< Yoswa 8 >
1 Mukama n’agamba Yoswa nti, “Totya era tokeŋŋentererwa, ddira abasajja bonna abalwanyi mulumbe ekibuga Ayi kubanga mbawadde obuwanguzi ku kyo. Kabaka, n’abantu be, ne byonna ebiri mu kibuga Ayi mbibawadde.
Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged [because of what happened at] Ai. Lead all of your soldiers and go there again. I will help you to defeat the king of Ai, his people, and his city, and [enable you to take] his land.
2 Ayi ne kabaka waakyo mu bayise nga bwe mwakola Yeriko, omunyago gwonna okuva mu Ayi ngubawadde. Mwekukume muteegere emabega w’ekibuga.”
Your army will do to the people of Ai and their king like what you did to the people of Jericho and their king. But this time [I will permit you to] take all their possessions and keep them for yourselves. But first, tell some of your soldiers to [hide behind] the city [and] prepare to suddenly attack it.”
3 Yoswa n’asituka n’eggye lyonna okulumba Ayi, n’alondamu abasajja abalwanyi abazira nnamige emitwalo esatu n’abasindika kiro okulumba Ayi.
So Joshua led all his army toward Ai. He chose 30,000 of his best fighters/warriors and prepared to send them out during the night.
4 N’abakuutira nti, “Mugende mwekukume kumpi n’ekibuga era muteegere abantu baamu emabega waakyo. Temugenda wala nakyo mwenna mube beetegefu.
He said to them, “Listen carefully. Some of you must hide on the other side of the city. Do not go far from the city. Just be ready [to attack].
5 Nze n’abalwanyi abalala tujja kwolekera ekibuga, bwe banaatufubutula ng’olulala, tujja kuddukira ddala
I and the men who are with me will march toward the city [in the morning]. The men in the city will come out to fight us, like they did before. Then we will turn around and start to run away from them.
6 tubatwalirize ewala okuva ku kibuga, tubalowoozese nti, tubadduse. Ffe tujja kuddukira ddala tubabuleko.
They will think that we are running away from them like we did before. So they will chase us away from the city. While we are running away,
7 Olwo mulyoke mufubutuke gye mwekwese, muwambe ekibuga kubanga Mukama ajja kukibawa mukiwangule.
[those of you who are hiding come out and] rush into the city and capture it. Yahweh your God will enable you to conquer it.
8 Kasita mukiyingira nga mukikumako omuliro. Mukole nga Mukama bw’alagidde. Ebyo bye mbakuutidde.”
After you capture the city, burn it. Do what Yahweh has commanded us to do. Those are the orders I am giving to you.”
9 Yoswa n’abasindika ne bagenda beekweka wakati wa Beseri ne Ayi ebugwanjuba w’ekibuga Ayi. Ekiro ekyo Yoswa yakimala n’Abayisirayiri abalala.
Then Joshua [prepared to] send some of them to [hide and] wait between Ai and Bethel, which was west of Ai. But Joshua stayed with his other soldiers that night.
10 Yoswa yakeera nnyo mu makya ne yeekebejja abalwanyi be, oluvannyuma ye n’abakulembeze b’Abayisirayiri ne boolekera Ayi.
Early the next morning, Joshua gathered his soldiers together. Then he and the other Israeli leaders led them up to Ai.
11 Abasajja bonna abalwanyi ne basemberera ekibuga era ne bakuŋŋaanira mu maaso g’ekibuga Ayi mu bukiikakkono bwakyo, ng’ekiwonvu kye kibaawula.
They all set up their tents close to Ai, just to the north of the city, where all the people of the city could see them. There was a valley between them and the city.
12 Yoswa n’addira abalwanyi ng’enkumi ttaano ne bateegera wakati wa Beseri ne Ayi ebuvanjuba w’ekibuga.
Then Joshua chose about 5,000 men and told them to go and hide just west of the city, between Ai and Bethel.
13 Ekibinja ky’abalwanyi ekisinga obunene ne kikuŋŋaanira mu bukiikakkono w’ekibuga ate ekibinja ekizibizi ne kikuŋŋaanira ebugwanjuba w’ekibuga. Naye ye Yoswa ekiro ekyo yasula mu kiwonvu.
So those men did that. The main group of soldiers was north of the city, and the others were hiding west of the city. That night Joshua went down into the valley.
14 Mu makya kabaka wa Ayi n’abantu be olwalengera Abayisirayiri ne bafubutuka okugenda okubalwanyisa awo okwolekera Alaba, naye tebaamanya nti waaliwo Abayisirayiri abalala abaali babeekwekeredde emabega w’ekibuga.
When the king of Ai saw the Israeli army, he and his soldiers got up early the next morning and quickly went out of the city to fight them. They went to a place east of the city, but they did not know that some Israeli soldiers were hiding behind the city.
15 Yoswa n’ekibinja ky’Abayisirayiri be yali nabo ne beefuula ng’abawanguddwa ne badduka nga boolekedde eddungu.
Joshua and the Israeli soldiers [who were with him] allowed the army of Ai to push them back. They ran toward the desert.
16 Abantu bonna abaali mu kibuga ne bakoowoolwa okugoba Abayisirayiri, ne babagobera ddala era ne babawereekereza wala nnyo n’ekibuga.
The men in Ai were ordered to chase after Joshua and his men. So they left the city and started to pursue the Israelis.
17 Tewali musajja n’omu yasigala mu Ayi oba Beseri, ekibuga kyonna baaleka kiggule nga bagenze okugoba Abayisirayiri.
All the men of Ai and the men of Bethel pursued the Israeli army. They did not leave even one man in Ai to defend it. The [gates of the] city were left wide open.
18 Mukama n’agamba Yoswa nti, “Galula omuwunda gwo ng’ogwolekeza Ayi, kubanga ojja kukiwangula.” Bw’atyo Yoswa n’agalula omuwunda gwe eri Ayi.
Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “[Lift up] your spear [and] point it toward Ai, because I am going to enable your soldiers to capture it!” So Joshua pointed [his spear] toward Ai.
19 Amangwago ng’agaludde omuwunda abaali beekwese ne bafubutukayo ne besogga ekibuga era amangwago ne bakikoleeza omuliro.
When the Israeli men who were hiding saw that, they rushed out from the places where they were hiding and ran into the city. They quickly captured it and set it on fire.
20 Abasajja b’omu Ayi bagenda okukebuka ng’ekibuga kyabwe kinyooka omukka nga tebakyasobola kudda mabega wadde okugenda mu maaso.
When the men of Ai looked back, they saw smoke rising from their city. But they could not escape, because the Israeli troops stopped running away.
21 Yoswa n’abasajja be bwe baalaba nga bannaabwe beesozze ekibuga era ne bakyokya, kwe kukyukira abaali babagoba ne babatta ebitagambika.
Joshua and his men saw that the men who had been hiding had captured the city and were burning it, and they saw the smoke rising. So they turned around and started to attack the men of Ai.
22 Abayisirayiri abaayokya ekibuga nabo ne bavaayo ne bafuumbikiriza abasajja b’omu Ayi ne babatta obutalekaawo n’omu.
Meanwhile, the soldiers who had captured the city came out [and attacked them from the rear]. So the men of Ai were caught between the two groups of Israeli soldiers. None of the men of Ai escaped. The Israelis fought until they killed all of them. Only the king of Ai was still alive.
23 Naye ye kabaka w’e Ayi baamuwamba ne bamuleetera Yoswa.
Then they seized the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.
24 Abayisirayiri bwe baamala okutta abantu b’omu Ayi abaali babagoberedde mu ddungu, ne balyoka bakomawo mu kibuga kya Ayi ne batta abantu bonna abaakirimu.
While they were fighting, the Israeli army pursued the men of Ai into the fields and into the desert, and killed all of them. Then they went to Ai and killed everyone who was there.
25 Abasajja n’abakazi abattibwa ku olwo bonna baali omutwalo gumu mu enkumi bbiri.
They killed 12,000 men and women.
26 Yoswa bwe yagalula omuwunda gwe okugwolekeza ekibuga Ayi teyagussa wansi okutuusa ng’abaamu bonna bamaze okuzikirizibwa.
Joshua continued to point his spear [LIT] toward Ai, until all the people in Ai had been killed.
27 Ente n’ebintu ebirala bye baasanga mu kibuga, Abayisirayiri ne babitwala okuba omunyago gwabwe nga Mukama bwe yakuutira Yoswa.
The Israeli soldiers took for themselves the animals and the other things that had belonged to the people of Ai, just like Yahweh had told Joshua that they should do.
28 Yoswa n’ayokya Ayi era ne kifuuka kifunvu ne leero.
Joshua and his soldiers burned Ai city and caused it to become a pile of ruins. It is still like that today.
29 Ate n’atta kabaka wa Ayi n’amuwanika ku muti okutuusa akawungeezi lwe baawanulayo omulambo gwe ne bagusuula awo ku wankaaki w’ekibuga ne bagutuumako entuumu y’amayinja era ekyaliyo ne kaakano.
Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree and left his corpse hanging there until the evening. At sunset Joshua told his men to take the king’s corpse down from the tree and to throw it on the ground at the city gate. [After they did that], they piled a lot of rocks on top of the corpse, and that pile of rocks is still there.
30 Oluvannyuma Yoswa n’azimbira Mukama Katonda wa Isirayiri, ekyoto ku lusozi Ebali.
Joshua [told his men to] build on Ebal Mountain an altar for Yahweh, the God [who is worshiped by] the Israeli people.
31 Nga Musa omuweereza wa Mukama bwe yakuutira Abayisirayiri era nga bwe kyawandiikibwa mu kitabo ky’amateeka ga Musa, “Ekyoto eky’amayinja agataabajjibwa muntu ng’akozesa ekyuma.” Bwe kyaggwa ne batandika okukiweerako Mukama ebiweebwayo ebyokebwa n’ebiweebwayo olw’emirembe.
They built it just like Moses, the man who served God [well], had written previously in the laws [that God had given to him]. They made it from stones that had not been cut using iron tools. The Israelis then offered sacrifices to Yahweh that were burned completely on the altar. They also offered sacrifices to restore fellowship with Yahweh.
32 Era n’awandiikira eyo ku mayinja mu maaso g’Abayisirayiri bonna, amateeka Musa ge yasooka okuwandiikira abaana ba Isirayiri.
As the Israelis watched, Joshua wrote on stones the laws that [Yahweh had given] to Moses previously.
33 Abayisirayiri bonna n’abakulembeze baabwe, abalamuzi, n’abakungu ne bannaggwanga bonna ab’omu Isirayiri ne bayimirira eruuyi n’eruuyi w’Essanduuko okwolekera bakabona Abaleevi abaasitulanga Essanduuko y’Endagaano ya Mukama. Ne beegabanyaamu, ekitundu ekimu ne bayimirira mu maaso g’olusozi Gerizimu, ate abalala ne bayimirira mu maaso g’olusozi Ebali, nga Musa omuddu wa Mukama bwe yabalagira mu kusooka nti, “Kibagwanidde okusabira Abayisirayiri omukisa.”
The Israeli leaders, the officials, the judges, and other Israelis were there, standing nearby. Many people who were not Israelis were also there. Half of the people stood [on one side of the valley] below Ebal Mountain, and the other half of the people stood [on the other side of the valley] below Gerizim Mountain. The sacred chest was [in the valley] between the two groups. That was what Moses had previously commanded that the people should do when [Yahweh was about to] bless them.
34 Oluvannyuma Yoswa n’abasomera ebigambo byonna eby’omu mateeka, emikisa n’ebikolimo nga byonna bwe byawandiikibwa mu Kitabo ky’Amateeka.
Then Joshua read [to the people] all that [Moses] had written previously. That included what Yahweh had taught them and the ways [that he promised] to bless them [if they obeyed his commands], or to curse them [if they disobeyed them].
35 Tewali kigambo na kimu Musa kye yalagira, Yoswa ky’ataasomera Bayisirayiri bonna, abaali bakuŋŋaanye abasajja n’abakazi n’abaana abato ssaako ne bannaggwanga be baabeeranga nabo.
All the Israelis gathered together [to listen]—the men, the women, and the children. The (foreigners/people who were not Israelis) who were living among them also listened, while Joshua read all the commands that Moses had written.