< Genesis 8 >
1 But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.
Kodwa uNkulunkulu wamkhumbula uNowa lazozonke izinyamazana zeganga lezifuyo ezazilaye emkhunjini, wasethumela umoya emhlabeni, amanzi asesentsha.
2 The springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained.
Manje imithombo yolwandle lamasango amanzi asemazulwini kwasekuvaliwe, lezulu laselisile emkhathini.
3 The waters receded steadily from the earth, and after 150 days the waters had gone down.
Amanzi entsha kancanekancane emhlabeni. Ekupheleni kwensuku ezilikhulu lamatshumi amahlanu amanzi ayesentshile,
4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
kwathi ngosuku lwetshumi lesikhombisa lwenyanga yesikhombisa umkhumbi wayakuma phezu kwezintaba zase-Ararathi.
5 And the waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.
Amanzi aqhubeka esentsha kwaze kwaba yinyanga yetshumi, kwathi ngosuku lokuqala lwenyanga yetshumi iziqongo zezintaba zaqala ukubonakala.
6 After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark
Ngemva kwensuku ezingamatshumi amane uNowa wavula iwindi ayelenzile emkhunjini
7 and sent out a raven. It kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth.
wathuma iwabayi, lazulazula emoyeni amanzi aze atsha emhlabeni.
8 Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground.
Wasethuma ijuba ukuthi abone ingabe amanzi ayesephelile emhlabathini.
9 But the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him in the ark, because the waters were still covering the surface of all the earth. So he reached out his hand and brought her back inside the ark.
Kodwa ijuba laswela indawo yokubeka unyawo ngoba kwakulamanzi yonke indawo phezu komhlaba; ngakho labuyela kuNowa emkhunjini. Wakhupha isandla walamukela ijuba walibuyisa kuye emkhunjini.
10 Noah waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.
Walinda okwezinye insuku eziyisikhombisa waphinda walithuma ijuba lisuka emkhunjini.
11 And behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
Kwathi ijuba selibuya kuye ntambama, laliphethe ngomlomo walo ihlamvu lesihlahla se-oliva elalisanda kukhiwa! UNowa wahle wazi ukuthi amanzi ayesehlile kakhulu emhlabeni.
12 And Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove again, but this time she did not return to him.
Walinda okwezinye insuku eziyisikhombisa walithuma ijuba njalo, kodwa ngalesi isikhathi kalisabuyanga kuye.
13 In Noah’s six hundred and first year, on the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth. So Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.
Ngosuku lokuqala lwenyanga yokuqala yomnyaka wamakhulu ayisithupha lanye wokuphila kukaNowa, amanzi ayesomile emhlabeni. Ngakho uNowa wasesusa uphahla lomkhumbi esebona ukuthi iphansi lomhlabathi laselomile.
14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was fully dry.
Ngosuku lwamatshumi amabili lesikhombisa lwenyanga yesibili umhlabathi wawusuwome qha.
15 Then God said to Noah,
UNkulunkulu wasesithi kuNowa,
16 “Come out of the ark, you and your wife, along with your sons and their wives.
“Phuma emkhunjini, wena lomkakho, lamadodana akho labomkabo.
17 Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”
Khupha yonke into ephilayo olayo, izinyoni, izinyamazana lazozonke izinanakazana ezihuquzela emhlabathini ukuze zande emhlabeni, zizale zande ngobunengi bazo.”
18 So Noah came out, along with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives.
Ngakho uNowa wasephuma lamadodana akhe, lomkakhe kanye labomalukazana bakhe.
19 Every living creature, every creeping thing, and every bird—everything that moves upon the earth—came out of the ark, kind by kind.
Zonke izinyamazana kanye lezinanakazana ezihuquzela emhlabathini lazozonke izinyoni, yonke into enyakazayo emhlabeni, kwaphuma emkhunjini, ngemihlobo kulandelana.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.
UNowa wasesakhela uThixo i-alithari, wathatha ezinye izinyamazana lezinyoni ezihlanzekileyo wanikela iminikelo yokutshiswa phezu kwalo.
21 When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.
UThixo wahotsha iphunga elimnandi wathi enhliziyweni yakhe: “Kangisayikuphinda ngiwuqalekise njalo umhlaba ngenxa yabantu, ngoba imicabango yenhliziyo yomuntu mibi kusukela ebuntwaneni bakhe. Njalo kangisoze lanini ngiphinde ngibhubhise zonke izidalwa eziphilayo, njengalokhu engikwenzileyo.
22 As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”
Nxa umhlaba ulokhu usekhona, isikhathi sokuhlanyela lesokuvuna, umqando lokutshisa, ihlobo lobusika, imini lobusuku kakusoze kwacina.”