Deuteronomy 4
1 “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and to the judgments which I am teaching you to do, so that you live, and have gone in, and possessed the land which YHWH God of your fathers is giving to you.
“Zwana-ke khathesi, Oh Israyeli, izimiso lemithetho engizalifundisa yona. Ilandeleni ukuze liphile njalo libe lakho ukuyalithatha lelolizwe uThixo uNkulunkulu wabokhokho benu alinika lona.
2 You do not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor diminish from it, to keep the commands of your God YHWH which I am commanding you.
Lingangezeleli kulokho engililaya khona njalo lingaphunguli loba yikuphi kwakhona, kodwa gcinani imilayo kaThixo uNkulunkulu wenu engilinika yona.
3 Your eyes are seeing that which YHWH has done in Ba‘al-Peor, for every man who has gone after Ba‘al-Peor, your God YHWH has destroyed him from your midst;
Lazibonela ngawenu amehlo okwenziwa nguThixo eBhali-Pheyori. UThixo uNkulunkulu wenu wabatshabalalisa bonke ababekhonza uBhali wasePheyori,
4 and you who are cleaving to your God YHWH [are] alive today—all of you.
kodwa lina lonke elabambelela kuThixo uNkulunkulu wenu lilokhu lisaphila lalamuhla lokhu.
5 See, I have taught you statutes and judgments, as my God YHWH has commanded me, to do so in the midst of the land to where you are going in to possess it;
Liyabona sengalifundisa izimiso lemithetho uThixo wami angilaya ngazo, ukuze liyigcine elizweni elingena kulo ukuba lilithathe.
6 and you have kept and done [them] (for it [is] your wisdom and your understanding) before the eyes of the peoples who hear all these statutes, and they have said, Surely a people wise and understanding [is] this great nation.
Lizigcine ngonanzelelo ngoba lokhu kuzaveza obala ukuhlakanipha lokuzwisisa kwenu ezizweni ezizakuzwa ngalezizimiso njalo zitsho zithi, ‘Ngeqiniso lesisizwe esilodumo yisizwe sabantu abahlakaniphileyo njalo abazwisisayo.’
7 For which [is] the great nation that has God [so] near to it, as our God YHWH, in all we have called to Him?
Yisiphi esinye isizwe esilodumo esilabonkulunkulu baso ababaseduze laso njengoThixo uNkulunkulu wethu oba lathi nxa sikhuleka kuye?
8 And which [is] the great nation which has righteous statutes and judgments according to all this law which I am setting before you today?
Yisiphi esinye isizwe esilezimiso eziqondileyo lemithetho enjengale imithetho engiyethula phambi kwenu lamuhla na?
9 Only, take heed to yourself, and watch your soul exceedingly, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they turn aside from your heart all [the] days of your life; and you have made them known to your sons and to your sons’ sons.
Kodwa linanzelele, liqaphelisise ukuze lingakhohlwa izinto elizibonileyo loba zilibaleke ezinhliziyweni zenu ekuphileni kwenu konke. Fundisani abantwabenu ngalezizinto njalo labo babofundisa abantwababo labantwana babantwana abalandela emva kwabo.
10 [Never forget] the day when you have stood before your God YHWH in Horeb, in YHWH’s saying to me, Assemble the people to Me, and I cause them to hear My words, so that they learn to fear Me all the days that they are alive on the ground, and they teach their sons;
Khumbulani usuku elema ngalo phambi kukaThixo uNkulunkulu wenu eHorebhi, lapho athi khona kimi, ‘Buthanisa abantu ukuze bezwe amazwi ami ukuze bakwazi ukungidumisa nxa belokhu besahlala elizweni njalo bafundise abantwababo.’
11 and you draw near and stand under the mountain, and the mountain is burning with fire to the heart of the heavens, [with] darkness, cloud, and thick darkness,
Lasondela lema ngaphansi kwentaba ilavuka amalangabi eqonga phezulu, kulamayezi amnyama lomnyama owesabekayo.
12 and YHWH speaks to you out of the midst of the fire; you are hearing a voice of words, but you are seeing no likeness, only a voice;
Ngakho uThixo wakhuluma lani ephakathi komlilo. Lezwa umdumo welizwi kodwa alizange libone lutho; kwaba yilizwi lodwa nje.
13 and He declares His covenant to you, which He has commanded you to do, the Ten Commandments, and He writes them on two tablets of stone.
Wakhupha ilizwi lokubuyisana lesivumelwano sakhe, imiThetho eliTshumi, waselilaya ukuba liyilandele njalo wayiloba ezibhebhedwini zamatshe ezimbili.
14 And YHWH has commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, for your doing them in the land to where you are passing over to possess it.
Kungalesosikhathi lapho uThixo angiqondisa ukuba ngilifundise izimiso lemilayo okuzamele liyilandele ekuchapheni kwenu uJodani lisiya elizweni elizalithumba libe ngelenu.”
15 And you have been very watchful of your souls, for you have not seen any likeness in the day of YHWH’s speaking to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire,
“Akulalutho loba yisimo bani elasibonayo mhla uThixo ekhuluma lani eHorebhi ephakathi kwelangabi lomlilo. Kunjalo-nje kumele lizinanzelele okuqinileyo,
16 lest you do corruptly, and have made for yourselves a carved image, a likeness of any figure: a form of male or female,
ukuze lingaxhwali libe selizenzela isithombe, loba umfanekiso olesimo bani, loba ngesilesimo sesilisa loba esesifazane,
17 a form of any beast which [is] in the earth, a form of any winged bird which flies in the heavens,
loba yiphi inyamazana emhlabeni loba inyoni endizayo emkhathini,
18 a form of any creeping thing on the ground, a form of any fish which [is] in the waters below the earth.
loba yisiphi isinanakazana esihuquzelayo emhlabathini loba yinhlanzi ngaphansi kwamanzi.
19 And lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and have seen the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of the heavens, and have been drawn away, and have bowed yourself to them and served them, which your God YHWH has apportioned to all the peoples under all the heavens.
Njalo nxa likhangela phezulu esibhakabhakeni libona ilanga, inyanga kanye lezinkanyezi, zonke ezihlobise zacecisa isibhakabhaka, lingalingeki lizikhothamele beselikhonza izinto uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu azibekela izizwe zonke ngaphansi kwezulu.
20 And YHWH has taken you, and He is bringing you out from the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be to Him for a people, an inheritance, as [at] this day.
Kodwa-ke lina, uThixo walithatha walenyula eziko lokuncibilikisa insimbi, walikhipha eGibhithe, ukuze libe ngabantu belifa lakhe, njengoba linje lamuhla.
21 And YHWH has showed Himself angry with me because of your words, and swears to my not passing over the Jordan, and to my not going into the good land which your God YHWH is giving to you [for] an inheritance;
UThixo wangithukuthelela ngenxa yenu, wafunga waphelela wathi angiyikuchapha uJodani ngingene elizweni uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu alinika lona ukuba libe yilifa lenu.
22 for I am dying in this land; I am not passing over the Jordan, but you are passing over and have possessed this good land.
Mina ngizafela kulelilizwe; angiyikuchapha uJodani, kodwa lina seliseduze ukuba lichaphe liyelithumba lelolizwe elihle.
23 Take heed to yourselves lest you forget the covenant of your God YHWH which He has made with you, and have made a carved image for yourselves, a likeness of anything [concerning] which your God YHWH has charged you;
Nanzelelani ukuthi lingalibali isivumelwano sikaNkulunkulu wenu asenza lani; lingazenzeli isithombe loba singesesimo bani salokho uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu akwalileyo.
24 for your God YHWH is a consuming fire—a zealous God.
Ngoba uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu ungumlilo oqothulayo, uNkulunkulu olobukhwele.
25 When you beget sons and sons’ sons, and you have become old in the land, and have done corruptly, and have made a carved image, a likeness of anything, and have done evil in the eyes of YHWH to provoke Him to anger,
Ngemva kokuba selike laba labantwana, lesizukulwane njalo selihlale ezweni okwesikhathi eside, lingasuka libe selixhwala beselizenzela loba yisiphi isithombe, lisenza okubi emehlweni kaThixo uNkulunkulu wenu limthukuthelisa,
26 I have caused the heavens and the earth to testify against you this day, that you perish utterly quickly from off the land to where you are passing over the Jordan to possess it; you do not prolong days on it, but are utterly destroyed;
ngibiza izulu lomhlaba ukuthi libe ngufakazi wami ukuze libhujiswe masinyazana lingangeni elizweni elizachapha uJodani ukuze lilithumbe. Aliyikuhlala kulo isikhathi eside kodwa iqiniso yikuthi lizatshabalaliswa.
27 and YHWH has scattered you among the peoples, and you have been left few in number among the nations to where YHWH leads you,
UThixo uzalihlakaza ezizweni, njalo abalutshwana benu yibo abazasinda ezizweni uThixo azalifuqela khona.
28 and you have served gods there, work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which do not see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
Khonale lizakhonza onkulunkulu ababunjwe ngabantu ngezigodo langamatshe, abangeke babone loba bezwe loba badle loba bezwe ukunuka.
29 And you have sought your God YHWH from there, and have found [Him] when you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Kodwa nxa likhonale lingadinga uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu, lizamfumana nxa limdinga ngezinhliziyo zenu ezipheleleyo langemiphefumulo yenu yonke.
30 In the distress of yours, when all these things have found you in the latter end of the days, and you have turned back to your God YHWH and have listened to His voice—
Nxa selisosizini zonke lezizinto sezilehlela, lapho-ke ngezinsuku ezizayo lizabuyela kuThixo uNkulunkulu wenu limlalele.
31 for your God YHWH [is] a merciful God—He does not fail you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He has sworn to them.
Phela uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu nguNkulunkulu olomusa; kayikulidela loba alibhubhise loba alibale isivumelwano sakhe asenza labokhokho benu, leso asiqinisa kubo ngesifungo.”
32 For ask now of the former days which have been before you, from the day that God created man on the earth, and from the [one] end of the heavens even to the [other] end of the heavens, whether there has been as this great thing, or [if anything] has been heard like it.
“Buzani khathesi ngezinsuku ezedlulayo, kudala lingakabi khona, kusukela ngosuku uNkulunkulu adala ngalo umuntu emhlabeni; buzani kusukela ngapha kwamazulu kusiya ngale kwamazulu. Kambe kukhona yini okukhulu kangaka okwedlula lokhu osekuke kwenzakala loba kwezwakala na?
33 Has a people heard the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, you—and live?
Sikhona na esinye isizwe esake sezwa uNkulunkulu ekhuluma ephakathi kwelangabi lomlilo, njengalokhu eselikuzwile, saphila na?
34 Or has God tried to go in to take a nation for Himself from the midst of a nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a strong hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that your God YHWH has done to you in Egypt before your eyes?
Kukhona na unkulunkulu oseke wazama ukuzithathela esinye isizwe phakathi kwesinye, ngokuhlola, ngemilingo yezibonakaliso, lezimangaliso, lezimpi, ngesandla esilamandla langokwelula ingalo, loba izenzo ezinkulu ezesabekayo, njengakho konke uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu alenzela khona eGibhithe lizibonela ngamehlo enu?
35 You—you have been shown [it], to know that He, YHWH, [is] God; there is none else besides Him.
Lakutshengiswa konke lokhu ukuze lazi ukuthi uThixo unguNkulunkulu; ngaphandle kwakhe kakho omunye futhi.
36 He has caused you to hear His voice from the heavens, to instruct you; and on earth He has showed you His great fire, and you have heard His words out of the midst of the fire.
Esemazulwini wakwenza ukuthi lilizwe ilizwi lakhe ukuze libe lobuntu. Emhlabeni walitshengisa amalangabi omlilo akhe omkhulu, njalo lawezwa amazwi akhe ephuma emlilweni.
37 And because that He has loved your fathers, He also fixes on their seed after them, and brings you out in His presence, by His great power, from Egypt,
Ngenxa yokuthi wabathanda okhokho benu wakhetha izizukulwane zabo ezalandela ngemva kwabo, walikhipha eGibhithe ngoBukhona bakhe kanye langamandla akhe amakhulu,
38 to dispossess nations greater and stronger than you from your presence, to bring you in to give their land to you [for] an inheritance, as [at] this day.
ukuxotsha zonke izizwe phambi kwenu, izizwe ezilamandla kulezenu lokulingenisa elizweni lazo ukuze aliphe lona libe yilifa lenu, njengoba kunjalo lamuhla.
39 And you have known today, and have turned [it] back to your heart, that He, YHWH, [is] God in the heavens above and on the earth below—there is none else;
Yamukelani njalo likugcine ezinhliziyweni zenu lamuhla ukuthi uThixo unguNkulunkulu ezulwini phezulu lasemhlabeni phansi. Kakho omunye.
40 and you have kept His statutes and His commands which I am commanding you today, so that it is well for you, and for your sons after you, and so that you prolong days on the ground which your God YHWH is giving to you—all the days.”
Gcinani izimiso zakhe lemilayo yakhe, engilinika yona lamuhla, ukuze kulihambele kahle lina kanye labantwabenu lokuthi liphile isikhathi eside elizweni eliliphiwa nguThixo uNkulunkulu wenu ukuze libe ngelenu kokuphela.”
41 Then Moses separates three cities beyond the Jordan, toward the sun-rising,
Ngakho uMosi wasekhetha amadolobho amathathu empumalanga yeJodani,
42 for the fleeing there of the manslayer who slays his neighbor unknowingly, and he is not hating him before, and he has fled to one of these cities and he has lived:
ukuze kuthi wonke oyabe ebulele omunye abalekele khona nxa eyabe ebulele umakhelwane kungekho mona kodwa kube yingozi. Bangabalekela kwelinye lala amadolobho ukuze baphephise impilo zabo.
43 Bezer in the wilderness, in the land of the plain, for the Reubenite; and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadite; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassite.
Amadolobho lawo kwakuyila: iBhezeri emagcekeni asenkangala, lingelabakoRubheni; iRamothi eGiliyadi, lingelabakoGadi; kanye lelaseGolani eBhashani lona lingelabakoManase.
44 And this [is] the law which Moses has set before the sons of Israel;
Lo ngumthetho owethulwa nguMosi kwabako-Israyeli.
45 these [are] the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses has spoken to the sons of Israel in their coming out of Egypt,
Lezi kwakuyizilinganiso, izimiso lemithetho eyethulwa nguMosi kubo ekuphumeni kwabo eGibhithe
46 beyond the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-Peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorite, who is dwelling in Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel have struck in their coming out of Egypt;
njalo babesesigodini esiseduzane leBhethi-Pheyori empumalanga yeJodani elizweni likaSihoni inkosi yama-Amori, yena owabusa eHeshibhoni njalo wehlulwa nguMosi labako-Israyeli bephuma eGibhithe.
47 and they possess his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorite who [are] beyond the Jordan, [toward] the sun-rising,
Bathatha ilizwe lakhe kanye lelizwe lika-Ogi inkosi yaseBhashani, amakhosi ama-Amori womabili empumalanga yeJodani.
48 from Aroer, which [is] by the edge of the Brook of Arnon, even to Mount Zion, which [is] Hermon—
Ilizwe leli lalisuka e-Aroweri emaphethelweni ezindonga zase-Arinoni kusiya entabeni yaseSiyoni (khona kuyiHemoni),
49 and all the plain beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the Sea of the Plain, below the Springs of Pisgah.
kuhlanganisa layo yonke i-Arabha empumalanga yeJodani kuze kuyefika oLwandle lwe-Arabha, ngaphansi komthezuko wasePhisiga.
