Numbers 17
1 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:
UThixo wathi kuMosi,
2 Speak unto the sons of Israel and take of them one staff each for an ancestral house of all their princes, by their ancestral houses, twelve staves, —each man’s name, shalt thou write upon his staff;
“Tshela abako-Israyeli ukuthi bakuphe intonga ezilitshumi lambili, kuphume ibenye kumkhokheli munye ngamunye wesizwana sabokhokho bakhe. Bhala ibizo lendoda ngayinye entongeni yayo.
3 and, Aaron’s name, shalt thou write upon the staff of Levi, —for, one staff, shall there be for the head of their ancestral house.
Entongeni kaLevi uzabhala ibizo lika-Aroni, ngoba kumele kube lentonga eyodwa emele inhloko inye ngayinye yesizwana sabokhokho bayo.
4 Then shalt thou lay them up in the tent of meeting, —before the testimony, where I meet with you.
Zifake ethenteni lokuhlangana phambi komtshokotsho wobufakazi, lapho engihlangana lawe khona.
5 So shall it come to pass, that, the man whom I shall choose, his staff, shall bud, —so will I cause to cease from against me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, wherewith they, are murmuring against you.
Intonga yendoda engizayikhetha izahluma, njalo mina ngizahle ngikuqede lokhu kukhonona okulokhu kuqhubeka kusolwa wena ngabako-Israyeli.”
6 And Moses spake unto the sons of Israel and every one of their princes gave unto him, a staff apiece, for each prince, by their ancestral houses, twelve staves, —and the staff of Aaron, was in the midst of their staves.
Ngakho uMosi wakhuluma kwabako-Israyeli, abakhokheli babo bamnika intonga ezilitshumi lambili, ngayinye ingeyomkhokheli wesizwana sabokhokho bakhe, kwathi leka-Aroni yayibalelwa kuzo.
7 So Moses laid up the staves before Yahweh, —in the tent of the testimony.
UMosi wabeka intonga lezo phambi kukaThixo ethenteni lobufakazi.
8 And it came to pass, on the morrow, that Moses entered into the tent of the testimony; and lo! the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi, had budded, —yea it had brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms, and borne ripe almonds.
Ngosuku olulandelayo uMosi wangena ethenteni lobufakazi wabona ukuthi intonga ka-Aroni eyayimele indlu kaLevi, yayisihlumile yaqhakaza, isilamaluba njalo isithele izithelo ze-alimondi.
9 So then Moses brought forth all the staves, from before Yahweh, unto all the sons of Israel, —and they saw and took, each man his own staff.
Ngakho uMosi wazisusa zonke intonga phambi kukaThixo waziletha phambi kwabo bonke abako-Israyeli. Bazikhangela, ngulowo wathatha eyakhe intonga.
10 And Yahweh said unto Moses—Put back the rod of Aaron, before the testimony, to be kept as a sign unto such as are perverse, —that thou mayest bring to an end their murmurings against me that they die not.
UThixo wathi kuMosi, “Buyisela intonga ka-Aroni phambi komtshokotsho wobufakazi, igcinwe khonapho ibe yisibonakaliso kulabo abahlamukayo. Lokhu kuzaqeda ukukhonona kwabo ngami, ukuze bangafi.”
11 Thus did Moses, —as Yahweh commanded him, so, did he.
UMosi wenza khona lokho kanye uThixo ayemlaye ngakho.
12 Then spake the sons of Israel unto Moses saying: Lo! we have breathed our last—we are lost, we are, all, lost:
Abako-Israyeli bathi kuMosi, “Sizakufa! Sifile, sonke sesifile!
13 whosoever draweth near—draweth near—unto the habitation of Yahweh, dieth, —are we ever to have made an end of breathing our last?
Loba ngubani ozasondela phansi kwethabanikeli likaThixo uzakufa. Sizakufa sonke na?”
