< Oweruza 8 >

1 Aefereimu anafunsa Gideoni kuti, “Nʼchifukwa chiyani watichita zimenezi? Bwanji sunatiyitane pamene umakamenyana ndi Amidiyani?” Iwo anamudzudzula kwambiri.
Then the men of Ephraim asked Gideon, “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to attack the Midianite?” They argued furiously with him.
2 Koma iye anawayankha kuti, “Nʼchiyani ndachita kuyerekeza ndi zimene mwachita inu? Kodi zimene mwachita inu Aefereimu si zazikulu kuposa zimene fuko langa la Abiezeri lachita?
“Now what have I achieved in comparison to you?” Gideon replied. “Even Ephraim's left-over grapes are better than Abiezer's whole grape harvest!
3 Mulungu wapereka mafumu a Midiyani, Orebu ndi Zeebu mʼmanja mwanu. Ndachita chiyani kuyerekeza ndi zimene mwachita inu?” Atanena izi, anthuwo mitima yawo inatsika.
God handed over to you Oreb and Zeeb, the two Midianite commanders. What have I managed to achieve in comparison to you?” When he told them this their animosity towards him died down.
4 Gideoni anafika ndi kuwoloka mtsinje wa Yorodani pamodzi ndi anthu 300 amene anali naye. Ngakhale kuti anali otopa anapirikitsabe adani awo.
Then Gideon crossed the Jordan with his three hundred men. Even though they were exhausted they continued the chase.
5 Atafika ku Sukoti anapempha anthu a kumeneko kuti, “Chonde apatseniko buledi ankhondo angawa pakuti atopa. Koma ine ndikupirikitsa Zeba ndi Zalimuna, mafumu a Midiyani.”
When they got to Succoth, Gideon asked the people there, “Please provide some bread to the men with me because they're worn out—I'm pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the Midianite kings.”
6 Koma atsogoleri a Sukoti anayankha kuti, “Kodi Zeba ndi Zalimuna mwawagonjetsa kale kuti tipatse buledi ankhondo akowa?”
But the Succoth town leaders replied, “Why should we give your army bread when you haven't even captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet?”
7 Gideoni anayankha kuti, “Mwatero! Yehova akapereka Zeba ndi Zalimuna mʼdzanja langa, ndidzakukwapulani ndi matsatsa a minga ya mʼchipululu.”
“In that case, once the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I'll return and thrash you with thorns and briers from the desert!” Gideon replied.
8 Atachoka pamenepo anapita ku Penueli ndipo anapemphanso buledi kwa anthu a kumeneko, koma iwo anamuyankha monga anayankhira anthu a ku Sukoti aja.
He left and went to Penuel and asked them the same thing, but the people of Penuel answered the same way as the people of Succoth.
9 Gideoni anawawuzanso kuti, “Ndikamadzabwerera nditawagonjetsa, ndidzagwetsa nsanja iyi.”
So he told them, “When I return victorious, I'll demolish this tower!”
10 Nthawi iyi nʼkuti Zeba ndi Zalimuna ali ku Karikori ndi ankhondo pafupifupi 15,000. Amenewa ndiwo anatsalako mwa ankhondo a anthu akummawa; pakuti anafa ankhondo 120,000.
Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies of around fifteen thousand men. These were all who remained of the armies of the people of the East—one hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already been killed.
11 Gideoni anadzera njira ya anthu a matenti kummawa kwa Noba ndi Yogibeha ndipo anawathira nkhondo popeza ankhondo awo anali osakonzekera.
Gideon took the caravan route to the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their army, catching them offguard.
12 Zeba ndi Zalimuna, mafumu awiri a Amidiyani anathawa koma Gideoni anawathamangitsa mpaka kuwagwira. Koma ankhondo awo onse anathawa ndi mantha.
Zebah and Zalmunna ran away, but he chased after the two Midianite kings and captured them, defeating the whole of their terrified army.
13 Ndipo Gideoni mwana wa Yowasi, pobwera kuchokera ku nkhondo anadzera njira ya ku chikweza cha Heresi.
Then Gideon, son of Joash, returned from the battle through the Heres Pass.
14 Kumeneko iye anagwira mnyamata wa ku Sukoti ndipo atamufunsa, mnyamatayo anamulembera mayina a akuluakulu ndi atsogoleri 77 a ku Sukoti.
There he captured a young man from Succoth and questioned him. The man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth.
15 Kenaka Gideoni anabwera kwa anthu a ku Sukoti ndi kunena kuti, “Awa ndi Zeba ndi Zalimuna, mafumu awiri munkandinena nawo aja kuti, ‘Kodi Zeba ndi Zalimuna wawagonjetsa kale mmene ukuti tiwapatse buledi anthu ako otopawa?’”
Gideon went and said to the Sukkoth town leaders, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, the ones you taunted me about when you said, ‘Why should we give your exhausted army bread when you haven't even captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet?’”
16 Tsono Gideoni anatenga akuluakulu a mu mzindawo ndipo anagwira matsatsa a minga za mʼchipululu ndi kuwakwapula nawo.
So he took the town elders of Succoth and taught them a lesson using thorns and briers from the desert.
17 Anagwetsa nsanja ya ku Penueli ndi kupha amuna onse a mu mzindawo.
He also demolished the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.
18 Kenaka anafunsa Zeba ndi Zalimuna kuti, “Kodi anthu a ku Tabori amene munawapha aja anali a maonekedwe otani?” Iwo anayankha kuti, “Anali anthu a maonekedwe ngati inu. Aliyense ankaoneka ngati mwana wa mfumu?” Iwo anayankha kuti, “Anthu ngati inu, aliyense wooneka ngati mwana wa mfumu.”
Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What were they like, the men you killed at Tabor?” “They looked like you,” they answered. “Each of them had the stature of a prince.”
19 Ndipo Gideoni anayankha kuti, “Ndikulumbira pa Mulungu, mukanapanda kuwapha nanenso sindikanakuphani. Ndi abale anga amenewo, ana a amayi anga enieni.”
“Those were my brothers, my mother's sons,” Gideon burst out. “As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I wouldn't kill you!”
20 Tsono anawuza Yetero, mwana wake wachisamba kuti, “Tiye, ipha anthu amenewa!” Koma chifukwa Yeteri anali wamngʼono sanasolole lupanga lake, popeza anachita mantha.
He told Jether, his oldest son, “Go on, kill them!” But the boy refused to draw his sword, because he was young and afraid.
21 Tsono Zeba ndi Zalimuna anawuza Gideoni kuti, “Bwera utiphe ndiwe chifukwa uli ndi mphamvu za munthu wamkulu.” Choncho Gideoni anapita nawapha natenganso zokongoletsera zimene zinali pa makosi a ngamira zawo.
Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Come on, you do it! Show yourself a man and kill us!” So Gideon went over and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments from the necks of their camels.
22 Aisraeli anati kwa Gideoni, “Inu muzitilamulira, mwana wanu ndi zidzukulu zanu, chifukwa mwatipulumutsa mʼmanja mwa Amidiyani.”
Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “You must become our ruler, you, your son, and your grandson; because you've saved us from the Midianites.”
23 Koma Gideoni anawawuza kuti, “Sindidzakulamulirani, mwana wanganso sadzakulamulirani. Koma Yehova ndiye adzakulamulirani.”
“I won't be your ruler, and my son won't either,” Gideon replied. “The Lord will be your ruler.”
24 Gideoni anatinso, “Ine ndikupemphani chinthu chimodzi. Aliyense wa inu andipatse ndolo zomwe anafunkha ku nkhondo.” (Adani aja anali ndi ndolo zagolide popeza anali Aismaeli).
Then Gideon said, “I have a request to ask of you: that each of you give me an earring from your plunder.” (Their enemies were Ishmaelites and wore gold earrings.)
25 Iwo anayankha kuti, “Ife tikupatsani ndithu ndolozi.” Choncho anayala chinsalu, ndipo aliyense anaponyapo ndolo zimene anafunkha.
“We'll happily give them to you,” they replied. They spread out a cloak, and each of them threw on it earrings from their plunder.
26 Tsono kulemera kwa ndolo zagolide zimene anapereka kunali makilogalamu makumi awiri, osawerengera kulemera kwa mphande, mkanda wamʼkhosi, zovala zapepo za mafumu a Midiyani ndiponso malamba azitsulo za mʼmakosi a ngamira zawo.
The weight of the earrings he'd asked for was 1,700 shekels, not including the ornaments, the pendants, and the purple garments worn by the Midianite kings or the chains that were round their camels' necks.
27 Gideoni anagwiritsa ntchito golide uja kupanga efodi, ndipo anakamuyika ku mzinda wake ku Ofura. Tsono Aisraeli onse anasiya kupembedza Yehova nayamba kupembedza efodiyo kumeneko. Ichi chinasanduka msampha kwa Gideoni ndi banja lake lonse.
From the gold Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in his hometown of Ophrah. All Israel prostituted themselves there by worshiping it as an idol, and it became a trap to Gideon and his family.
28 Choncho Amidiyani anagonjetsedwa ndi Aisraeli ndipo sanayeserenso kuwawukira. Ndipo dzikolo linakhala pa mtendere kwa zaka 40 pamene Gideoni anali ndi moyo.
This is how the Midianites was subjugated before the Israelites and did not gain power again. So the land was at peace for forty years during the lifetime of Gideon.
29 Yeru-Baala mwana wa Yowasi anapita kukakhala kwawo.
Jerub-baal, son of Joash, went home, living his own house.
30 Ana a Gideoni anali 70 popeza anali ndi akazi ambiri.
Gideon had seventy sons, all his own, because he had many wives.
31 Mdzakazi wake amene anali ku Sekemu, anabereka naye mwana wamwamuna, amene anamutcha Abimeleki.
His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also had a son. He named him Abimelech.
32 Gideoni mwana wa Yowasi anamwalira atakalamba ndipo anayikidwa mʼmanda a abambo ake, Yowasi ku Ofura mzinda wa Mwabiezeri.
Gideon, son of Joash, died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 Atangomwalira Gideoni, Aisraeli anayambanso kupembedza Abaala. Iwo anasandutsa Baala-Beriti kukhala mulungu wawo.
But as soon as Gideon died, the Israelites went back to prostituting themselves, worshiping before the Baals. They made Baal-berith their god.
34 Aisraeli sanakumbukirenso Yehova Mulungu wawo amene anawapulumutsa mʼmanja mwa adani awo mbali zonse.
They forgot about the Lord their God, who had saved them from all their enemies that surrounded them.
35 Ndiponso sanachite zinthu zokomera banja la Yeru-Baala (ndiye kuti Gideoni) chifukwa cha zabwino zonse zimene iye anawachitira.
They did not show any respect to the family of Jerub-baal (Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.

< Oweruza 8 >