se­si­ya eThe­be­zi, wa­mi­sa inka­mba ma­qo­nda­na le­The­be­zi wa­yi­thu­mba.

51 Ko­dwa kwa­ku­lo­mpho­tsho­ngo oqi­ni­le­yo pha­ka­thi ko­mu­zi, la­bo bo­nke abe­si­li­sa la­be­si­fa­za­na ba­ba­le­ke­la ku­yo, la­bo bo­nke aba­hla­li bo­mu­zi, ba­ba­va­le­la pha­ka­thic; be­nyu­ke­la epha­hle­ni lo­mpho­tsho­ngo.

52 UA­bhi­me­le­ki wa­se­fi­ka empho­tsho­ngwe­ni, wa­lwa la­wo, wa­so­nde­la emnya­ngo wo­mpho­tsho­ngo uku­ze awu­tshi­se ngo­mli­lo.

53 Owe­si­fa­za­na othi­le wa­se­pho­sad uce­zue lwe­li­tshe lo­ku­cho­laf ekha­nda li­kaA­bhi­me­le­ki, wa­da­bu­la ukha­kha­yi lwa­khe.

54 Wa­se­bi­za ma­si­nya­ne ija­ha ela­li­thwa­la izi­kha­li za­kheg, wa­thi ki­lo: Hwa­tsha inke­mba ya­kho ungi­bu­la­le, hle­zi ba­thi nga­mi: Owe­si­fa­za­na wa­mbu­la­la. Ija­ha la­khe la­se­li­mgwa­za, wa­fa-ke.

55 Kwa­thi ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li ebo­na uku­thi uA­bhi­me­le­ki use­fi­le, aha­mba, ngu­lo­wo wa­ya enda­we­ni ya­khe.

56 Ngo­ku­nja­lo uNku­lu­nku­lu wa­bu­yi­se­la ubu­bi bu­kaA­bhi­me­le­kih aye­be­nze ku­yi­se, ngo­ku­bu­la­la aba­fo­wa­bo aba­nga­ma­tshu­mi ayi­si­kho­mbi­sa.

57 La­bo bo­nke ubu­bi ba­ma­do­da eShe­ke­ma uNku­lu­nku­lu wa­bu­bu­yi­se­la phe­zu kwa­ma­kha­nda awo; kwa­se­ku­se­hle­la phe­zu kwa­bo isi­qa­le­ki­so si­ka­Jo­tha­mu indo­da­na ka­Je­ru­ba­lii.

UTho­la lo­Ja­yi­ri

10Emva ku­kaA­bhi­me­le­ki kwa­se­ku­ve­la uTho­la indo­da­na ka­Phu­wa indo­da­na ka­Do­do, indo­da ya­koI­sa­ka­ri uku­khu­lu­la uI­sra­ye­li; wa­ye­hla­la eSha­mi­ri enta­be­ni ya­koE­fra­yi­mia.

2 Wa­se­sa­hlu­le­la uI­sra­ye­li imi­nya­ka enga­ma­tshu­mi ama­bi­li la­nta­thu. Wa­fa, wa­ngcwa­tshe­lwa eSha­mi­ri.

3 Le­mva kwa­khe kwa­ve­la uJa­yi­ri umGi­le­ya­di, wa­hlu­le­la uI­sra­ye­li imi­nya­ka enga­ma­tshu­mi ama­bi­li la­mbi­li.

4 Wa­ye­la­ma­do­da­na anga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thu aga­da ama­tho­le abo­ba­bhe­mib anga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thu, ele­mi­zi enga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thu, aba­yi­thi yi­Ha­vo­thi-Ja­yi­ri ku­ze ku­be la­mu­hlac, ese­li­zwe­ni le­Gi­le­ya­di.

5 UJa­yi­ri wa­se­si­fa, wa­ngcwa­tshe­lwa eKa­mo­ni.

6 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­bu­ya be­se­nza oku­bi eme­hlwe­ni eNko­sid, ba­kho­nza oBha­li la­boA­shi­ta­ro­thi*e, la­bo­nku­lu­nku­lu be­Si­ri­ya la­bo­nku­lu­nku­lu be­Si­do­nif la­bo­nku­lu­nku­lu ba­ko­Mo­wa­bi la­bo­nku­lu­nku­lu ba­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni la­bo­nku­lu­nku­lu ba­ma­Fi­li­stig; ba­yi­tshi­ya iNko­sih, ka­ba­ze ba­yi­kho­nza.

7 Ula­ka lwe­Nko­si lwa­se­lu­mvu­the­la uI­sra­ye­li, ya­ba­the­ngi­sa eza­ndle­ni za­ma­Fi­li­stii le­za­ndle­ni za­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­nij.

8 Ase­ba­chi­tha aba­ci­nde­ze­la aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­lik nga­lo­wo­mnya­kal - imi­nya­ka eli­tshu­mi le­yi­si­fi­ca­mi­nwe­mbi­li, bo­nke aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li aba­be­nga­phe­tshe­ya kwe­Jo­da­ni eli­zwe­ni la­maA­mo­ri eli­se­Gi­le­ya­di.

9 Nja­lo aba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni ba­cha­pha iJo­da­ni uku­ze ba­lwe ngi­tsho be­me­le­ne lo­Ju­dam nja­lo be­me­le­ne lo­Bhe­nja­mi­ni be­me­le­ne le­ndlu kaE­fra­yi­mi; nga­lo­kho uI­sra­ye­li wa­ci­nde­ze­le­kan ka­khu­lu.

10 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­kha­la eNko­si­nio be­si­thi: So­ni­le ku­we, nja­lo ngo­ba si­tshi­yi­le uNku­lu­nku­lu we­thup, sa­se­si­kho­nza oBha­li.

11 INko­si ya­si­si­thi eba­ntwa­ne­ni ba­koI­sra­ye­li: Ka­ngili­khu­lu­la­nga yi­ni ku­ma­Gi­bhi­theq la­ku­maA­mo­rir la­ku­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­nis la­ku­ma­Fi­li­stit?

12 Ama­Si­do­ni la­wo la­maA­ma­le­kiu la­ma­Ma­ho­niv ali­ci­nde­ze­law, la­se­li­kha­la ki­mi, nga­li­khu­lu­la esa­ndle­ni sa­wo.

13 Ka­nti li­na li­ngi­tshi­yi­lex la­kho­nza aba­nye onku­lu­nku­lu; nga­kho ka­ngi­sa­yi­ku­li­khu­lu­la.

14 Ha­mba­ni li­ye­kha­la ku­bo­nku­lu­nku­lu eli­ba­khe­thi­le­yoy; ka­ba­li­khu­lu­le bo­na nge­si­kha­thi so­ku­hlu­phe­ka kwe­nu.

15 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li-ke ba­thi eNko­si­ni: So­ni­le; ye­nza we­na ki­thi nje­nga­kho ko­nke oku­hle eme­hlwe­ni akho; ku­phe­la si­khu­lu­le, si­ya­ku­nce­nga, la­mu­hla.

16 Ba­se­be­su­sa onku­lu­nku­lu be­zi­zwe­ni pha­ka­thi kwa­bo, ba­kho­nza iNko­si; umphe­fu­mu­lo wa­yoz wa­su­da­bu­ka ngo­hlu­pho lu­kaI­sra­ye­lia.

17 Kwa­se­ku­bi­ze­lwa nda­wo­nye aba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni, ba­mi­sa inka­mba eGi­le­ya­di, la­ba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­bu­tha­na ba­mi­sa inka­mba eMi­zi­pab.

18 La­ba­ntu, izi­pha­tha­ma­ndla ze­Gi­le­ya­di, ba­thi omu­nye ko­mu­nye: Ngu­ba­ni umu­ntu oza­qa­la uku­lwa eme­le­ne la­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni? Uza­ku­ba yi­nhlo­ko phe­zu kwa­bo bo­nke aba­hla­li be­Gi­le­ya­dic.

UJe­fi­tha ukhu­lu­la aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ku­maA­mo­ni

11Nja­lo uJe­fi­tha umGi­le­ya­di wa­ye­li­qha­we eli­la­ma­ndlaa, wa­ye­yi­ndo­da­na ye­wu­le; uGi­le­ya­di wa­se­za­la uJe­fi­tha.

2 Umka­Gi­le­ya­di wa­se­mza­le­la ama­do­da­na; kwa­thi ama­do­da­na omka­khe ese­khu­li­le amxo­tsha uJe­fi­tha, athi ku­ye: Ka­wu­yi­ku­dla ili­fa endli­ni ka­ba­ba, ngo­ba uyi­ndo­da­na yo­mu­nye umfa­zi.

3 UJe­fi­tha wa­se­ba­le­ke­la aba­fo­wa­bo, wa­hla­la eli­zwe­ni le­To­bib. Ama­do­da ayi­ze ase­bu­tha­na ku­Je­fi­tha, aphu­ma la­yec.

4 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi emva kwe­zi­nsu­ku aba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni ba­lwa loI­sra­ye­li.

5 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi la­pho aba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni be­si­lwa loI­sra­ye­li, aba­da­la be­Gi­le­ya­di ba­ha­mba uku­ya­tha­tha uJe­fi­tha eli­zwe­ni le­To­bi,

6 ba­thi ku­Je­fi­tha: Wo­za ube ngu­mkho­khe­li we­thu uku­ze si­lwe la­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni.

7 Ko­dwa uJe­fi­tha wa­thi ku­ba­da­la be­Gi­le­ya­di: Li­na ka­li­ngi­zo­nda­nga yi­ni, la­ngi­xo­tsha endli­ni ka­ba­ba? Pho, li­ze­la­ni ki­mi kha­the­si nxa se­li­se­nhlu­phe­kwe­nid?

8 Aba­da­la be­Gi­le­ya­di ba­se­be­si­thi ku­Je­fi­tha: Nga­kho kha­the­si si­ya­bu­ye­la ku­we uku­ze uha­mbe la­thi uye­ku­lwa ume­le­ne la­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni, ube yi­nhlo­ko ye­thu phe­zu kwa­bo bo­nke aba­khi be­Gi­le­ya­die.

9 UJe­fi­tha wa­se­si­thi ku­ba­da­la be­Gi­le­ya­di: Uba li­ngi­bu­yi­sa uku­lwa ngi­me­le­ne la­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni, iNko­si iba­ni­ke­le pha­mbi kwa­mi, mi­na ngi­za­ku­ba yi­nhlo­ko ye­nu yi­ni?

10 Aba­da­la be­Gi­le­ya­di ba­se­be­si­thi ku­Je­fi­tha: INko­si iye­zwa pha­ka­thi kwe­thu, uba si­nge­nzi nja­lo nje­ngo­kwa­ma­zwi akhof.

11 UJe­fi­tha wa­se­ha­mba la­ba­da­la be­Gi­le­ya­di, aba­ntu ba­se­be­me­nza wa­ba yi­nhlo­ko lo­mkho­khe­li phe­zu kwa­bog. UJe­fi­tha wa­se­khu­lu­ma wo­nke ama­zwi akhe pha­mbi kwe­Nko­sih eMi­zi­pai.

12 UJe­fi­tha wa­se­thu­ma izi­thu­nywa enko­si­ni ya­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni esi­thi: Ngi­la­ni la­we uku­thi uze ki­mi uku­lwa eli­zwe­ni la­mi?

13 Inko­si ya­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni ya­si­si­thi ku­zi­thu­nywa zi­ka­Je­fi­tha: Ngo­ba uI­sra­ye­li wa­tha­tha ili­zwe la­mi ekwe­nyu­ke­ni kwa­khe eGi­bhi­thej ku­su­ke­la eA­ri­no­nik ku­ze ku­be se­Ja­bo­ki ku­ze ku­be se­Jo­da­nil; nga­kho-ke li­bu­yi­se­ni ngo­ku­thu­la.

14 UJe­fi­tha wa­se­phi­nda ethu­ma izi­thu­nywa fu­thi enko­si­ni ya­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni

15 wa­thi ku­ye: Utsho nja­lo uJe­fi­tha: UI­sra­ye­li ka­li­tha­tha­nga ili­zwe la­ko­Mo­wa­bi le­li­zwe la­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­nim,

16 ko­dwa ekwe­nyu­ke­ni kwa­bo be­su­ka eGi­bhi­the uI­sra­ye­li wa­ha­mba eda­bu­la enka­nga­la wa­ya eLwa­ndle olu­Bo­mvun, wa­fi­ka eKa­de­shio.

17 UI­sra­ye­li wa­se­thu­ma izi­thu­nywa enko­si­ni yeE­do­ma esi­thi: Ake se­dlu­le si­da­bu­le eli­zwe­ni la­khop; ko­dwa inko­si yeE­do­ma ka­yi­la­le­la­nga. Wa­thu­me­la nja­lo enko­si­ni ya­ko­Mo­wa­bi, ko­dwa ka­yi­vu­ma­ngaq. Nga­kho uI­sra­ye­li wa­hla­la eKa­de­shir.

18 Ba­se­be­da­bu­la enka­nga­la, ba­li­bho­da ili­zwe leE­do­ma le­li­zwe la­ko­Mo­wa­bis, ba­fi­ka la­pho eli­phu­ma kho­na ila­nga kwe­li­zwe la­ko­Mo­wa­bit. Ba­mi­sa inka­mba nga­phe­tshe­ya kweA­ri­no­ni, ko­dwa ka­ba­nge­na­nga emngce­le­ni wa­ko­Mo­wa­bi, ngo­ba iA­ri­no­ni ya­yi­ngu­mngce­le wa­ko­Mo­wa­biu.

19 UI­sra­ye­li wa­se­thu­ma izi­thu­nywa ku­Si­ho­ni inko­si ya­maA­mo­ri, inko­si ye­He­shi­bo­niv; uI­sra­ye­li wa­thi ku­ye: Ake se­dlu­le eli­zwe­ni la­kho si­ye enda­we­ni ya­miw.

20 Ko­dwa uSi­ho­ni ka­mthe­mba­nga uI­sra­ye­li uku­thi adlu­le emngce­le­ni wa­khe; ko­dwa uSi­ho­ni wa­bu­tha bo­nke aba­ntu ba­khex, wa­mi­sa inka­mba eJa­ha­zi, wa­lwa loI­sra­ye­liy.

21 Ko­dwa iNko­si, uNku­lu­nku­lu kaI­sra­ye­li, ya­ni­ke­la uSi­ho­ni la­bo bo­nke aba­ntu ba­khe esa­ndle­ni si­kaI­sra­ye­li, ba­ba­tsha­ya. Nga­kho uI­sra­ye­li wa­dla ili­fa le­li­zwe lo­nke la­maA­mo­ri, aba­hla­li ba­le­lo­li­zwez.

22 Ba­dla ili­fa la­yo yo­nke imi­ngce­le ya­maA­mo­ri ku­su­ke­la eA­ri­no­ni ku­ze ku­be se­Ja­bo­ki, nja­lo ku­su­ke­la enka­nga­la ku­ze ku­be se­Jo­da­nia.

23 Kha­the­si-ke iNko­si, uNku­lu­nku­lu kaI­sra­ye­li, ya­wa­xo­tsha eli­fe­ni amaA­mo­ri pha­mbi kwa­ba­ntu ba­yo uI­sra­ye­li; ka­nti we­na uza­ku­dla ili­fa la­lo yi­ni?

24 Ka­wu­yi­ku­dla yi­ni ili­fa la­lo­khu uKe­mo­shi unku­lu­nku­lu wa­kho aku­ni­ka uku­dla ili­fa la­khob? Nga­kho lo­ba ngu­ba­ni iNko­si uNku­lu­nku­lu we­thu eza­mxo­tsha eli­fe­ni pha­mbi kwe­thu, lo­khu si­za­ku­dla ili­fa la­khoc.

25 Pho-ke we­na ungco­no yi­ni okwe­dlu­la uBa­la­ki indo­da­na ka­Zi­po­ri inko­si ya­ko­Mo­wa­bi? Wa­ke wa­xa­ba­na loI­sra­ye­li; ku­mbe wa­ke wa­lwa la­bo yi­nid;

26 la­pho uI­sra­ye­li ese­hla­la eHe­shi­bo­ni le­mi­za­ne­ni ya­yoe, leA­ro­we­ri le­mi­za­ne­ni ya­yo, la­ku­yo yo­nke imi­zi ese­khu­nji­ni lweA­ri­no­nif, imi­nya­ka enga­ma­khu­lu ama­tha­thu? Ku­nga­ni-ke unga­yo­phu­la­nga nga­le­so­si­kha­thig?

27 Nga­kho mi­na ka­ngo­na­nga ku­we, ko­dwa we­na we­nza oku­bi ki­mi ngo­ku­lwa la­mi; iNko­si uMa­hlu­le­li ka­hlu­le­le la­mu­hla pha­ka­thi kwa­ba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li la­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­nih.

28 Ko­dwa inko­si ya­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni ka­yi­la­le­la­nga ama­zwi ka­Je­fi­tha awa­thu­me­la ku­yo.

29 UMo­ya we­Nko­si wa­se­si­za phe­zu ku­ka­Je­fi­tha, we­dlu­la eGi­le­ya­di le­Ma­na­se, we­dlu­la eMi­zi­pa ye­Gi­le­ya­di; esu­ka eMi­zi­pa we­dlu­le­la ku­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­nii.

30 UJe­fi­tha wa­fu­nga isi­fu­ngo eNko­si­ni wa­thi: Uba uza­ni­ke­la lo­ku­ni­ke­la aba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni esa­ndle­ni sa­mij,

31 ku­za­ku­thi lo­ba yi­ku­phi oku­phu­ma emi­nya­ngo ye­ndlu ya­mi uku­ngi­hla­nga­be­za eku­bu­ye­ni kwa­mi ngo­ku­thu­la ngi­ve­la ku­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni, ku­za­ku­ba ngo­kwe­Nko­sik, ngi­za­ku­ni­ke­la ku­be ngu­mni­ke­lo wo­ku­tshi­swal.

32 Nga­kho uJe­fi­tha wa­se­se­dlu­le­la eba­ntwa­ne­ni ba­koA­mo­ni uku­lwa eme­le­ne la­bo; iNko­si ya­si­ba­ni­ke­la esa­ndle­ni sa­khe.

33 Wa­se­ba­tsha­ya ku­su­ke­la eA­ro­we­rim uze ufi­ke eMi­ni­thin, imi­zi enga­ma­tshu­mi ama­bi­li, ku­ze ku­be seA­be­li-Ke­ra­mi­mi, uku­tsha­ya oku­khu­lu­ka­zi. Ngo­ku­nja­lo aba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni be­hli­se­lwa pha­nsi pha­mbi kwa­ba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li.

Indo­da­ka­zi ka­Je­fi­tha

34 UJe­fi­tha wa­se­fi­ka eMi­zi­pa endli­ni ya­kheo. Kha­nge­la-ke, indo­da­ka­zi ya­khe ya­phu­ma uku­mhla­nga­be­zap, ile­zi­gu­ja­na, le­mi­gi­do; ya­yi­yi­yo yo­dwa eya­khe; nga­pha­ndle kwa­yo wa­ye­nge­la­ndo­da­na le­ndo­da­ka­ziq.

35 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi la­pho eyi­bo­na wa­da­bu­la izi­gqo­ko za­khe wa­thir: Ma­ye ndo­da­ka­zi ya­mi! Ungi­tho­bi­si­le ka­khu­lu, nja­lo we­na upha­ka­thi kwa­ba­ngi­hlu­pha­yo, ngo­ba mi­na ngi­vu­le umlo­mo wa­mi eNko­si­ni, ngi­nge­ke ngi­bu­ye­le emu­vas.

36 Ya­si­si­thi ku­ye: Ba­ba, uvu­li­le umlo­mo wa­kho eNko­si­ni, ye­nza ki­mi nje­nga­lo­kho oku­phu­me emlo­nye­ni wa­kho, lo­khu iNko­si iku­phi­ndi­se­le ezi­the­ni za­kho, eba­ntwa­ne­ni ba­koA­mo­ni.

37 Ya­si­si­thi ku­yi­se: Ka­ku­nge­nze­le li­nto: Ngi­ye­ke­la inya­nga ezi­mbi­li, ngi­ye nge­hle ezi­nta­be­ni, ngi­li­le­le ubu­nto­mbi ba­mi, mi­na la­ba­nga­ne ba­mit.

38 Wa­se­si­thi: Ha­mba. Wa­se­yi­ye­ke­la iha­mba inya­nga ezi­mbi­li. Ya­si­ha­mba, yo­na la­ba­nga­ne ba­yo, ya­li­le­la ubu­nto­mbi ba­yo ezi­nta­be­ni.

39 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi eku­phe­le­ni kwe­nya­nga ezi­mbi­li ya­bu­ye­la ku­yi­se, owe­nza ku­yo isi­fu­ngo sa­khe asi­fu­nga­yo; yo­na ka­yi­ya­za­nga indo­da. Kwa­se­ku­si­ba ngu­mkhu­ba koI­sra­ye­li:

40 Imi­nya­ka nge­mi­nya­ka ama­do­da­ka­zi akoI­sra­ye­li aye­ha­mba ukuya­khu­mbu­la indo­da­ka­zi ka­Je­fi­tha umGi­le­ya­di insu­ku ezi­ne ngo­mnya­kau.

UJe­fi­tha la­ba­koE­fra­yi­mi

12Aba­ntu ba­koE­fra­yi­mi ba­se­be­bi­ze­lwa nda­wo­nye, ba­cha­phe­la enya­ka­tho, ba­thi ku­Je­fi­tha: Wa­cha­phe­la­ni uku­ya­ku­lwa ume­le­ne la­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni, la­thi unga­si­bi­za­nga uku­thi si­ha­mbe la­we? Si­za­tshi­sa ngo­mli­lo indlu ya­kho phe­zu kwa­khoa.

2 UJe­fi­tha wa­thi ki­bo: Mi­na la­ba­ntu ba­mi sa­si­le­ngxa­ba­no enku­lu la­ba­ntwa­na ba­koA­mo­ni; sa­thi si­li­bi­za, ka­li­ngi­khu­lu­la­nga esa­ndle­ni sa­bo.

3 Kwa­thi la­pho ngi­bo­na uku­thi ka­li­si­za­nga, nga­be­ka impi­lo ya­mi esa­ndle­ni sa­mi, nga­cha­phe­la eba­ntwa­ne­ni ba­koA­mo­ni, iNko­si ya­ba­ni­ke­la esa­ndle­ni sa­mi. Pho, le­nyu­ke­le­le­ni ki­mi la­mu­hla uku­lwa li­me­le­ne la­mib?

4 UJe­fi­tha wa­se­bu­tha wo­nke ama­do­da eGi­le­ya­di wa­lwa loE­fra­yi­mi; ama­do­da eGi­le­ya­di ase­mtsha­ya uE­fra­yi­mi, ngo­ba athi: Li­nga­ba­ba­le­ki­le­yo ba­koE­fra­yi­mi, li­na be­Gi­le­ya­di, pha­ka­thi ku­kaE­fra­yi­mi lo­Ma­na­sec.

5 Abe­Gi­le­ya­di ba­se­be­thu­mba ama­zi­bu­ko eJo­da­ni aya koE­fra­yi­mi. Kwa­ku­si­thi la­pho izi­phe­phe­li za­koE­fra­yi­mi zi­si­thi: Ake ngi­cha­phe; ama­do­da eGi­le­ya­di athi ku­ye: Ungu­mE­fra­yi­mi yi­ni? La­pho esi­thi: Ha­tshi;

6 ba­se­be­si­thi ku­ye: Ake uthi: Shi­bo­le­thi. Athi: Si­bo­le­thi; ngo­ba enge­la­ku­li­khu­lu­ma ku­hle. Ba­se­be­mba­mba, be­mhla­ba ema­zi­bu­kwe­ni eJo­da­ni. Kwa­se­ku­si­wa nga­le­so­si­kha­thi kwa­ba­koE­fra­yi­mi aba­zi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­nga­ma­tshu­mi ama­ne la­mbi­li.

7 UJe­fi­tha wa­se­sa­hlu­le­la uI­sra­ye­li imi­nya­ka eyi­si­thu­pha. Wa­se­si­fa uJe­fi­tha umGi­le­ya­di, wa­ngcwa­tshe­lwa komu­nye we­mi­zi ye­Gi­le­ya­did.

UI­bi­za­ni loE­lo­ni loA­bi­do­ni

8 Emva kwa­khe-ke uI­bi­za­ni we­Bhe­the­le­he­ma wa­hlu­le­la uI­sra­ye­lie.

9 Nja­lo wa­ye­la­ma­do­da­na anga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thu, wa­thu­me­la nga­pha­ndle ama­do­da­ka­zi anga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thu, wa­nge­ni­se­la ama­do­da­na akhe ama­do­da­ka­zi anga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thu eve­la nga­pha­ndle; wa­hlu­le­la uI­sra­ye­li imi­nya­ka eyi­si­kho­mbi­sa.

10 Wa­se­si­fa uI­bi­za­ni, wa­ngcwa­tshe­lwa eBhe­the­le­he­maf.

11 Nja­lo emva kwa­khe uE­lo­ni umZe­bu­lo­ni wa­hlu­le­la uI­sra­ye­li; wa­hlu­le­la uI­sra­ye­li imi­nya­ka eli­tshu­mi.

12 Wa­se­si­fa uE­lo­ni umZe­bu­lo­ni, wa­ngcwa­tshe­lwa eA­ja­lo­ni, eli­zwe­ni la­ko­Ze­bu­lu­ni.

13 Emva kwa­khe-ke uA­bi­do­ni indo­da­na ka­Hi­le­li umPi­ra­tho­ni wa­hlu­le­la uI­sra­ye­lig.

14 Wa­ye­la­ma­do­da­na anga­ma­tshu­mi ama­ne, la­ma­do­da­na ama­do­da­na anga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thu, aye­ga­da ama­tho­le abo­ba­bhe­mih anga­ma­tshu­mi ayi­si­kho­mbi­sai; wa­hlu­le­la uI­sra­ye­li imi­nya­ka eyi­si­fi­ca­mi­nwe­mbi­li.

15 Wa­se­si­fa uA­bi­do­ni indo­da­na ka­Hi­le­li umPi­ra­tho­ni, wa­ngcwa­tshe­lwa ePi­ra­tho­ni eli­zwe­ni la­koE­fra­yi­mi enta­be­ni za­maA­ma­le­kij.

Uku­za­lwa ku­ka­Sa­mso­ni

13Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­bu­ya-ke be­nza oku­bi eme­hlwe­ni eNko­sia. INko­si ya­si­ba­ni­ke­la esa­ndle­ni sa­ma­Fi­li­sti imi­nya­ka enga­ma­tshu­mi ama­neb.

2 Kwa­ku­kho­na-ke umu­ntu othi­le we­Zo­ra, owo­se­ndo lwa­ko­Da­ni, obi­zo la­khe la­li­ngu­Ma­no­wac; lo­mka­khe wa­ye­yi­nyu­mba enga­za­lid.

3 Ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si ya­si­bo­na­ka­la ko­we­si­fa­za­na ya­thi ku­ye: Kha­nge­la-ke, uyi­nyu­mba, ka­wu­za­li, ko­dwa uza­tha­tha isi­su uza­le indo­da­nae.

4 Nga­kho-ke ake uqa­phe­li­se, unga­na­thi wa­yi­ni lo­ku­na­thwa­yo oku­la­ma­ndla, unga­dli la­lu­tho olu­ngco­li­le­yof,

5 ngo­ba kha­nge­la, uza­tha­tha isi­su uza­le indo­da­na. Impu­co ka­yi­yi­ku­dlu­la1 ekha­nda la­yog, ngo­ba umfa­na uza­ku­ba ngu­mNa­zi­ri ka­Nku­lu­nku­lu ku­su­ke­la esi­za­lwe­nih; ye­na uza­qa­la uku­si­ndi­sa uI­sra­ye­li esa­ndle­ni sa­ma­Fi­li­stii.

6 Owe­si­fa­za­na wa­se­si­za wa­bi­ke­la indo­da ya­khe esi­thi: Ku­fi­ki­le ki­mi umu­ntu ka­Nku­lu­nku­luj, uku­bo­na­ka­la kwa­khe kwa­ku­nje­ngo­ku­bo­na­ka­la kwe­ngi­lo­si ka­Nku­lu­nku­lu, ku­se­sa­be­ka ka­khu­luk; ko­dwa ka­ngi­mbu­za­ngal uku­thi uve­la nga­phim, fu­thi ka­ngi­tshe­la­nga ibi­zo la­khen.

7 Ko­dwa uthe ki­mi: Kha­nge­la, uza­tha­tha isi­su, uza­le indo­da­na; kha­the­si-ke unga­na­thi wa­yi­ni lo­ku­na­thwa­yo oku­la­ma­ndla, unga­dli la­lu­tho olu­ngco­li­le­yo, ngo­ba umfa­na uza­ku­ba ngu­mNa­zi­ri ka­Nku­lu­nku­lu ku­su­ke­la esi­za­lwe­ni ku­ze ku­be so­su­kwi­ni lo­ku­fa kwa­kheo.

8 UMa­no­wa wa­se­yi­nce­nga iNko­si wa­thi: Ha­wu Nko­si ya­mi, umu­ntu ka­Nku­lu­nku­lu omthu­mi­le­yo ake abu­ye fu­thi ki­thi, asi­fu­ndi­se uku­thi si­za­kwe­nza nja­ni emfa­ne­ni oza­za­lwa.

9 UNku­lu­nku­lu wa­se­li­zwa ili­zwi li­ka­Ma­no­wa, le­ngi­lo­si ka­Nku­lu­nku­lu ya­fi­ka fu­thi ko­we­si­fa­za­na ehle­zi ega­nge­ni; ko­dwa uMa­no­wa umka­khe wa­ye­nge­la­ye.

10 Owe­si­fa­za­na wa­se­ha­lu­ze­la wa­gi­ji­ma wa­bi­ke­la umka­khe wa­thi: Kha­nge­la, lo­wo­mu­ntu ubo­na­ke­le ki­mi owa­fi­ka ki­mi mhlalo­khu­ya­na.

11 UMa­no­wa wa­se­su­ku­ma wa­la­nde­la umka­khe, wa­fi­ka ku­lo­wo­mu­ntu wa­thi ku­ye: Ungu­ye yi­ni lo­wo­mu­ntu owa­khu­lu­ma ku­lo­we­si­fa­za­na? Wa­se­si­thi: Ngingu­ye.

12 UMa­no­wa wa­se­si­thi: Ka­we­ze-ke ama­zwi akho; iza­ku­ba yi­ni indle­la yo­mfa­na, lo­mse­be­nzi wa­khe?

13 Ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si ya­si­si­thi ku­Ma­no­wa: Ku­kho ko­nke enga­ku­tsho­yo ko­we­si­fa­za­na aku­qa­phe­li­se;

14 anga­dli oko­lu­tho olu­phu­ma evi­ni­ni le­wa­yi­ni, anga­na­thi wa­yi­ni lo­ku­na­thwa­yo oku­la­ma­ndla, anga­dli lu­tho olu­ngco­li­le­yo; ko­nke enga­mla­ya kho­na aku­gci­nep.

15 UMa­no­wa wa­se­si­thi engi­lo­si­ni ye­Nko­si: Ake si­ku­ba­mbe­le­le, si­lu­ngi­se pha­mbi kwa­kho izi­nya­ne le­mbu­zi.

16 Ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si ya­si­si­thi ku­Ma­no­wa: Uba ungi­ba­mbe­le­la, ka­ngi­yi­ku­dla okwe­si­nkwa sa­kho; nja­lo uba ulu­ngi­sa umni­ke­lo wo­ku­tshi­swa, uni­ke­le eNko­si­ni. Ngo­ba uMa­no­wa wa­ye­nga­zi uku­thi ya­yi­yi­ngi­lo­si ye­Nko­siq.

17 UMa­no­wa wa­se­si­thi ku­yo ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si: Ungu­ba­ni ibi­zo la­kho, uku­ze ku­thi la­pho ama­zwi akho esi­za si­ku­hlo­ni­pher.

18 Ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si ya­si­si­thi ku­ye: Ubu­ze­la­ni ka­nje nge­bi­zo la­mi lo­khu li­ya­ma­nga­li­sas?

19 UMa­no­wa wa­se­tha­tha izi­nya­ne le­mbu­zit lo­mni­ke­lo wo­ku­dla, wa­ku­ni­ke­la eNko­si­ni phe­zu kwe­dwa­la, ya­si­se­nza ngo­ku­ma­nga­li­sa­yo, nja­lo uMa­no­wa lo­mka­khe be­kha­nge­leu.

20 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi la­pho ila­nga­bi li­se­nyu­ka ela­thi­ni li­qo­nde ema­zu­lwi­ni, ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si ye­nyu­ka nge­la­nga­bi le­la­thiv, uMa­no­wa lo­mka­khe be­kha­nge­le, ba­thi mbo ngo­bu­so ba­bo emhla­ba­thi­niw.

21 Ko­dwa ingi­lo­si ye­Nko­si ka­yi­phi­nda­nga isa­bo­na­ka­la ku­Ma­no­wa lo­mka­khe. Kho­na uMa­no­wa wa­zi uku­thi kwa­ku­yi­ngi­lo­si ye­Nko­six.

22 UMa­no­wa wa­se­si­thi ku­mka­khe: Si­za­ku­fa lo­ku­fa ngo­ba si­bo­ne uNku­lu­nku­luy.

23 Ko­dwa umka­khe wa­thi ku­ye: Uba iNko­si ibi­tha­nda uku­si­bu­la­la, ibi­nga­yi­kwe­mu­ke­la esa­ndle­ni se­thu umni­ke­lo wo­ku­tshi­swa lo­mni­ke­lo wo­ku­dla, nja­lo ibi­nga­yi­ku­si­tshe­ngi­sa zo­nke le­zi­zi­nto, nja­lo ibi­nga­yi­ku­si­zwi­sa nga­le­si­si­kha­thi izi­nto ezi­nje­nga­le­ziz.

24 Owe­si­fa­za­na wa­se­be­le­tha indo­da­na, wa­yi­tha ibi­zo la­yo wa­thi ngu­Sa­mso­nia; umfa­na wa­se­khu­la, le­Nko­si ya­mbu­si­sab.

25 UMo­ya we­Nko­si wa­se­qa­lac uku­mvu­sa enka­mbe­ni ka­Da­nid pha­ka­thi kwe­Zo­ra leE­shi­ta­wo­lie.

USa­mso­ni lo­we­si­fa­za­na we­Thi­mi­na­thi

14USa­mso­ni wa­se­se­hle­la eThi­mi­na­thi, wa­bo­na owe­si­fa­za­na eThi­mi­na­thi wa­ma­do­da­ka­zi ama­Fi­li­stia.

2 We­nyu­ka wa­ba­tshe­la oyi­se lo­ni­na wa­thi: Ngi­bo­ne owe­si­fa­za­na eThi­mi­na­thi wa­ma­do­da­ka­zi ama­Fi­li­sti. Nga­kho-ke ngi­tha­the­le­ni ye­na abe ngu­mkamib.

3 Ko­dwa uyi­se lo­ni­na ba­thi ku­ye: Ka­ku­la owe­si­fa­za­na yi­ni pha­ka­thi kwa­ma­do­da­ka­zi aba­fo­we­nu lo­ba pha­ka­thi kwa­bo bo­nke aba­ntu ba­ki­thic uku­thi uye­tha­tha umfa­zi ku­ma­Fi­li­sti anga­so­ka­ngad? USa­mso­ni wa­se­si­thi ku­yi­se: Ngi­tha­the­le ye­na ngo­ba ye­na uya­tha­nde­ka eme­hlwe­ni ami.

4 Ko­dwa uyi­se lo­ni­na ba­be­nga­zi uku­thi lo­kho ku­ve­la eNko­si­ni, uku­thi wa­ye­di­nga ithu­ba lo­ku­me­la­na la­ma­Fi­li­stie; ngo­ba nga­le­so­si­kha­thi ama­Fi­li­sti aye­bu­sa phe­zu ku­kaI­sra­ye­lif.

5 USa­mso­ni wa­se­se­hla lo­yi­se lo­ni­na esi­ya eThi­mi­na­thi, ba­fi­ka ezi­vi­ni­ni eThi­mi­na­thi, kha­nge­la-ke, ibho­ngo le­si­lwa­ne la­mbho­nge­lag.

6 UMo­ya we­Nko­si wa­se­fi­ka nga­ma­ndla phe­zu kwa­kheh; wa­li­da­bu­la nje­ngo­da­bu­la izi­nya­ne; nja­lo kwa­ku­nge­la­lu­tho esa­ndle­ni sa­khe; ko­dwa ka­ba­tshe­la­nga oyi­se lo­ni­na lo­kho akwe­nzi­le­yo.

7 Wa­se­se­hla, wa­khu­lu­ma lo­we­si­fa­za­na, nja­lo wa­ye­tha­nde­ka eme­hlwe­ni ka­Sa­mso­ni.

8 Le­mva kwe­zi­nsu­ku wa­bu­ye­la uku­ya­mtha­tha; wa­pha­mbu­ka uku­thi abo­ne isi­du­mbu se­si­lwa­ne, kha­nge­la-ke, kwa­ku­lo­mtshi­tshi we­nyo­si lo­lu­ju esi­du­nji­ni se­si­lwa­ne.

9 Wa­zi­tha­pha nge­za­ndla za­khe, wa­ha­mba, eha­mba esi­dla, wa­fi­ka ku­yi­se la­ku­ni­na, wa­ba­ni­ka, ba­dla. Ko­dwa ka­ba­tshe­la­nga uku­thi wa­ye­tha­phe ulu­ju esi­du­nji­ni se­si­lwa­ne.

10 Uyi­se wa­se­se­hla wa­ya ko­we­si­fa­za­na, lo­Sa­mso­ni we­nza idi­li kho­na, ngo­ba aye­se­nza nja­lo ama­ja­ha.

11 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi la­pho be­mbo­na ba­tha­tha aba­na­kwa­bo aba­nga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thu uku­ze ba­be la­ye.

12 USa­mso­ni wa­se­si­thi ki­bo: Ake ngi­li­li­bhe nge­li­bhoi; uba li­nga­ngi­tshe­la lo­na ku­hle ensu­kwi­ni ezi­yi­si­kho­mbi­sa ze­di­lij, li­li­tho­le, ngi­za­li­ni­ka ize­mba­tho ze­le­mbu eli­hle ezi­nga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thu le­ze­mba­tho zo­ku­ntshi­ntsha ezi­nga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thuk.

13 Ko­dwa uba li­nge­la­kho uku­ngi­tshe­la, kho­na li­na li­za­ngi­ni­ka ize­mba­tho ze­le­mbu eli­hle ezi­nga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thu le­ze­mba­tho zo­ku­ntshi­ntsha ezi­nga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thul. Ba­se­be­si­thi ku­ye: Li­bha ili­bho la­kho uku­ze si­li­zwe.

14 Wa­se­si­thi ku­bo: Ko­dla­yo kwa­phu­ma uku­dla, la­ko­la­ma­ndla kwa­phu­ma oku­mna­ndi. Ko­dwa ba­be­nge­la­ku­li­cha­si­sa ili­bho ensu­kwi­ni ezi­nta­thu.

15 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi ngo­su­ku lwe­si­kho­mbi­sa ba­thi ku­mka­Sa­mso­ni: Hu­ga umka­kho uku­thi asi­cha­si­se­le ili­bhom, hle­zi si­ku­tshi­se le­ndlu ka­yi­hlo ngo­mli­lon. Li­si­nxu­se­le uku­thi li­si­tha­the­le esi­la­kho yi­ni? Akunja­lo yi­ni?

16 Umka­Sa­mso­ni wa­se­kha­la inye­mbe­zi pha­mbi kwa­khe wa­thi: Uya­ngi­zo­nda nje, ka­wu­ngi­tha­ndi; uwa­li­bhi­le ili­bho ama­do­da­na aba­ntu ba­ki­thi, ko­dwa mi­na ka­wu­ngi­tshe­la­ngao. Wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Kha­nge­la uba­ba lo­ma­ma ka­ngi­ba­tshe­la­nga, we­na-ke ngi­za­ku­tshe­la yi­ni?

17 Wa­kha­la inye­mbe­zi pha­mbi kwa­khe insu­ku ezi­yi­si­kho­mbi­sa be­se­le­di­li. Kwa­se­ku­si­thi ngo­su­ku lwe­si­kho­mbi­sa wa­mtshe­la ngo­ba wa­mci­nde­ze­la ka­khu­lu. Wa­se­wa­tshe­la ama­do­da­na aba­ntu ba­ki­bop.

18 Ama­do­da omu­zi ase­si­thi ku­ye ngo­su­ku lwe­si­kho­mbi­sa ila­nga li­nga­ka­tsho­ni: Ku­yi­ni oku­mna­ndi okwe­dlu­la ulu­ju? Nja­lo ku­yi­ni oku­la­ma­ndla ku­le­si­lwa­ne? Wa­se­si­thi ki­wo: Uba be­li­nga­li­ma­nga nge­tho­ka­zi la­mi, be­li­nga­yi­ku­li­tho­la ili­bho la­mi.

19 UMo­ya we­Nko­si wa­se­fi­ka nga­ma­ndla phe­zu kwa­kheq, we­hle­la eA­shi­ke­lo­nir, wa­tsha­ya ku­wo ama­do­da anga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thu, wa­tha­tha ize­mba­tho za­wo, wa­ni­ka ize­mba­tho zo­ku­ntshi­ntsha la­bo aba­be­cha­si­se ili­bhos. Intu­ku­the­lo ya­khe ya­si­vu­tha wa­se­se­nyu­ke­la endli­ni ka­yi­se.

20 Ko­dwa umka­Sa­mso­ni wa­ba ngo­wo­mna­kwa­bot, owa­ye­ngu­mnga­ne wa­kheu.

15Kwa­thi emva kwe­zi­nsu­ku ezi­thi­le, nge­si­kha­thi so­ku­vu­na ingqo­lo­yi, uSa­mso­ni we­the­ke­le­la umka­khe ele­zi­nya­ne le­mbu­zia. Wa­thi: Ka­ngi­nge­ne ku­mka­mi endli­ni. Ko­dwa uyi­se ka­mvu­me­la­nga uku­nge­na.

2 Uyi­se wa­se­si­thi: Isi­bi­li nga­khu­lu­ma uku­thi usu­mzo­nda lo­ku­mzo­nda; nga­kho nga­mni­ka umkha­phi wa­kho. Umna­wa­khe ka­mu­hle ku­la­ye yi­ni? Ngi­ya­ce­la, ka­be ngo­wa­kho esi­khu­ndle­ni sa­khe.

3 USa­mso­ni wa­se­si­thi ku­bo: Kha­the­si angi­la­ca­la ma­ye­la­na la­ma­Fi­li­sti nxa ngi­we­nze­la oku­bi.

4 Nga­kho uSa­mso­ni wa­ha­mba, wa­ba­mba ama­kha­nka anga­ma­khu­lu ama­tha­thu, wa­tha­tha izi­hla­nti, wa­fu­la­the­li­sa umsi­la uqo­nda­na lo­msi­la, wa­fa­ka isi­hla­nti pha­ka­thi kwe­mi­si­la emi­bi­li pha­ka­thi la­pha­ka­thi.

5 Kwa­thi ese­thu­nge­le umli­lo ezi­hla­nti­ni, wa­wa­ye­ke­la aha­mba ema­be­le­ni emi­yo ama­Fi­li­sti, wa­tshi­sa ku­su­ke­la ezi­nqu­nji­ni za­ma­be­leb ku­si­ya ema­be­le­ni emi­yo ku­si­ya le­zi­vi­ni­ni le­zi­hla­hla ze­mi­hlwa­thic.

6 Ama­Fi­li­sti ase­si­thi: Ngu­ba­ni owe­nze lo­khu? Ba­thi: USa­mso­ni, umkhwe­nya­na wo­mThi­mi­na; ngo­ba uthe­the umka­khe, wa­mni­ka umkha­phi wa­khe. Ama­Fi­li­sti ase­se­nyu­ka, amtshi­sa ye­na lo­yi­se ngo­mli­lod.

7 USa­mso­ni wa­se­si­thi ku­wo: La­nxa le­nze nja­lo, ka­nti ngi­za­phi­ndi­se­la ki­ni, emva kwa­lo­kho ngi­ye­ke­le.

8 Wa­se­ba­tsha­ya, umle­nze phe­zu kwe­tha­nga­zi, uku­bu­la­la oku­khu­lu. Wa­se­se­hla wa­hla­la ebha­lwi­ni lwe­dwa­lae leE­ta­muf.

USa­mso­ni unqo­ba ama­Fi­li­sti eLe­hi

9 Ama­Fi­li­sti ase­se­nyu­ka ami­sa inka­mba ko­Ju­da, asa­ba­la­lag eLe­hih.

10 Ama­do­da ako­Ju­da ase­si­thi: Le­nyu­ke­le­le­ni uku­me­la­na la­thi? Athi: Se­nyu­ke­le­le uku­bo­pha uSa­mso­ni, uku­ze se­nze ku­ye nje­nga­lo­kho akwe­nze ki­thi.

11 Kwa­se­ku­se­hla ama­do­da azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­nta­thu ako­Ju­da aya ebha­lwi­ni lwe­dwa­la leE­ta­mui, athi ku­Sa­mso­ni: Ka­wa­zi yi­ni uku­thi ama­Fi­li­sti aya­si­bu­sa? Pho, ku­yi­ni lo­khu okwe­nze ki­thij? Wa­se­si­thi ki­bo: Nje­ngo­kwe­nza kwa­wo ki­mi nge­nze nja­lo ku­wo.

12 Ba­se­be­si­thi ku­ye: Se­hle­le uku­ku­bo­pha uku­ze si­ku­ni­ke­le esa­ndle­ni sa­ma­Fi­li­sti. USa­mso­ni wa­se­si­thi ki­bo: Fu­nga­ni ki­mi uku­thi li­na ka­li­yi­ku­ngi­hla­se­la.

13 Ba­se­be­khu­lu­ma ku­ye ba­thi: Ha­tshi, ko­dwa si­za­ku­bo­pha lo­ku­ku­bo­pha, si­ku­ni­ke­le esa­ndle­ni sa­wo, ko­dwa oqo­tho ka­si­yi­ku­ku­bu­la­la. Ba­se­be­mbo­pha nga­ma­go­da ama­bi­li ama­tshak, ba­me­nyu­sa edwa­le­ni.

14 Kwa­thi ese­fi­ki­le eLe­hi, ama­Fi­li­sti akla­ba­la­la emhla­nga­be­za. UMo­ya we­Nko­si wa­se­fi­ka nga­ma­ndla phe­zu kwa­khel, la­ma­go­da aye­se­nga­lwe­ni za­khe aba nje­nge­fi­la­ki­si etshi­swe ngo­mli­lo, le­zi­bo­pho za­khe za­nci­bi­li­ka za­su­ka eza­ndle­ni za­khem.

15 Wa­se­tho­la umhla­thi omu­tsha ka­ba­bhe­mi, we­lu­la isa­ndla sa­khe wa­wu­tha­tha, wa­tsha­ya nga­wo ama­do­da ayi­nku­lu­ngwa­nen.

16 USa­mso­ni wa­se­si­thi: Ngo­mhla­thi ka­ba­bhe­mi, inqu­mbi phe­zu kwe­zi­nqu­mbi, ngo­mhla­thi ka­ba­bhe­mi ngi­tsha­ye ama­do­da ayi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne.

17 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi ese­qe­di­le uku­khu­lu­ma wa­wu­la­hla umhla­thi esa­ndle­ni sa­khe, wa­yi­bi­za le­yo­nda­wo ngo­ku­thi iRa­ma­thi-Le­hi.

18 Wa­ye­so­mi­le ka­khu­lu, wa­kha­la eNko­si­ni wa­thi: We­na uni­ki­le lo­khu­ku­khu­lu­lwa oku­khu­lu nge­sa­ndla se­nce­ku ya­kho; kha­the­si-ke se­ngi­za­ku­fa ngo­ko­ma, ngi­we­le esa­ndle­ni sa­ba­nga­so­ka­nga yi­ni?

19 UNku­lu­nku­lu wa­se­qhe­ke­za igo­di ela­li­se­Le­hi, kwa­phu­ma ama­nzi ki­loo. Kwa­thi ese­na­thi­le, umo­ya wa­khe wa­bu­ya wa­qa­qa­bu­kap. Nga­lo­kho wa­bi­za ibi­zo la­wo ngo­ku­thi yiE­ni-Ha­ko­re, ose­Le­hi ku­ze ku­be la­mu­hla.

20 Wa­se­sa­hlu­le­la uI­sra­ye­li ensu­kwi­ni za­ma­Fi­li­sti imi­nya­ka enga­ma­tshu­mi ama­bi­liq.

USa­mso­ni uya eGa­za

16USa­mso­ni wa­se­si­ya eGa­zaa, wa­bo­na kho­na umfa­zi, iwu­le, wa­nge­na ku­lo.

2 Kwa­bi­kwa kwa­be­Ga­za ku­thi­wa: USa­mso­ni ufi­ki­le la­pha. Bamzi­nge­le­ze­la, ba­mca­tha­me­la ubu­su­ku bo­nke esa­ngwe­ni lo­mu­zi; ba­thu­la ubu­su­ku bo­nke be­si­thi: Ku­ze ku­kha­nye eku­se­ni, kho­na si­za­mbu­la­lab.

3 USa­mso­ni wa­se­la­la kwa­ze kwa­ba pha­ka­thi ko­bu­su­ku; wa­vu­ka pha­ka­thi ko­bu­su­ku, wa­ba­mba izi­va­lo ze­sa­ngo lo­mu­zi, le­nsi­ka zo­mbi­li, wa­zi­si­phu­na lo­mgo­qo, wa­kwe­tsha­ta ema­hlo­mbe akhe, wa­kwe­nyu­se­la engqo­nge­ni ye­nta­ba epha­mbi kwe­He­bro­ni.

USa­mso­ni lo­De­li­la

4 Kwa­thi emva kwa­lo­kho wa­tha­nda owe­si­fa­za­na esi­ho­tshe­ni se­So­re­kic, obi­zo la­khe li­ngu­De­li­la.

5 Nja­lo izi­pha­tha­ma­ndla za­ma­Fi­li­sti ze­nyu­ke­la ku­ye za­thi ku­yed: Mye­nge ubo­ne uku­thi aku­ku­phi ama­ndla akhe ama­khu­lue, lo­ku­thi si­nga­me­hlu­la nga­ni, uku­thi si­mbo­phe uku­ze si­mnqo­be. Thi­na-ke si­za­ku­ni­ka nga­mu­nye izi­nhla­mvu ze­si­li­va ezi­yi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne le­khu­lu.

6 UDe­li­la wa­se­si­thi ku­Sa­mso­ni: Ake ungi­tshe­le uku­thi aku­ku­phi ama­ndla akho ama­khu­lu, lo­ku­thi unga­bo­tshwa nga­ni uku­ku­nqo­ba.

7 USa­mso­ni wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Uba be­ngi­bo­pha nge­nta­mbo ezi­yi­si­kho­mbi­sa ezi­ntsha ezi­ngo­ma­nga, ngi­za­ku­ba bu­tha­ka­tha­ka ngi­be nje­ngo­mu­nye umu­ntu.

8 Izi­pha­tha­ma­ndla za­ma­Fi­li­sti za­se­zi­se­nyu­se­la ku­ye inta­mbo ezi­yi­si­kho­mbi­sa ezi­ntsha ezi­ngo­ma­nga; wa­se­mbo­pha nga­zo.

9 Aba­ca­the­me­yo-ke ba­hla­la la­ye endli­ni enga­pha­ka­thi; wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Ama­Fi­li­sti aphe­zu kwa­kho, Sa­mso­ni! Wa­zi­qa­mu­la inta­mbo nje­nge­nta­mbo ye­fi­la­ki­si iqa­mu­ka nxa isi­zwa umli­lo. Nga­kho ama­ndla akhe ka­wa­zi­wa­nga.

10 UDe­li­la wa­se­si­thi ku­Sa­mso­ni: Kha­nge­la, udla­le nga­mi wa­ngi­tshe­la ama­nga. Kha­the­si ake ungi­tshe­le uku­thi unga­bo­tshwa nga­ni.

11 Wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Uba be­nga­ngi­bo­pha lo­ku­ngi­bo­pha nga­ma­go­da ama­tsha oku­nge­nzi­wa­nga mse­be­nzi nga­wof, ngi­za­ku­ba bu­tha­ka­tha­ka ngi­be nje­ngo­mu­nye umu­ntug.

12 Nga­kho uDe­li­la wa­tha­tha ama­go­da ama­tsha, wa­mbo­pha nga­woh, wa­thi ku­ye: Ama­Fi­li­sti aphe­zu kwa­kho, Sa­mso­ni! Aba­ca­the­me­yo ba­be­hle­zi endli­ni enga­pha­ka­thi. Ko­dwa wa­wa­qa­mu­la asu­ka enga­lwe­ni za­khe nje­ngo­mnxe­ba.

13 UDe­li­la wa­se­si­thi ku­Sa­mso­ni: Ku­ze ku­be kha­the­si udla­le nga­mi, wa­ngi­tshe­la ama­nga; ngi­tshe­la uku­thi unga­bo­tshwa nga­ni. Wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Uba use­lu­ka ama­xha enwe­le ze­kha­nda la­mi ayi­si­kho­mbi­sa nge­zi­nta­mbo eze­lu­ki­we­yoi.

14 Wa­se­wa­qi­ni­sa nge­si­kho­nkwa­ne; wa­thi ku­ye: Ama­Fi­li­sti aphe­zu kwa­kho, Sa­mso­ni! Wa­se­vu­ka ebu­tho­ngwe­ni ba­khe, wa­su­sa isi­kho­nkwa­ne se­se­lu­ki­so le­nta­mbo eze­lu­ki­we­yo.

15 Wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Unga­tsho nja­ni uku­thi: Ngi­ya­ku­tha­nda; nxa inhli­zi­yo ya­kho inge­la­mi? Le­zi­zi­kha­thi ezi­nta­thu udla­le nga­mi, ka­wu­ngi­tshe­la­nga uku­thi aku­ku­phi ama­ndla akho ama­khu­luj.

16 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi la­pho emci­nde­ze­la nga­ma­zwi akhe insu­ku zo­nke, wa­mkha­tha­za, kwa­ze kwa­thi umphe­fu­mu­lo wa­khe wa­da­bu­ka kwa­ze kwa­ba se­ku­fe­nik.

17 Nga­kho wa­mtshe­la inhli­zi­yo ya­khe yo­nke wa­thi ku­ye: Impu­co ka­yi­za­nga ize phe­zu kwe­kha­nda la­mi, ngo­ba ngi­ngu­mNa­zi­ri ka­Nku­lu­nku­lu ku­su­ke­la esi­za­lwe­ni si­ka­ma­ma. Uba ngi­phu­cwa, ama­ndla ami aza­su­ka ki­mi, ngi­be bu­tha­ka­tha­ka ngi­be nje­nga­ye wo­nke umu­ntul.

18 La­pho uDe­li­la ebo­na uku­thi umtshe­le inhli­zi­yo ya­khe yo­nke, wa­thu­ma wa­bi­za izi­pha­tha­ma­ndla za­ma­Fi­li­sti esi­thi: Ye­nyu­ka­ni nga­le­si­si­kha­thi, ngo­ba ungi­tshe­le inhli­zi­yo ya­khe yo­nke. Izi­pha­tha­ma­ndla za­ma­Fi­li­sti za­se­zi­se­nyu­ke­la ku­ye, za­le­tha ima­li esa­ndle­ni sa­zom.

19 Wa­se­mla­li­sa ubu­tho­ngo ema­do­lwe­ni akhe, wa­bi­za umu­ntu, wa­mge­li­sa ama­xha ayi­si­kho­mbi­sa enwe­le ze­kha­nda la­khe. Wa­se­qa­la uku­mhlu­pha, la­ma­ndla akhe asu­ka ku­yen.

20 Wa­se­si­thi: Ama­Fi­li­sti aphe­zu kwa­kho, Sa­mso­ni! Wa­se­vu­ka ebu­tho­ngwe­ni ba­khe wa­thi: Ngi­za­phu­ma nje­nga­kwe­zi­nye izi­kha­thi, ngi­zi­nyi­ki­nyeo. Ko­dwa ye­na wa­ye­nga­zi uku­thi iNko­si isu­ki­le ku­yep.

21 Kho­na ama­Fi­li­sti amba­mba, amko­po­la ame­hlo, ame­hli­se­la eGa­za, ambo­pha nge­zi­bo­pho ze­thu­siq; nja­lo wa­ye­cho­la ento­lo­ngwe­ni.

22 Ko­dwa inwe­le ze­kha­nda la­khe za­qa­la uku­khu­la emva ko­ku­phu­cwa kwa­kher.

Uku­fa ku­ka­Sa­mso­ni

23 Kho­na izi­pha­tha­ma­ndla za­ma­Fi­li­sti za­bu­tha­na uku­ze zi­hla­be­le uDa­go­ni unku­lu­nku­lu wa­zo umhla­tshe­lo omkhu­lus, zi­tho­ko­ze, za­thi: Unku­lu­nku­lu we­thu uni­ke­le uSa­mso­ni isi­tha se­thu esa­ndle­ni se­thu.

24 La­pho aba­ntu be­mbo­na ba­du­mi­sa unku­lu­nku­lu wa­bo, ngo­ba ba­thi: Unku­lu­nku­lu we­thu uni­ke­le esa­ndle­ni se­thu isi­tha se­thu, ngi­tsho umchi­thi we­li­zwe la­ki­thi, nja­lo owe­nza ba­ba ba­ne­ngi aba­bu­le­we­yo be­thut.

25 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi la­pho inhli­zi­yo za­bo zi­tho­ko­zau ba­thi: Bi­za­ni uSa­mso­ni uku­ze aze­si­dla­le­la. Ba­se­be­mbi­za uSa­mso­ni eve­la ento­lo­ngwe­ni, wa­dla­la pha­mbi kwa­bo. Ba­se­be­mmi­sa pha­ka­thi kwe­zi­nsi­ka.

26 USa­mso­ni wa­se­si­thi emfa­ne­ni owa­ye­mba­mbe nge­sa­ndla: Ngi­ye­ke­la ngi­thi­nte izi­nsi­ka indlu emi phe­zu kwa­zo uku­ze nge­ya­me ku­zo.

27 Indlu ya­yi­gcwe­le-ke abe­si­li­sa la­be­si­fa­za­na; la­zo zo­nke izi­pha­tha­ma­ndla za­ma­Fi­li­sti za­zi­kho­na, la­phe­zu­lu epha­hle­ni kwa­ku­kho­na abe­si­li­sa la­be­si­fa­za­na aba­nga­ba zi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­nta­thu aba­be­bu­ke­le uSa­mso­ni edla­la.

28 USa­mso­ni wa­se­kha­la eNko­si­ni wa­thi: Nko­si Je­ho­va, ngi­khu­mbu­le ngi­ya­ku­nce­nga, ungi­qi­ni­se ngi­ya­ku­nce­nga, ku­phe­la nga­le­si­si­kha­thi, Nku­lu­nku­lu, uku­ze ngi­zi­phi­ndi­se­le ngo­ku­phi­ndi­se­la oku­ko­dwa ku­ma­Fi­li­sti nge­nxa ya­me­hlo ami ama­bi­liv.

29 USa­mso­ni wa­se­ba­mba insi­ka ezi­mbi­li ezi­pha­ka­thi, indlu eya­yi­mi ku­zo, wa­qi­na nga­zo, enye nge­sa­ndla sa­khe so­ku­ne­ne le­nye nge­sa­ndla sa­khe so­kho­hlow.

30 USa­mso­ni wa­se­si­thi: Mi­na ka­ngi­fe la­ma­Fi­li­sti. Wa­se­kho­tha­ma nga­ma­ndla; nja­lo indlu ya­we­la phe­zu kwe­zi­pha­tha­ma­ndla la­phe­zu kwa­bo bo­nke aba­ntu aba­be­ku­yo. Nga­kho aba­fa­yo aba­bu­la­la eku­fe­ni kwa­khe ba­be ba­ne­ngi okwe­dlu­la la­bo aba­bu­la­la empi­lwe­ni ya­khe.

31 Kwa­se­ku­se­hla aba­fo­wa­bo la­be­ndlu yo­nke ka­yi­se, ba­mtha­tha, ba­me­nyu­sa, ba­ya­mngcwa­be­la pha­ka­thi kwe­Zo­ra leE­shi­ta­wo­li engcwa­be­ni li­ka­Ma­no­wa uyi­sex. Ye­na wa­hlu­le­la uI­sra­ye­li imi­nya­ka enga­ma­tshu­mi ama­bi­liy.

UMi­ka le­ndlu ya­khe ye­zi­tho­mbe

17Kwa­ku­kho­na-ke umu­ntu we­nta­be­ni ya­koE­fra­yi­mia, obi­zo la­khe la­li­ngu­Mi­kab.

2 Wa­se­si­thi ku­ni­na: Izi­nhla­mvu ze­si­li­va ezi­yi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne le­khu­lu eza­tha­thwa ku­we, owa­qa­le­ki­sa nga­zo, nja­lo wa­khu­lu­ma endle­be­ni za­mi, kha­nge­la, le­yo­ma­li iki­mi, mi­na nga­yi­tha­tha. Uni­na wa­se­si­thi: Ka­wu­bu­si­swe eNko­si­ni, ndo­da­na ya­mic.

3 Wa­thi ese­zi­bu­yi­se­le ku­ni­na izi­nhla­mvu ezi­yi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne le­khu­lu ze­si­li­va, uni­na wa­thi: Nga­se­ngi­se­hlu­ka­ni­si­le lo­ku­se­hlu­ka­ni­se­la iNko­si isi­li­va sa­mi si­ve­la esa­ndle­ni sa­mi si­be nge­se­ndo­da­na ya­mi, uku­ze nge­nze isi­tho­mbe esi­ba­zi­we­yod le­si­tho­mbe esi­bu­njwe ngo­ku­nci­bi­li­ki­sae. Kha­the­si-ke ngi­za­si­bu­yi­se­la ku­we.

4 Ko­dwa wa­yi­bu­yi­se­la ima­li ku­ni­na. Uni­na wa­se­tha­tha izi­nhla­mvu ze­si­li­va ezi­nga­ma­khu­lu ama­bi­li, wa­zi­ni­ka umkha­ndif, owe­nza nga­zo isi­tho­mbe esi­ba­zi­we­yog le­si­tho­mbe esi­bu­njwe ngo­ku­nci­bi­li­ki­sah; za­se­zi­si­ba se­ndli­ni ka­Mi­kai.

5 Nja­lo lo­wo­mu­ntu uMi­ka wa­ye­le­ndlu ya­bo­nku­lu­nku­lu, we­nza i-e­fo­di*j la­ma­the­ra­fik, we­hlu­ka­ni­sa omu­nye wa­ma­do­da­na akhe, uku­ze abe ngu­mpri­sti wa­khe.

6 Nga­le­zo­nsu­ku kwa­ku­nge­la­nko­si koI­sra­ye­lil; wo­nke umu­ntu wa­ye­se­nza okwa­ku­lu­ngi­le eme­hlwe­ni akhem.

7 Nja­lo kwa­ku­kho­na ija­ha le­Bhe­the­le­he­ma-Ju­dan, elo­se­ndo lu­ka­Ju­da, ela­li­ngu­mLe­vi, nja­lo la­hla­la nje­ngo­we­zi­zwe kho­na.

8 Lo­wo­mu­ntu wa­se­su­ka emzi­ni, eBhe­the­le­he­ma-Ju­da, uku­ya­hla­la nje­ngo­we­zi­zwe la­pho aye­nga­tho­la kho­na inda­wo. Wa­fi­ka enta­be­ni ya­koE­fra­yi­mi, endli­ni ka­Mi­kao, eha­mba nge­ndle­la ya­khe.

9 UMi­ka wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Uve­la nga­phi? Wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Ngi­ngu­mLe­vi we­Bhe­the­le­he­ma-Ju­da, ngi­ya uku­ya­hla­la nje­ngo­we­zi­zwe la­pho engi­nga­tho­la kho­na inda­wo.

10 UMi­ka wa­se­si­thi ku­ye: Hla­la la­mi, ube ki­mip ngu­ba­ba lo­mpri­stiq, mi­na ngi­za­ku­ni­ka izi­nhla­mvu ze­si­li­va ezi­li­tshu­mi ngo­mnya­kar, le­zi­gqo­ko zo­ku­gqo­ka, lo­ku­dla kwa­kho. UmLe­vi wa­se­nge­na.

11 UmLe­vi wa­vu­ma uku­hla­la la­lo­wo­mu­ntu; nja­lo ija­ha la­ba ku­ye nje­ngo­mu­nye wa­ma­do­da­na akhes.

12 UMi­ka wa­me­hlu­ka­ni­sa umLe­vit, ija­ha la­se­li­si­ba ngu­mpri­sti wa­kheu, la­ba se­ndli­ni ka­Mi­ka.

13 UMi­ka wa­se­si­thi: Kha­the­si ngi­ya­zi uku­thi iNko­si iza­nge­nze­la oku­hle, ngo­ba ngi­lo­mLe­vi ongu­mpri­sti.

UMi­ka la­ba­ko­Da­ni

18Nga­le­zo­nsu­ku kwa­ku­nge­la­nko­si koI­sra­ye­lia; la­nga­le­zo­nsu­ku isi­zwe sa­ko­Da­ni sa­zi­di­nge­la ili­fa lo­ku­hla­la, ngo­ba ku­ze ku­be nga­lo­lo­su­ku ba­be­nga­we­lwa­nga yi­li­fa pha­ka­thi kwe­zi­zwe za­koI­sra­ye­lib.

2 Aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Da­ni ba­se­be­thu­ma ama­do­da ama­hla­nu ave­la ku­se­ndo lwa­bo esu­ka ema­phe­the­lwe­ni abo, ama­qha­we, eve­la eZo­ra leE­shi­ta­wo­lic, uku­hlo­la ili­zwe lo­ku­li­phe­nyad. Ba­se­be­si­thi ku­wo: Ha­mba­ni li­phe­nye ili­zwe. Ase­fi­ka enta­be­ni ya­koE­fra­yi­mi, endli­ni ka­Mi­ka, ala­la kho­nae.

3 Ese­ndli­ni ka­Mi­ka wo­na ala­zi ili­zwi le­ja­ha umLe­vi; ase­phe­ndu­ke­la kho­na athi ku­ye: Ngu­ba­ni owa­ku­le­tha la­pha? Nja­lo we­nza­ni la­pha? Nja­lo ula­ni la­pha?

4 Wa­se­si­thi ki­wo: UMi­ka unge­nze­le ka­nje la­ka­nje; ungi­qa­tshi­le, se­ngi­ngu­mpri­sti wa­khef.

5 Ase­si­thi ku­ye: Ake ubu­zeg uNku­lu­nku­lu uku­ze sa­zi uku­thi indle­la ye­thu esi­ha­mba nga­yo iza­phu­me­le­la yi­nih.

6 Umpri­sti wa­se­si­thi ki­bo: Ha­mba­ni ngo­ku­thu­la. Indle­la ye­nu eli­ha­mba nga­yo ipha­mbi kwe­Nko­sii.

7 Ase­ha­mba la­wo­ma­do­da ama­hla­nu, aya­fi­ka eLa­yi­shi, abo­na aba­ntu aba­pha­ka­thi kwa­yo, be­hle­zi bo­nwa­bi­le, ngo­kwe­ndle­la ya­ma­Si­do­ni, be­lo­ku­thu­la, be­nge­thu­ki lu­thoj, kwa­ku­nge­la­ma­hlu­le­li eli­zwe­ni uku­ba­thi­ba, ba­be­kha­tsha­na la­ma­Si­do­ni, be­nga­se­be­nze­la­ni la­mu­ntu.

8 Ase­fi­ka ku­ba­fo­wa­bo eZo­ra leE­shi­ta­wo­lik, aba­fo­wa­bo ba­se­be­si­thi ku­wo: Lithi­ni?

9 Ase­si­thi: Su­ku­ma­ni ase­nyu­ke si­me­la­ne la­bo, ngo­ba si­bo­ni­le ili­zwel, kha­nge­la­ni-ke, li­hle ka­khu­lu; pho li­na li­thu­le? Li­nga­vi­la­phi uku­ya­nge­na uku­dla ili­fa le­li­zwem.

10 Eku­fi­ke­ni kwe­nu kho­na li­za­fi­ka eba­ntwi­ni abo­nwa­bi­le­yo le­li­zwe­ni eli­ba­nzin inhla­ngo­thi zo­mbi­li, ngo­ba uNku­lu­nku­lu uli­ni­ke­le esa­ndle­ni se­nu; inda­wo la­pho oku­nga­swe­le­ki lu­tho kho­na eli­zwe­nio.

11 Ase­su­ka la­pho eve­la ku­se­ndo lwa­ba­ko­Da­ni eZo­ra leE­shi­ta­wo­lip ama­do­da anga­ma­khu­lu ayi­si­thu­pha ehlo­mi­le izi­kha­li ze­mpi,

12 enyu­ka ami­sa inka­mba eKi­ri­ya­thi-Je­ya­ri­mi ko­Ju­daq. Nge­nxa ya­lo­kho ayi­bi­za le­yo­nda­wo ngo­ku­thi yi­Ma­ha­ne-Da­nir ku­ze ku­be la­mu­hla; kha­nge­la ise­mu­va kwe­Ki­ri­ya­thi-Je­ya­ri­mis.

13 Ase­se­dlu­la esu­ka la­pho, aya enta­be­ni ya­koE­fra­yi­mi, afi­ka endli­ni ka­Mi­kat.

14 Kho­na ama­do­da ama­hla­nu aye­ha­mbi­le uku­hlo­la ili­zwe iLa­yi­shi aphe­ndu­la athi ku­ba­fo­wa­bou: Li­ya­zi yi­ni uku­thi ku­le­zi­zi­ndlu ku­kho­na i-e­fo­di* la­ma­the­ra­fi le­si­tho­mbe esi­ba­zi­we­yo le­si­tho­mbe esi­bu­njwe ngo­ku­nci­bi­li­ki­sa? Nga­kho-ke ca­ba­nga­ni eli­za­kwe­nzav.

15 Ase­pha­mbu­ke­la kho­na, aya endli­ni ye­ja­ha umLe­vi endli­ni ka­Mi­ka, ambu­za impi­lo.

16 Ama­do­da anga­ma­khu­lu ayi­si­thu­pha aye­hlo­mi­le nge­zi­kha­li ze­mpi, aye­nga­ba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Da­ni, ase­si­ma eku­nge­ne­ni kwe­sa­ngow.

17 La­wo­ma­do­da ama­hla­nu aye­ha­mbi­le uku­hlo­la ili­zwe enyu­ka ange­na la­phox atha­tha isi­tho­mbe esi­ba­zi­we­yo, le-e­fo­di, la­ma­the­ra­fi, le­si­tho­mbe esi­bu­njwe ngo­ku­nci­bi­li­ki­say, umpri­sti ese­mi eku­nge­ne­ni kwe­sa­ngo la­ma­do­da anga­ma­khu­lu ayi­si­thu­pha aye­bhi­nce izi­kha­li ze­mpi.

18 La-ke ese­nge­ni­le endli­ni ka­Mi­ka atha­tha isi­tho­mbe esi­ba­zi­we­yo, i-e­fo­di, la­ma­the­ra­fi, le­si­tho­mbe esi­bu­njwe ngo­ku­nci­bi­li­ki­sa, umpri­sti wa­thi ki­wo: Le­nza­ni?

19 Ase­si­thi ku­ye: Thu­la, ba­mba umlo­mo wa­kho, uha­mbe la­thiz, ube ngu­ba­ba ki­thi lo­mpri­sti. Ku­ngco­no yi­ni uku­thi ube ngu­mpri­sti we­ndlu yo­mu­ntu oye­dwa ku­mbe uku­thi ube ngu­mpri­sti we­si­zwe lo­se­ndo lwa­koI­sra­ye­lia?

20 Le­nhli­zi­yo yo­mpri­sti ya­tho­ko­za, wa­se­tha­tha i-e­fo­di la­ma­the­ra­fi le­si­tho­mbe esi­ba­zi­we­yo, wa­nge­na pha­ka­thi kwa­ba­ntub.

21 Ba­se­be­phe­ndu­ka be­ha­mba, ba­be­ka aba­ntwa­nya­na le­zi­fu­yo le­mpa­hla pha­mbi kwa­boc.

22 Se­be­kha­tsha­na lo­mu­zi ka­Mi­ka, ama­do­da aye­se­zi­ndli­ni eza­zi­se­du­ze le­ndlu ka­Mi­ka abi­ze­lwa nda­wo­nye aba­fi­ca aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Da­ni.

23 Ame­me­za aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Da­ni. Ba­se­be­phe­ndu­la ubu­so ba­bo ba­thi ku­Mi­ka: Ula­ni uku­ze li­bu­tha­ne?

24 Wa­se­si­thi: Li­the­the onku­lu­nku­lu ba­mi enga­be­nza­yo, lo­mpri­sti, la­ha­mba; pho ngi­se­se­la­ni? Ku­yi­ni lo­kho eli­ku­tsho ki­mi: Uhlu­tshwa yi­nid?

25 Aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Da­ni ba­se­be­si­thi ku­ye: Ili­zwi la­kho ka­li­nge­zwa­ka­li pha­ka­thi kwe­thu, hle­zi ama­do­da alo­la­ka aku­hla­se­le, ula­hle­ke­lwe yi­mpi­lo ya­kho le­mpi­lo ya­be­ndlu ya­kho.

26 Ba­se­be­zi­ha­mbe­la nge­ndle­la ya­bo aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Da­ni. La­pho uMi­ka ese­bo­ni­le uku­thi ba­la­ma­ndla ku­la­ye, wa­phe­ndu­ka wa­bu­ye­la endli­ni ya­khe.

27 Bo­na ba­se­be­tha­tha lo­kho uMi­ka aye­kwe­nzi­le lo­mpri­sti owa­ye­la­ye, ba­fi­ka eLa­yi­shi eba­ntwi­ni aba­be­lo­ku­thu­la be­nge­thu­ki lu­thoe, ba­ba­tsha­ya ngo­bu­kha­li be­nke­mba, ba­tshi­sa umu­zi ngo­mli­lof.

28 Nja­lo kwa­ku­nge­kho umkhu­lu­li, ngo­ba wa­wu­kha­tsha­na le­Si­do­nig, be­nga­se­be­nze­la­ni la­mu­ntu. Wa­wu­se­si­ho­tshe­ni esa­si­nga­se­Be­ti-Re­ho­bih. Ba­se­be­sa­kha umu­zi, ba­hla­la ki­wo.

29 Ba­se­be­bi­za ibi­zo lo­mu­zi ngo­ku­thi yi­Da­nii nge­bi­zo li­ka­Da­ni uyi­se owa­za­le­lwa uI­sra­ye­lij. Ko­dwa ibi­zo lo­mu­zi la­li­yi­La­yi­shi ku­qa­lak.

30 Aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Da­ni ba­se­be­zi­mi­se­la isi­tho­mbe esi­ba­zi­we­yo. Nja­lo uJo­na­tha­ni indo­da­na ka­Ge­re­sho­ma, indo­da­na ka­Ma­na­sel, ye­na la­ma­do­da­na akhe ba­be­nga­ba­pri­sti be­si­zwe sa­ko­Da­ni kwa­ze kwa­ba lu­su­ku lo­ku­thu­njwa kwe­li­zwem.

31 Ba­se­be­zi­mi­se­la isi­tho­mbe esi­ba­zi­we­yo si­ka­Mi­ka aye­se­nzi­le, zo­nke izi­nsu­ku indlu ka­Nku­lu­nku­lu ise­Shi­lon.

UmLe­vi othi­le lo­mfa­zi wa­khe

19Kwa­se­ku­si­thi nga­le­zo­nsu­ku, ku­nge­la­nko­si koI­sra­ye­lia, kwa­ku­lo­mLe­vi othi­le owa­ye­hla­la nje­ngo­we­zi­zwe ece­le­ni eli­kha­tsha­na le­nta­ba ya­koE­fra­yi­mib, owa­zi­tha­the­la umfa­zi, umfa­zi omnci­nya­ne eBhe­the­le­he­ma-Ju­dac.

2 Lo­wo­mfa­zi wa­khe omnci­nya­ne wa­phi­nga eme­le­ne la­ye, wa­su­ka ku­ye wa­ya endli­ni ka­yi­se eBhe­the­le­he­ma-Ju­da, wa­ba la­pho izi­nya­nga ezi­ne ezi­gcwe­le­yo.

3 Umka­khe wa­se­su­ku­ma wa­mla­nde­la uku­ya­khu­lu­ma enhli­zi­ywe­ni ya­khe uku­thi ambu­yi­se, le­ja­ha la­khe li­la­ye la­bo­ba­bhe­mi aba­bi­li. Umfa­zi wa­se­mnge­ni­sa endli­ni ka­yi­se; kwa­thi uyi­se we­nto­mbi embo­na wa­tho­ko­za uku­hla­nga­na la­ye.

4 Uyi­se­za­la, uyi­se we­nto­mba­za­na, wa­mli­ba­zi­sa; wa­se­hla­la la­ye insu­ku ezi­nta­thu; ba­se­be­si­dla ba­na­tha ba­la­la kho­na ubu­su­ku.

5 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi ngo­su­ku lwe­si­ne, la­pho be­vu­ka eku­se­ni ka­khu­lu, wa­su­ku­ma uku­thi aha­mbe; ko­dwa uyi­se we­nto­mba­za­na wa­thi ku­mkhwe­nya­na wa­khe: Qi­ni­sa inhli­zi­yo ya­kho ngo­ce­zu lwe­si­nkwa; le­mva kwa­lo­kho li­za­ha­mba.

6 Nga­kho ba­hla­la ba­dla ba­na­tha bo­ba­bi­li nda­wo­nye. Uyi­se we­nto­mba­za­na wa­se­si­thi endo­de­ni: Ake wa­ne­le ula­le ubu­su­ku utho­ko­zi­se inhli­zi­yo ya­khod.

7 Indo­da isi­su­ku­ma uku­thi iha­mbe, ko­dwa uyi­se­za­la wa­yi­ci­nde­ze­la ya­ze ya­bu­ya ya­la­la la­pho ubu­su­kue.

8 Ya­si­vu­ka eku­se­ni ka­khu­lu ngo­su­ku lwe­si­hla­nu uku­ze iha­mbe. Uyi­se we­nto­mba­za­na wa­se­si­thi: Ake uqi­ni­se inhli­zi­yo ya­kho. Ba­se­be­li­ba­la ila­nga la­ze la­kho­tha­ma, ba­dla bo­ba­bi­lif.

9 La­pho indo­da isu­ku­ma uku­thi iha­mbe, yo­na lo­mfa­zi wa­yo omnci­nya­ne le­ja­ha la­yo, uyi­se­za­la, uyi­se we­nto­mba­za­na, wa­thi ku­yo: Kha­nge­la, kha­the­si ila­nga se­li­tsho­na, se­ku­za­ku­hlwa; ake ula­le ubu­su­ku; kha­nge­la, ila­nga se­li­kho­the­me, la­la ubu­su­ku la­pha, uku­ze inhli­zi­yo ya­kho itho­ko­ze. Ku­sa­sa-ke li­za­vu­ka ngo­vi­vi ngo­ha­mbo lwe­nu, uye ethe­nte­ni la­kho.

10 Ko­dwa indo­da ka­yi­tha­nda­nga uku­la­la ubu­su­ku, ko­dwa ya­su­ku­ma ya­ha­mba, ya­fi­ka ma­qo­nda­na le­Je­bu­si eyi­Je­ru­sa­le­ma. Ya­yi­la­bo­ba­bhe­mi aba­bi­li aba­bo­tshe­lwe izi­hla­lo; lo­mfa­zi wa­yo omnci­nya­ne wa­ye­la­yog.

11 Se­be­se­du­ze le­Je­bu­si ila­nga la­se­li­tsho­ni­le ka­khu­lu, ija­ha la­se­li­si­thi enko­si­ni ya­lo: Ake uha­mbe, si­pha­mbu­ke­le ku­lo umu­zi wa­ma­Je­bu­si, si­la­le kho­na ubu­su­ku.

12 Inko­si ya­yo ya­si­si­thi ku­yo: Ka­si­yi­ku­pha­mbu­ke­la emzi­ni we­si­zwe onge­yi­si­wo wa­ba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li, ko­dwa si­za­dlu­le­la eGi­be­yah.

13 Ya­si­si­thi ence­kwi­ni ya­yo: Wo­za si­so­nde­le kwe­nye ya­le­zo­zi­nda­wo, si­ye­la­la ubu­su­ku eGi­be­ya ku­mbe eRa­mai.

14 Ba­se­be­se­dlu­la be­ha­mba; ila­nga la­ba­tsho­ne­la edu­ze le­Gi­be­ya eya­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni.

15 Ba­se­be­pha­mbu­ka la­pho uku­ze ba­nge­ne ba­la­le ubu­su­ku eGi­be­ya. Ese­nge­ni­le wa­hla­la pha­nsi emda­nge­ni wo­mu­zi, ngo­ba kwa­ku­nge­kho mu­ntu owa­be­mu­ke­la endli­ni ya­khe uku­ze ba­la­le ubu­su­kuj.

16 Kha­nge­la-ke, kwa­fi­ka ixhe­gu li­ve­la emse­be­nzi­ni wa­lo ensi­mi­ni ku­si­hlwa. Lo­wo­mu­ntu la­ye wa­ye­ve­la enta­be­ni ya­koE­fra­yi­mi; ye­na-ke wa­hla­la nje­ngo­we­zi­zwe eGi­be­yak. Ko­dwa aba­ntu ba­le­yo­nda­wo ba­be­nga­ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­nil.

17 Ese­pha­ka­mi­se ame­hlo akhe wa­bo­na lo­wo­mu­ntu, isi­ha­mbi, emda­nge­ni wo­mu­zi, nja­lo ixhe­gu la­thi: Uya nga­phi, nja­lo uve­la nga­phi?

18 Wa­se­si­thi ku­lo: Si­ye­dlu­la si­ve­la eBhe­the­le­he­ma-Ju­da, si­ya ece­le­ni eli­kha­tsha­na le­nta­ba ya­koE­fra­yi­mi; ngi­ve­la la­pho. Be­ngi­ye eBhe­the­le­he­ma-Ju­da, ko­dwa se­ngi­si­ya endli­ni ye­Nko­si; ko­dwa ka­ku­la­mu­ntu onge­mu­ke­la endli­nim.

19 Ku­be ka­nti ku­la­ma­hla­nga lo­ku­dla kwa­bo­ba­bhe­mi be­thu, nja­lo ku­le­si­nkwa fu­thi le­wa­yi­ni la­mi lo­kwe­nce­ku­ka­zi ya­kho lo­kwe­ja­ha eli­le­nce­ku za­khon; ka­ku­swe­le­ka­nga lu­thoo.

20 Le­lo­xhe­gu la­se­li­si­thi: Uku­thu­la ka­ku­be ku­we. Ko­dwa zo­nke inswe­lo za­kho zi­phe­zu kwa­mip. Ku­phe­la unga­la­li emda­nge­niq.

21 Nga­kho la­se­li­mnge­ni­sa endli­ni ya­lo, la­ni­ka oba­bhe­mi uku­dla. Ba­se­be­ge­za inya­wo za­bo, ba­dla ba­na­thar.

22 Be­sa­tho­ko­zi­sa inhli­zi­yo ya­bo, kha­nge­la, ama­do­da omu­zi, aba­ntwa­na aba­thi­le ba­ka­Bhe­li­ya­lis, ayi­zi­nge­le­ze­la indlu, etsha­ya esi­va­lwe­ni, akhu­lu­ma ku­mni­ni­ndlu, ixhe­gu, esi­thi: Khu­pha lo­wo­mu­ntu onge­ne endli­ni ya­kho, uku­ze si­ma­zit.

23 Umu­ntu, umni­ni­ndlu, wa­se­phu­ma wa­ya ki­wo, wa­thi ki­wo: Ha­tshi, ba­fo­we­thu, ngi­ya­li­ce­la, li­nge­nzi oku­bi; lo­khu lu­mu­ntu enge­ni­le endli­ni ya­miu, li­nge­nzi lo­bu­bu­thu­thav.

24 Kha­nge­la­ni, indo­da­ka­zi ya­mi eyi­nto­mbi emsu­lwa, lo­mfa­zi wa­khe omnca­new. Ake ngi­ba­khu­phe­le ki­ni. Li­ba­tho­bi­sex, le­nze ki­bo oku­lu­ngi­le­yo eme­hlwe­ni enu; ko­dwa ku­lu­mu­ntu li­nge­nzi li­nto yo­bu­thu­thay.

25 Ko­dwa la­wo­ma­do­da ka­wa­tha­nda­nga uku­mla­le­la. Nga­kho lo­wo­mu­ntu wa­se­ba­mba umfa­zi wa­khe omnca­ne, wa­mkhu­phe­la ki­bo pha­ndle. Nja­lo ama­zi amdlo­va ubu­su­ku bo­nke kwa­ze kwa­saz. Kwa­thi ema­da­bu­ka­ku­sa amye­ke­la wa­ha­mba.

26 Ngo­vi­vi lo­ku­sa owe­si­fa­za­na we­za wa­we­la pha­nsi emnya­ngo we­ndlu yo­mu­ntu la­pho okwa­ku­kho­na inko­si ya­khe, kwa­ze kwa­kha­nyaa.

27 Inko­si ya­khe ya­si­vu­ka eku­se­ni, ya­vu­la imi­nya­ngo ye­ndlu, ya­phu­ma uku­ze iha­mbe nge­ndle­la ya­yo; kha­nge­la-ke, umfa­zi, umfa­zi wa­khe omnca­ne wa­ye­we­le emnya­ngo we­ndlu, le­za­ndla za­khe zi­phe­zu ko­mbu­ndub.

28 Ya­si­si­thi ku­ye: Su­ku­ma, si­ha­mbe. Ko­dwa ka­ku­phe­ndu­la­nga mu­ntu. Ya­si­mkhwe­za ku­ba­bhe­mi; indo­da ya­su­ka ya­ya enda­we­ni ya­yoc.

29 La­pho isi­fi­ki­le endli­ni ya­yo ya­tha­tha ingqa­mu, ya­mba­mba umfa­zi wa­yo omnca­ne ya­mqu­ma­qu­ma la­ma­tha­mbo akhe izi­qa ezi­li­tshu­mi la­mbi­li; ya­mthu­me­la ku­yo yo­nke imi­ngce­le ya­koI­sra­ye­lid.

30 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi bo­nke aba­ku­bo­na­yo ba­thi: Ka­ku­ka­ze kwe­nze­ke nja­lo ka­ku­ka­ze ku­bo­nwe oku­nje ku­su­ke­la ngo­su­ku aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li abe­nyu­ka nga­lo eli­zwe­ni le­Gi­bhi­the ku­ze ku­be la­mu­hla. Na­ka­na­ni nga­lo­kho, le­lu­le­ke, li­khu­lu­mee.

Aba­nye aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­lwa la­ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni

20Kho­na bo­nke aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­phu­ma, inhla­nga­no yo­nke ya­bu­tha­na nje­nga­mu­ntu mu­nyea, ku­su­ke­la eDa­ni ku­si­ya eBhe­ri­she­bha le­li­zwe le­Gi­le­ya­dib, eNko­si­ni eMi­zi­pac.

2 Nja­lo indu­na za­bo bo­nke aba­ntu, za­zo zo­nke izi­zwe za­koI­sra­ye­li, za­zi­mi­sa eba­ndle­ni la­ba­ntu ba­ka­Nku­lu­nku­lud, izi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­nga­ma­khu­lu ama­ne za­ma­do­da aha­mba nge­nya­wo, ahwa­tsha inke­mbae.

3 (A­ba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ba­se­be­si­zwa uku­thi aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­be­nyu­ke­le eMi­zi­pa.) Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­si­thi: Tsho­no, lo­bu­bu­bi be­nzi­wa nja­ni?

4 Indo­da engu­mLe­vi, indo­da ya­lo­wo owe­si­fa­za­na owa­ye­bu­le­we, ya­si­phe­ndu­la ya­thi: Nga­fi­ka eGi­be­ya enge­ya­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni, mi­na lo­mfa­zi wa­mi omnca­ne, uku­ze si­la­le kho­naf.

5 Aba­hla­lig be­Gi­be­ya ba­se­be­ngi­vu­ke­la, ba­zi­nge­le­ze­la indlu be­me­le­ne la­mi ebu­su­ku, be­fu­na uku­ngi­bu­la­la, ba­mdlo­va umfa­zi wa­mi omnca­ne, wa­ze wa­fah.

6 Nga­se­ngi­mba­mba umfa­zi wa­mi omnca­ne, nga­mqu­ma izi­qa, nga­mthu­me­la eli­zwe­ni lo­nke le­li­fa la­koI­sra­ye­lii, ngo­ba be­nza ama­nya­la lo­bu­wu­la koI­sra­ye­lij.

7 Kha­nge­la­ni, li­na lo­nke li­nga­ba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li, pha­ni­ni ili­zwi le­se­lu­le­ko se­nu la­phak.

8 Aba­ntu bo­nke ba­se­be­su­ku­ma nje­nga­mu­ntu mu­nye be­si­thi: Asi­yi­ku­ya, ngu­lo­wo ethe­nte­ni la­khe, nja­lo asi­yi­ku­pha­mbu­ke­la, ngu­lo­wo endli­ni ya­khe.

9 Ko­dwa kha­the­si, na­nsi into esi­za­ye­nza ku­yo iGi­be­ya. Siza­me­la­na la­yo nge­nka­thol,

10 si­tha­the aba­ntu aba­li­tshu­mi pha­ka­thi kwe­khu­lu ezi­zwe­ni zo­nke za­koI­sra­ye­li, le­khu­lu pha­ka­thi kwe­nku­lu­ngwa­ne, le­nku­lu­ngwa­ne pha­ka­thi kwe­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­li­tshu­mi, uku­ze ba­tha­the­le aba­ntu umpha­ko, uku­ze, nxa se­be­fi­ke eGi­be­ya ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni, be­nze ngo­ko­bu­wu­la bo­nke aba­be­nze koI­sra­ye­li.

11 Nga­kho wo­nke ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li ahla­nga­nye­la umu­zi, nje­nga­mu­ntu mu­nye emo­ya mu­nye.

12 Izi­zwe za­koI­sra­ye­li za­se­zi­thu­ma ama­do­da esi­zwe­ni so­nke sa­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni zi­si­thi: Yi­bu­bi ba­ni lo­bu obe­nze­ke pha­ka­thi kwe­num?

13 Nga­kho-ke ani­ke­le­ni la­wo­ma­do­da, aba­ntwa­na ba­ka­Bhe­li­ya­li, aba­se­Gi­be­ya uku­ze si­wa­bu­la­len, si­su­se ubu­bi koI­sra­ye­lio. Ko­dwa aba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ka­ba­fu­na­nga uku­la­le­la ili­zwi la­ba­fo­wa­bo, aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li.

14 Ko­dwa aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ba­bu­tha­na be­ve­la emi­zi­ni ba­ya eGi­be­ya, uku­ze ba­phu­me uku­ya empi­ni la­ba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li.

15 Aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ba­se­be­ba­lwa nga­lo­lo­su­ku be­ve­la emi­zi­ni, ama­do­da azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­nga­ma­tshu­mi ama­bi­li le­si­thu­phap ahwa­tsha inke­mbaq, nga­pha­ndle kwa­ba­hla­li be­Gi­be­ya, aba­ba­lwa ba­ba nga­ma­do­da anga­ma­khu­lu ayi­si­kho­mbi­sa akhe­thi­we­yo.

16 Pha­ka­thi kwa­bo bo­nke la­ba­ba­ntu kwa­ku­la­ma­do­da akhe­thi­we­yo anga­ma­khu­lu ayi­si­kho­mbi­sa anga­ma­nxe­le; wo­nke la aye­ji­ki­je­la ili­tshe nge­sa­vu­tha enwe­le­ni enga­khu­thir.

17 Ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li ase­ba­lwa, nga­pha­ndle ku­ka­Bhe­nja­mi­ni, ama­do­da azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­nga­ma­khu­lu ama­nes ahwa­tsha inke­mbat; wo­nke la aye­nga­ma­do­da empi.

18 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­su­ku­ma be­nyu­ke­la eBhe­the­liu, ba­bu­za uNku­lu­nku­lu ba­thi: Ngu­ba­ni pha­ka­thi kwe­thu oza­kwe­nyu­ke­la ku­qa­la empi­ni la­ba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­niv? INko­si ya­si­si­thi: Ngu­Ju­da ku­qa­law.

19 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­vu­ka eku­se­ni, ba­mi­sa inka­mba ma­qo­nda­na le­Gi­be­ya.

20 Ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li ase­phu­ma uku­ya empi­ni lo­Bhe­nja­mi­ni; ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li azi­hle­le­la uku­me­le­na la­bo empi­ni eGi­be­ya.

21 Aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ba­se­be­phu­ma eGi­be­ya, ba­bhu­bhi­se­la emhla­ba­thi­ni koI­sra­ye­li nga­lo­lo­su­ku ama­do­da azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­nga­ma­tshu­mi ama­bi­li la­mbi­li.

22 Aba­ntu, ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li, ba­se­be­zi­qi­ni­sa ba­hle­la fu­thi impi ku­le­yo­nda­wo aba­be­zi­hle­le­le kho­na ngo­su­ku lo­ku­qa­la.

23 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­se­nyu­ka ba­kha­la inye­mbe­zi pha­mbi kwe­Nko­si kwa­ze kwa­hlwa. Ba­bu­za eNko­si­ni ba­thi: Ngi­so­nde­le yi­ni fu­thi empi­ni ngi­me­la­ne la­ba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni umfo­we­thu? INko­si ya­si­si­thi: Ye­nyu­ka­ni li­me­la­ne la­yex.

24 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­so­nde­la eba­ntwa­ne­ni ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ngo­su­ku lwe­si­bi­li.

25 UBhe­nja­mi­ni wa­se­phu­ma eGi­be­ya eme­le­ne la­bo ngo­su­ku lwe­si­bi­li, ba­bu­ya ba­bhu­bhi­se­la emhla­ba­thi­ni eba­ntwa­ne­ni ba­koI­sra­ye­li ama­do­da azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­li­tshu­mi le­zi­yi­si­fi­ca­mi­nwe­mbi­li; bo­nke la­bo ba­hwa­tsha inke­mbay.

26 Nga­kho bo­nke aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li la­bo bo­nke aba­ntu be­nyu­ka ba­fi­ka eBhe­the­li, ba­kha­la inye­mbe­zi ba­hla­la la­pho pha­mbi kwe­Nko­si, ba­zi­la uku­dla nga­lo­lo­su­ku kwa­ze kwa­hlwa, ba­ni­ke­la imi­ni­ke­lo yo­ku­tshi­swa le­mi­ni­ke­lo yo­ku­thu­la pha­mbi kwe­Nko­siz.

27 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­bu­za eNko­si­ni (ngo­ba umtsho­ko­tsho we­si­vu­me­lwa­no si­ka­Nku­lu­nku­lu wa­wu­la­pho nga­le­zo­nsu­kua,

28 lo­Phi­ne­ha­si indo­da­na kaE­le­ya­za­re indo­da­na kaA­ro­nib we­ma pha­mbi kwa­wo nga­le­zo­nsu­kuc) be­si­thi: Ngi­bu­ye ngi­phi­nde yi­ni uku­phu­ma impi ngi­me­le­ne la­ba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni umfo­we­thu, lo­ba ngi­ye­ke­le? INko­si ya­si­si­thi: Ye­nyu­ka­ni, ngo­ba ku­sa­sa ngi­za­ba­ni­ke­la esa­ndle­ni sa­kho.

29 Nga­kho uI­sra­ye­li wa­mi­sa aba­ca­tha­mi ma­qo­nda­na le­Gi­be­ya inhla­ngo­thi zo­nked.

30 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­se­nyu­ka uku­me­la­na la­ba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ngo­su­ku lwe­si­tha­thu, ba­zi­hle­le­la uku­me­la­na le­Gi­be­ya nje­nga­kwe­zi­nye izi­kha­thi.

31 Aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ba­se­be­phu­ma uku­me­la­na la­ba­ntu, ba­do­nswa be­su­ka emzi­ni, ba­qa­la uku­tsha­ya eba­ntwi­ni, uku­bu­la­la nje­nga­kwe­zi­nye izi­kha­thi, emi­gwa­qwe­ni emi­khu­lu, enye ya­zo eye­nyu­ke­la eBhe­the­li le­nye eya eGi­be­ya ema­gce­ke­ni, pho­se ama­do­da anga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thu akoI­sra­ye­li.

32 Aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ba­se­be­si­thi: Se­be­tsha­yi­we pha­mbi kwe­thu nje­nga­ku­qa­lae. Ko­dwa aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­thi: Asi­ba­le­ke­ni, si­ba­do­nse be­su­ka emzi­ni ba­ye emi­gwa­qwe­ni emi­khu­lu.

33 Wo­nke ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li ase­vu­ka enda­we­ni za­wo, azi­hle­la eBha­li-Ta­ma­ri, la­ba­ca­tha­mi ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­vu­mbu­lu­ka enda­we­ni ya­bo ema­dle­lwe­ni eGi­be­ya.

34 Kwa­se­ku­si­za ku­ve­la ma­qo­nda­na le­Gi­be­ya ama­do­da akhe­thi­we­yo azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­li­tshu­mi eve­la kuI­sra­ye­li wo­nke; le­mpi ya­ba nzi­ma. Ko­dwa bo­na ba­be­nga­zi uku­thi ubu­bi bu­za­tsha­ya phe­zu kwa­bof.

35 INko­si ya­si­mtsha­ya uBhe­nja­mi­ni pha­mbi ku­kaI­sra­ye­li. Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­bhu­bhi­sa ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ama­do­da azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­nga­ma­tshu­mi ama­bi­li la­nhla­nu le­khu­lu eli­lo­dwa nga­lo­lo­su­ku; bo­nke la­ba ba­hwa­tsha inke­mba.

36 Aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ba­se­be­bo­na uku­thi se­be­tsha­yi­we, ngo­ba ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li amde­de­la uBhe­nja­mi­ni, ngo­ba be­the­mbe aba­ca­tha­mi aba­be­ba­mi­se ma­qo­nda­na le­Gi­be­ya.

37 La­ba­ca­tha­mi ba­pha­ngi­sag ba­hla­se­la iGi­be­ya ba­qhu­be­ka ba­tsha­ya umu­zi wo­nke ngo­bu­kha­li be­nke­mbah.

38 Kwa­se­ku­si­ba le­si­bo­ni­so esi­mi­si­we­yo pha­ka­thi kwa­ma­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li la­ba­ca­tha­mi so­ku­thu­nqi­sa insi­ka ye­ntu­thu enku­lu eve­la emzi­ni.

39 Kwa­thi ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li aphe­ndu­ka empi­ni, uBhe­nja­mi­ni wa­qa­li­sa uku­wa­tsha­ya uku­bu­la­la ema­do­de­ni akoI­sra­ye­li pho­se ama­do­da anga­ma­tshu­mi ama­tha­thu, ngo­ba ba­thi: Isi­bi­li atsha­yi­we lo­ku­tsha­ywa pha­mbi kwe­thu nje­nge­mpi­ni ya­ku­qa­lai.

40 Kwa­thi iye­zi li­qa­li­sa uku­thu­nqa li­phu­ma emzi­ni, insi­ka ye­ntu­thuj, uBhe­nja­mi­ni enye­mu­ku­la, kha­nge­la-ke ila­nga­bi lo­mu­zi le­nyu­ke­la ema­zu­lwi­nik.

41 La­pho ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li etshi­bi­li­ka, ama­do­da ako­Bhe­nja­mi­ni atsha­ywa lu­va­lo, ngo­ba abo­na uku­thi ubu­bi se­bu­we­hle­le.

42 Nga­kho afu­la­the­la pha­mbi kwa­ma­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li esi­ya endle­le­ni ye­nka­nga­la; ko­dwa impi ya­wa­na­ma­the­la, la­la­bo aba­phu­ma emi­zi­ni ba­wa­bhu­bhi­sa pha­ka­thi kwa­bol.

43 Ba­mha­nqa uBhe­nja­mi­ni, ba­xo­tsha­na la­bo, ba­ba­nya­the­le­la pha­nsi lu­la, kwa­ze kwa­ba ma­qo­nda­na le­Gi­be­ya la­pho oku­phu­ma kho­na ila­ngam.

44 Kwa­se­ku­si­wa ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ama­do­da azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­li­tshu­mi le­zi­yi­si­fi­ca­mi­nwe­mbi­li; wo­nke la aye­nga­ma­qha­we.

45 Ba­se­be­phe­ndu­ka ba­ba­le­ke­la enka­nga­lan edwa­le­ni le­Ri­mo­nio. Ba­kho­tho­za ki­bo emi­gwa­qwe­ni emi­khu­lu aba­ntu aba­zi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­nhla­nu, ba­ba­na­ma­the­la kwa­ze kwa­ba se­Gi­de­yo­mu, ba­tsha­ya fu­thi ki­bo aba­ntu aba­zi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­mbi­lip.

46 Nga­kho bo­nke aba­wa­yo ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni mhla­lo­kho ba­be­yi­zi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­nga­ma­tshu­mi ama­bi­li la­nhla­nu, ama­do­da ahwa­tsha inke­mba; bo­nke la­bo ba­be­nga­ma­qha­weq.

47 Ko­dwa ama­do­da anga­ma­khu­lu ayi­si­thu­pha aphe­ndu­ka aba­le­ke­lar enka­nga­la edwa­le­ni le­Ri­mo­ni; ahla­la edwa­le­ni le­Ri­mo­ni inya­nga ezi­nes.

48 Ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li ase­bu­ye­la eba­ntwa­ne­ni ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni, aba­tsha­ya ngo­bu­kha­li be­nke­mba, ku­su­ke­la emzi­ni wo­nke ku­si­ya ezi­nya­ma­za­ne­ni, nja­lo ku­si­ya ku­kho ko­nke okwa­fi­cwa­yo. La­yo yo­nke imi­zi aba­yi­fi­ca­yo ba­yi­thu­nge­la ngo­mli­lo.

Aba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ba­zi­tha­the­la aba­fa­zi

21Ama­do­da akoI­sra­ye­li aye­fu­ngi­le-ke eMi­zi­paa esi­thi: Ka­ku­kho la­mu­nye we­thu oza­ni­ka indo­da­ka­zi ya­khe ku­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ibe ngu­mkakhe.

2 Aba­ntu ba­se­be­si­za eBhe­the­li, ba­hla­la la­pho pha­mbi ku­ka­Nku­lu­nku­lu kwa­ze kwa­hlwa, ba­pha­ka­mi­sa ili­zwi la­bo ba­kha­la inye­mbe­zi ngo­ku­kha­la oku­khu­lu.

3 Ba­se­be­si­thi: Ku­nga­ni, O Nko­si, Nku­lu­nku­lu kaI­sra­ye­li, kwe­nze­ke lo­khu koI­sra­ye­li uku­thi ku­si­le­le la­mu­hla isi­zwe esi­so­dwa koI­sra­ye­lib?

4 Kwa­se­ku­si­thi ku­si­sa aba­ntu ba­vu­ka ngo­vi­vi, ba­kha ila­thi la­pho, ba­ni­ke­la imi­ni­ke­lo yo­ku­tshi­swa le­mi­ni­ke­lo yo­ku­thu­lac.

5 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­si­thi: Ngu­ba­ni ezi­zwe­ni zo­nke za­koI­sra­ye­li onge­nyu­ke­la­nga eba­ndle­ni eNko­si­ni? Ngo­ba kwe­nzi­wa isi­fu­ngo esi­khu­lu nga­lo­wo onge­nyu­ke­la­nga eNko­si­ni eMi­zi­pa ku­thi­wa: Uza­bu­la­wa lo­ku­bu­la­wad.

6 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­zi­so­la nge­nxa ka­Bhe­nja­mi­ni umfo­wa­bo, ba­thi: Ku­qu­nyi­we la­mu­hla isi­zwe esi­so­dwa si­su­ke koI­sra­ye­li.

7 Si­za­be­nze­la­ni aba­se­le­yo nga­ba­fa­zi, ngo­ba thi­na si­fu­ngi­le nge­Nko­si uku­thi ka­si­yi­ku­ba­ni­ka ema­do­da­ka­zi­ni ethu abe ngo­mkabo?

8 Ba­se­be­si­thi: Yi­si­phi ezi­zwe­ni za­koI­sra­ye­li esi­nge­nyu­ke­la­nga eNko­si­ni eMi­zi­pa? Kha­nge­la-ke ka­ku­za­nga lo­ye­dwa enka­mbe­ni ove­la eJa­be­shi-Gi­le­ya­di uku­ya eba­ndle­nie.

9 Ngo­ba aba­ntu ba­be­ba­li­we, kha­nge­la-ke, kwa­ku­nge­kho mu­ntu ku­ba­hla­li be­Ja­be­shi-Gi­le­ya­di la­pho.

10 Nga­kho inhla­nga­no ya­thu­ma kho­na ama­do­da azi­nku­lu­ngwa­ne ezi­li­tshu­mi la­mbi­li awa­ma­qha­we ama­khu­lu, ba­wa­la­ya ba­thi: Ha­mba­ni li­ye­tsha­ya aba­hla­li be­Ja­be­shi-Gi­le­ya­di ngo­bu­kha­li be­nke­mba, la­be­si­fa­za­na la­ba­ntwa­nya­naf.

11 Yi­le into eli­za­ye­nza: Li­za­tsha­ba­la­li­sa wo­nke owe­si­li­sa la­ye wo­nke owe­si­fa­za­na owa­zi uku­la­la lo­we­si­li­sag.

12 Ba­se­be­tho­la pha­ka­thi kwa­ba­hla­li be­Ja­be­shi-Gi­le­ya­di ama­nka­za­na anga­ma­khu­lu ama­ne izi­nto­mbi ezi­msu­lwa ezi­nga­ya­za­nga indo­da ngo­ku­la­la lo­we­si­li­sa; ba­se­be­wa­le­tha enka­mbe­ni eShi­lo, ese­li­zwe­ni le­Kha­na­nih.

13 Inhla­nga­no yo­nke ya­si­thu­me­la ya­khu­lu­ma la­ba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni aba­be­se­dwa­le­ni le­Ri­mo­ni; ba­me­me­ze­la uku­thu­la ki­boi.

14 UBhe­nja­mi­ni wa­se­bu­ya nga­le­so­si­kha­thi, ba­ba­ni­ka abe­si­fa­za­na aba­be­ba­gci­ne be­phi­la kwa­be­si­fa­za­na be­Ja­be­shi-Gi­le­ya­di, ko­dwa ngo­ku­nja­lo ka­ba­ba­ne­la­ngaj.

15 Aba­ntu ba­se­be­zi­so­la nge­nxa ka­Bhe­nja­mi­ni ngo­ba iNko­si ya­ye­nze ukwe­hlu­ka­na ezi­zwe­ni za­koI­sra­ye­lik.

16 Aba­da­la be­nhla­nga­no ba­se­be­si­thi: Si­za­be­nze­la­ni aba­se­le­yo nga­ba­fa­zi, ngo­ba abe­si­fa­za­na ba­chi­thi­we ko­Bhe­nja­mi­nil?

17 Ba­se­be­si­thi: Ku­me­le ku­be le­li­fa la­ba­phu­nyu­ki­le­yo ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni, uku­ze isi­zwe si­nga­tsha­ba­la­li­swa koI­sra­ye­li.

18 Ko­dwa thi­na ka­si­la­kho uku­ba­ni­ka aba­fa­zi ema­do­da­ka­zi­ni ethu, ngo­ba aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­fu­ngi­le be­si­thi: Ka­qa­le­ki­swe lo­wo oni­ka uBhe­nja­mi­ni umfa­zim.

19 Ba­se­be­si­thi: Kha­nge­la­ni, ku­lo­mkho­si we­Nko­si eShi­lo imi­nya­ka nge­mi­nya­ka enge­nya­ka­tho kwe­Bhe­the­lin, la­pho oku­phu­ma kho­na ila­nga ko­mgwa­qo omkhu­luo owe­nyu­ka usu­ka eBhe­the­lip ku­si­ya eShe­ke­maq, la­nge­ni­ngi­zi­mu kwe­Le­bo­na.

20 Nga­kho ba­la­ya aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni be­si­thi: Ha­mba­ni li­ye­ca­tha­ma ezi­vi­ni­ni,

21 li­bo­ne, nja­lo kha­nge­la­ni, nxa ama­do­da­ka­zi eShi­lo ese­phu­ma uku­gi­da imi­gi­do, kho­na li­za­phu­ma ezi­vi­ni­ni li­zi­ba­mbe­le ngu­lo­wo la­lo­wo umfa­zi wa­khe ema­do­da­ka­zi­ni eShi­lo, li­ye eli­zwe­ni la­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­nir.

22 Ku­za­ku­thi nxa oyi­se lo­ba aba­ne­wa­bo be­fi­ka be­so­la ki­thi, si­za­ku­thi ki­bo: Se­nze­le­ni umu­sa nge­nxa ya­bo, ngo­ba ka­si­ba­tha­the­la­nga ngu­lo­wo la­lo­wo umfa­zi wa­khe empi­ni, ngo­ba li­na ka­li­ba­ni­ka­nga wo­na nga­le­si­si­kha­thi uku­thi li­ca­le­ke.

23 Nga­kho aba­ntwa­na ba­ko­Bhe­nja­mi­ni be­nza nja­lo, ba­thu­mba aba­fa­zi ngo­kwe­na­ni la­bo kwa­ba­gi­da­yo aba­ba­hlwi­tha­yo; ba­ha­mba ba­bu­ye­la eli­fe­ni la­bo, ba­kha imi­zi, ba­hla­la ki­yos.

24 Aba­ntwa­na ba­koI­sra­ye­li ba­se­be­chi­the­ka be­su­ka la­pho nga­le­so­si­kha­thi, ngu­lo­wo la­lo­wo wa­ya esi­zwe­ni sa­khe la­ku­se­ndo lwa­khe; ba­se­be­phu­ma be­su­ka la­pho, ngu­lo­wo la­lo­wo wa­ya eli­fe­ni la­khe.

25 Nga­le­zo­nsu­ku kwa­ku­nge­la­nko­si koI­sra­ye­li. Wo­nke umu­ntu wa­ye­se­nza okwa­ku­lu­ngi­le eme­hlwe­ni akhet.