Exodus 1
1 These were the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob) who came with him to Egypt along with their families:
La ngamabizo amadodana ka-Israyeli aya eGibhithe loJakhobe, munye ngamunye lemuli yakhe:
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
uRubheni, uSimiyoni, uLevi loJuda;
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
u-Isakhari, uZebhuluni loBhenjamini,
4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
uDani loNafithali; uGadi lo-Asheri.
5 Jacob had 70 descendants there, including Joseph who was already in Egypt.
Inzalo yonke kaJakhobe yayingamatshumi ayisikhombisa. UJosefa wayevele eseseGibhithe.
6 Eventually Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died.
Kwathi uJosefa labo bonke abafowabo kanye lasosonke lesosizukulwane sebefile,
7 However, the Israelites had many children and their numbers increased rapidly. In fact there were so many of them that they became very powerful—the country was full of them.
abako-Israyeli bazalana banda kakhulu, okokuthi ilizwe lonke lagcwala ngabo.
8 Then a new king came to power who didn't know anything about Joseph.
Kwasekusiba lenye inkosi eyayingazi lutho ngoJosefa, yaba ngumbusi eGibhithe.
9 He conferred with his fellow Egyptians and said, “Look at these Israelites—there are more than them than us, and they're more powerful than us.
Yathi ebantwini bayo, “Khangelani, abantu bako-Israyeli sebebanengi kakhulu kulathi.
10 We've got to make plan to deal with them before they become so many that if there's a war they'll side with our enemies and fight us, and flee the country.”
Asiboneni amacebo esingawenza ngabo funa bande kakhulu kuthi lapho kuqhamuka impi, babambane lezitha zethu, balwe lathi, besebesuka elizweni.”
11 So the Egyptians made them do forced labor and put taskmasters in charge of them. They used them to build the storage towns of Pithom and Rameses.
Ngakho babeka izinduna zezigqili ukuthi zibasebenzise kanzima, bakha iPhithomi leRamesesi aba ngamadolobho eziphala zikaFaro.
12 But the more the Israelites were mistreated, the more they grew in numbers and spread out—and the more the Egyptians detested them.
Kodwa kwathi ngokuhlutshwa kwabo ngamandla, labo banda kakhulu basabalala; okwenza amaGibhithe abesaba abako-Israyeli
13 The Egyptians worked the Israelites brutally,
asebasebenzisa ngochuku.
14 making their lives a misery. They made them do hard labor, building with mortar and brick, and all kind of heavy work in the fields. In all of this hard labor they treated them brutally.
Enza impilo yabo yaba nzima kakhulu betshaya izitina lokuvoxa udaka besenza leminye yonke imisebenzi yemasimini. Kuyo yonke imisebenzi enzima amaGibhithe abasebenzisa ngochuku.
15 Then the king gave orders to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah.
Inkosi yaseGibhithe yathi kubabelethisi bamaHebheru okwakuthiwa nguShifira loPhuwa,
16 He told them, “When you assist the Hebrew women during childbirth, if you see it's a boy, kill him; but if it's a girl, let her live.”
“Nxa libelethisa abafazi bamaHebheru, lingabona kuzelwe umfana kufanele limbulale; kodwa nxa kuyinkazana, liyiyekele iphile.”
17 But because the midwives revered God, they didn't do what the king of Egypt had ordered. They let the boys live as well.
Kodwa ababelethisi babemesaba uNkulunkulu, ngakho abakwenzanga lokho ababekutshelwe yinkosi yaseGibhithe.
18 The king of Egypt called the midwives in and demanded to know, “Why have you done this— letting the male children live?”
Sekube njalo, inkosi yaseGibhithe yababiza ababelethisi yathi kubo, “Kungani lenze lokhu? Kungani liyekele abafana baphila?”
19 “Hebrew women aren't like Egyptian women,” the midwives told Pharaoh. “They give birth more easily—they have them before we midwives arrive.”
Ababelethisi bamphendula uFaro bathi, “Abafazi bamaHebheru abafani labafazi bamaGibhithe; balamandla baphanga babelethe ababelethisi bengakafiki.”
20 God treated the midwives well, and the people increased in number so there were even more of them.
Ngakho uNkulunkulu waba lomusa kubo ababelethisi, abantu banda baba banengi kakhulu.
21 Because the midwives revered God, he gave them families of their own.
Njalo njengoba ababelethisi bamesaba uNkulunkulu, wabapha ezabo izimuli.
22 Then Pharaoh issued this order to all his people: “Throw every Hebrew boy that's born into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
UFaro wasesipha abantu bakhe bonke umlayo othi: “Wonke umfana womHebheru ozalwayo kufanele aphoselwe emfuleni uNayili, kodwa wonke amankazana liwayekele aphile.”
