< Kobima 1 >

1 Tala bakombo ya bana ya Isalaele oyo bakendeki na Ejipito elongo na Jakobi, moko na moko elongo na libota na ye:
These were the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob) who came with him to Egypt along with their families:
2 Ribeni, Simeoni, Levi mpe Yuda;
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
3 Isakari, Zabuloni mpe Benjame;
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
4 Dani mpe Nefitali; Gadi mpe Aseri.
Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
5 Bakitani ya Jakobi bazalaki bango nyonso tuku sambo. Nzokande Jozefi amizalelaki na Ejipito.
Jacob had 70 descendants there, including Joseph who was already in Egypt.
6 Jozefi mpe bandeko na ye nyonso ya mibali elongo na bato ya ekeke na bango basilaki na kokufa.
Eventually Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died.
7 Kasi bana ya Isalaele babotanaki mingi mpe bakomaki ebele penza. Bakomaki lisusu ebele koleka mpe makasi mingi: batondisaki mokili ya Ejipito.
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.
8 Mokonzi moko ya sika, oyo ayebaki Jozefi te, azwaki bokonzi na Ejipito.
Then a new king came to power who didn't know anything about Joseph.
9 Alobaki na bato na ye: « Botala bana ya Isalaele, bakomi ebele koleka biso mpe baleki biso na makasi.
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.
10 Tosengeli kosala keba mpo na bango, mpo ete bakoma lisusu ebele te. Pamba te soki bitumba ekweyi, bakoki kokende na ngambo ya banguna na biso mpe kobundisa biso mpo ete babima na mokili oyo. »
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.”
11 Boye batiaki bakonzi ya misala makasi mpo na konyokola bana ya Isalaele na nzela ya misala makasi. Na bongo, batongelaki Faraon bingumba ya Pitomi mpe ya Ramisesi mpo ete ezala bisika ya kobomba biloko.
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.
12 Kasi wana bazalaki konyokola bango, bazalaki kokoba kaka kobotana mpe kokoma ebele. Bongo bato ya Ejipito bakomaki kobanga bana ya Isalaele.
But the more the Israelites were mistreated, the more they grew in numbers and spread out—and the more the Egyptians detested them.
13 Bato ya Ejipito bakotisaki bana ya Isalaele na bowumbu ya makasi
The Egyptians worked the Israelites brutally,
14 mpe bakomaki konyokola bango na misala makasi: kosala potopoto, kobeta babiliki mpe kosala misala nyonso ya bilanga. Misala nyonso oyo bazalaki kosalisa bango ezalaki ya pasi mpe ya makasi.
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.
15 Mokonzi ya Ejipito alobaki na basi oyo babotisaka basi ya Ba-Ebre, oyo bakombo na bango ezalaki Shifra mpe Puwa:
Then the king gave orders to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah.
16 « Tango bokobotisa basi ya Ba-Ebre, botala soki mwana nini abotami; soki azali mwana mobali, boboma ye; kasi soki azali mwana mwasi, botika ye na bomoi. »
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.”
17 Kasi basi oyo babotisaka babangaki Nzambe mpe basalaki te makambo oyo mokonzi ya Ejipito atindaki bango kosala; batikaki bana mibali na bomoi.
But because the midwives revered God, they didn't do what the king of Egypt had ordered. They let the boys live as well.
18 Boye mokonzi ya Ejipito abengisaki basi oyo babotisaka mpe atunaki bango: — Mpo na nini bosali boye? Mpo na nini botiki bana mibali na bomoi?
The king of Egypt called the midwives in and demanded to know, “Why have you done this— letting the male children live?”
19 Basi oyo babotisaka bazongiselaki Faraon: — Basi ya Ba-Ebre bazali lokola basi ya Ejipito te. Bazali makasi, babotaka liboso ete basi oyo babotisaka bakoma.
“Hebrew women aren't like Egyptian women,” the midwives told Pharaoh. “They give birth more easily—they have them before we midwives arrive.”
20 Nzambe asalaki bolamu epai ya basi oyo babotisaka. Boye bana ya Isalaele bakobaki kaka kokoma ebele mpe makasi koleka.
God treated the midwives well, and the people increased in number so there were even more of them.
21 Lokola basi oyo babotisaka bazalaki kobanga Nzambe, Nzambe afulukisaki mabota na bango.
Because the midwives revered God, he gave them families of their own.
22 Bongo, Faraon apesaki mitindo epai ya bato na ye nyonso: « Bobwaka na ebale Nili bana mibali nyonso ya Isalaele oyo bakobotama, kasi botika na bomoi bana basi nyonso. »
Then Pharaoh issued this order to all his people: “Throw every Hebrew boy that's born into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

< Kobima 1 >