Bhaloma 9
1 Ngunabheleketa kweli nkulundana na a Kilishitu na wala nngabha unami, ng'aniyo yangu ya muntima nkulongoywa naka Mbumu jwa Ukonjelo inangong'ondela,
[Now I would like to discuss the fact that most of my fellow Israelites have rejected Christ]. Because of my relationship with Christ, I say completely truthfully [what I will now tell you]. I am not lying [DOU]! My conscience confirms what I [say] because the Holy Spirit [controls it].
2 kuti njiinjika kaje na mboteko yangali mpelo muntima gwangu.
[I tell you that] I grieve very greatly and deeply [DOU] [about my fellow Israelites].
3 Ikaliji mbaya nne kuloshwa na lekanywa na a Kilishitu, monaga shiyaapwaanje ashaalongo ajangu bha shipinga shangu.
I personally would be willing to let [God] curse me [and, as a result, be separated] from Christ, [if that would] help my fellow Israelites, my natural kinsmen, [to believe in Christ].
4 Ni Bhaishilaeli bhaagwilwenje na a Nnungu kubha bhana bhabho, gubhapegwilwenje ukonjelo, na miadi, na shalia, na lilanga lya tindibhalila, na malagano ga a Nnungu.
We [Jews] are [Israelites, God’s chosen] descendants of [Jacob]. [God has always considered] us as his children [MET]. It was to our ancestors [that he used to appear] gloriously [while they were in the desert]. It was with them that [God made] covenants [several times]. It was to them [that God] gave the laws [at Sinai Mountain]. They were the ones [to whom God showed how they should] worship him. They were the ones [to whom God] promised many things, [especially that the Messiah would come from their race].
5 Bhanganyabho ni uukulu gwa ashaambuje, ni kubhabhelekwe a Kilishitu shigundu. A Nnungu bhaatagwala indu yowe, bhakuywe pitipiti. Amina. (aiōn g165)
It was our ancestors, [Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom God chose to found our nation]. And, [most importantly], it was from us Israelites that the Messiah received his human nature. [Nevertheless, most of my fellow Israelites have rejected Christ], who is the one who controls all things! He is God, the one who is worthy that we praise him forever! This is true! (OR, Amen!) (aiōn g165)
6 Nngabha kuti miadi ja a Nnungu jangamalila. Pabha nngabha Bhaishilaeli bhowe bhaagwilwenje na a Nnungu.
[God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that their descendants would all inherit his blessings]. But [although most of my fellow Israelites have rejected Christ], that does not [prove] that God has failed [to do] the things that he promised, because it is not all who are descended from Jacob and who [call themselves the people of] Israel whom [God considers] to be truly his people.
7 Wala nngabha bhowe bhabhelekwenje kwa a Bhulaimu kuti ni bhana bhabho, ikabhe malinga Majandiko ga Ukonjelo shigalugula, “Bhana bhenu shibhakoposhelanje kwa a Ishaka.”
And it is also not all of Abraham’s natural descendants that [God considers] to be his people. Instead, [God considers only some of them to be Abraham’s children]. [This agrees with what God told Abraham]: “It is Isaac, [not any of your(sg) other sons], whom [I] will consider [to be the true father of] your descendants.”
8 Yani nngabha bhabhelekwenjepe ni bhalinginji bhana bha a Nnungu, ikabhe bhabhelekwenje kwa ligongo lya miadi ja a Nnungu, ni bhalinginji bhana bhabho.
That means that it is not all the natural-born descendants [of Abraham] whom God [considers as] his children. Instead, it is those who [believed what God] promised whom [he] considers to be his children.
9 Pabha miadi jiyene jikuti nnei, “Malinga malanga gano shimuje, na a Shala shibhakole mwana jwannume.”
[You know that what God] promised [to Abraham] was this: “About this time [next year] Sarah [your wife] will bear a son [as a result of my enabling] [MTY] [her to do so].” [So Abraham knew that it was not through Ishmael, the son that he already had, that God would fulfill what he had promised him] (OR, [that his true descendants would come]).
10 Na nngabha nneyo pe, ikabhe nkali na bhalabho a Lebheka, gubhakwete bhammba kubhashileu bhamo, a Ishaka anakulu bhetu.
And not only then did God show [that he did not determine who would be his true children according to who their ancestors were. He showed it again] when Rebecca conceived [twins] by our ancestor Isaac.
11 Ikabheje bhana bhala bhakanabhe bhelekwanga na wala bhakanabhe kombolanga kushimanya sha mmbone eu shanyata, bhai nkupinga luagu lwa bhayene a Nnungu lubhoneshe,
Before [the twins, Jacob and Esau], were born, when neither one had yet done anything good or bad, [God] said to Rebecca [about the twins she was to bear], “The older one shall later serve the younger one, [contrary to normal custom].” [God said this] in order that [we] might [clearly] understand that what he purposed [for people] was according to what he himself determined. That is, people’s [eternal destiny] does not depend on what they do. Instead, their destiny depends on [God], the one who chooses them.
12 nngabha kwa ligongo lya itendi, ikabhe kwa tumbilila kwabho bhayene, a Lebheka gubhabhalanjilwe kuti, jwa nkulu shantumishile jwa nnung'una.
13 Malinga Majandiko ga Ukonjelo shigalugula, “Njikumpinga Yakobho, ikabhe Eshau njikunkana.”
And [this teaching is] ([supported/shown to be true]) [by] what is written [in the Scriptures] {what [a prophet] recorded} [that God said]: “I favored Jacob, [the younger son]. I did not favor [HYP] Esau, [the older son].”
14 Bhai tubhelekete nndi? A Nnungu bhakaakagula aki? Ng'oo!
[Someone] might say, “(Is God unjust [by choosing the ones he wants to choose?/I think] that God is unjust [by choosing the ones he wants to choose!])” [RHQ] [I would reply], “[He is] certainly not [unjust]!”
15 Pabha kungai a Nnungu bhaabhalanjile a Musha, “Shinimmonele shiya jungumpinga kummonela shiya, na shininnjangutile jungupinga kunnjangutila.”
God told Moses, “I will pity and help anyone whom I choose [DOU]!”
16 Bhai monaga nneyo, nngabha kwa pinga wala kwa tumbila kuka mundu, ikabhe kwa shiya sha a Nnungu.
So [God chooses people], not because they want [God to choose them] or because they try hard [to do things so that he] will [accept them]. Instead he chooses people because he himself has mercy [on undeserving ones].
17 Pabha Majandiko ga Ukonjelo kwa ngani ja a Palao gakuti, “Njikumpa upalume nkupinga kwenu mmwe, nanguye mashili gangu na lina lyangu lishume nshilambolyo.”
[Moses] recorded [PRS] [that God had told] Pharaoh, “This is why I gave you [(sg)] authority [MTY]: It was in order that I might show [by how I oppose] you [how exceedingly] powerful I am, and in order that people everywhere [HYP] would hear about me [MTY].”
18 Bhai monaga nneyo, jubhapinga kummonela shiya, bhanakummonela shiya na jubhapinga kunnonopya ntima, bhanakunnonopya.
So [we conclude that God] kindly helps the ones he wants to act kindly towards. But he makes stubborn the ones [such as Pharaoh] that he wants [to make stubborn].
19 Pana shimmuye, “Pakuti bhanakutugamba tubhandu? Gani akombola kuibhilila ibhapinga a Nnungu.”
[One of] you may [object to this by] saying to me, “[Because God determines ahead of time everything that people do, that also implies that he wants us to do everything that we do]. (No one has resisted what God has willed!/Who has resisted what God has willed?) [RHQ] Therefore, (it would not be right that God would still condemn [a person for having sinned]!/why does God still condemn [a person for having sinned]?) [RHQ]”
20 Ikabheje mmwe anamundu, mmwe agani nkwaatauka a Nnungu? Bhuli shindu shipengenywe kukombola kummalanjila jwene ashipengenye, “Kwa nndi kumbanganya nnei?”
[I would reply that since] you [(sg)] are [just a] human being, (you do not [have any right at all to] criticize God!/[who are you to] say that what God does is wrong?) [RHQ] [As a potter is the one who creates a clay pot, God is the one who created you]. (A clay pot [MET] certainly would not [have a right to criticize] the potter by asking [PRS], “Why did you [(sg)] make me this way?”/Would a clay pot [have a right to criticize] the potter by asking [PRS], “Why did you [(sg)] make me this way?”) [RHQ]
21 Eu bhuli, nkugumba akaengwa kwa lilongo lyakwe kugumba shoshowe, kugumba shindu shimo sha ishima na shina sha kawaida?
Instead, (the potter certainly has the right to [take] some clay and from one lump [of clay] make one pot that people will honor and [make another] one for ordinary purposes [MET]./does not a potter have the right to [take] some clay and from one lump [of clay] make one pot that people will honor and [make another] pot for ordinary purposes?) [MET, RHQ] [Similarly, God has the right to carry out what he purposes for people].
22 Bhai shipali nndi? A Nnungu bhashinkupinga kulangula kutumbala kwabho na mashili gabho, kwa nneyo bhashinkwaapilililanga kaje bhalinginji ndumbililo ya tumbala kwabho, bhapinjikwenje kuangabhanywa.
Although God desires to show that he is angry [about sin], and [although he desires to] make clear that he can powerfully [punish people who have sinned], he tolerated very patiently the people [MET] who caused him to be angry and who deserved to be destroyed (OR, who were made to be destroyed).
23 Numbe bhashinkupinga kulanguya ukonjelo gwabho gwangwinji kwetu uwe, tuli ndumbililo ya shiya shabho, bhatubhishile kuumila bhukala tuposhele ukonjelo gwabho.
[God has been patient] in order that he might make clear how very wonderfully [he acts toward those] [MET] whom he intended to act mercifully towards and whom he prepared ahead of time in order that they might [live] gloriously [in heaven].
24 Ni uwe bhatushemile, nngabha bha munkumbi gwa Bhayaudipe, ikabhe nkali bhandunji bha ilambo ina.
That means us whom he chose—not only [us] Jews but also non-Jews.
25 Malinga shibhaalugula nshitabhu sha a Osheya kuti, “Bhene bhalinginji nngabha bhandu bhangu Shinaashemanje, ‘Bhandu bhangu!’ Na aliji jwangapingwa na nne Shaashemwe, ‘Apingwa na nne!’
[These words that] Hosea wrote [MTY] that [God] said also (show that God has the right/[support God’s right]) [to choose from among both Jews and non-Jews] [MTY]: I will declare that many people who were not my people are now my people. I will declare that many people whom I did not love [HYP] before, I love now.
26 Na shiibhe pene pubhabhalanjilwenje, ‘Mmanganyanji nngabha bhandu bhangu’ Penepo shibhashemwanje, ‘Bhana bha a Nnungu bhakwete gumi’”
And [another prophet wrote]: What will happen is that in the places where [God] told them before, “You are not my people,” in those same places [people] will declare truthfully that they are children of God, who is completely powerful.
27 Numbe a Ishaya ga bha Ishilaeli bhanakweya lilobhe bhalinkuti, “Nkali bhana bha bha Ishilaeli bhashulukanje malinga nng'anji gwa ku bhaali, bhapinga tapulwanga ni bhashokope.
Isaiah also exclaimed concerning the Israelites: Even though the Israelites are [so many that no one can count them, like] sand [particles on the beach beside] the ocean, [only] a small part of them will be saved {[God] will save [only] a small part of them},
28 Pabha Bhakulungwa shibhatende ukumu jabho pashilambolyo jitimilile kwa kaje shangupe.”
because the Lord will punish completely and speedily the [people who live on] this earth, as he said that he would do.
29 Numbe malinga a Ishaya shibhalongolele bheleketa kuti, “Kaliji Bhakulungwa bha bhandu bhowe pa shilambolyo bhakanatuleshele bhana, tukaliji malinga bhandunji bha shilambo sha Shodoma tukalingenywe na bhandunji bha shilambo sha Gomola.”
[Also, we can understand from what the prophet] Isaiah said [that God would not save] anyone if he did not show mercy: If the Lord, who controls everything in heaven, had not mercifully allowed some of our descendants to survive, we would have become like the people of [the cities of] Sodom and Gomorrah, who were [SIM, DOU] completely destroyed.
30 Bhai tubhelekete nndi? Kuti bhandunji bha ilambo ina bhangaloleyanga kukola aki, bhapatilenje aki kwa ngulupai.
We must conclude this: [RHQ] Although non-Jews did not search out [a way by which] God would erase the record of their sins, they actually found that way because they trusted [in what Christ did for them].
31 Ikabheje bha Ishilaeli bhaloleyangaga aki kwa shalia, bhangajipatanga.
But although [the people of] Israel sought a basis [by which God would] erase the record of their sins, they did not succeed in [fulfilling the true purpose of the] laws [that God gave to Moses].
32 Kwa nndi? Pabha bhangakagulilanga kwa ngulupai, ikabhe kwa kamulila shalia ja a Musha, kwa nneyo gubhaikubhelenje nniganga lya kubhala lila.
The reason [RHQ] [that they did not succeed] is that they did not trust that [God would provide a way to save them]. Instead, they were trying to do certain things [in order that God would accept them. Because they did not expect the Messiah to die, the Israelites] felt disgusted about [Jesus’ death, which is like] the stone [MET] on which people stumble.
33 Malinga shigalugula Majandiko ga Ukonjelo kuti, “Nnole ngunabhika ku Shayuni liganga lya kwiikubhala, Liganga likulu lya gwiya bhandu. Ikabheje jojowe shaabhakulupalile akatokomala.”
This is what [a prophet] predicted when he wrote these words that [God said about the Messiah]: Listen! I am placing in Israel [MTY] [one who is like] a stone [MET] on which people will stumble. What he does will offend people [DOU]. Nevertheless, those who believe in him will not be disappointed.
