UDutheronomi 8
1 “Nanzelelani njalo lilandele yonke imilayo engilinika yona lamuhla, ukuze liphile njalo lande khona lizangena lithumbe ilizwe uThixo alinika okhokho benu ethembisa ngesifungo.
You must carefully follow every commandment I am giving you today, so that you may live and multiply, and enter and possess the land that the LORD swore to give your fathers.
2 Likhumbule ukuthi uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu walikhokhela njani lidabula inkangala okweminyaka engamatshumi amane, elichumisa lokulilinga ukuthi abone okwakusezinhliziyweni zenu, ukuthi kambe lizayigcina imiyalo yakhe na loba hayi.
Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.
3 UThixo walichumisa, walenza lalamba kanti njalo walipha ukudla okuyimana, ukudla lokho laboyihlo abangazange bakwazi, kuyikulifundisa ukuthi umuntu kaphili ngesinkwa kuphela zwi kodwa ngalo lonke ilizwi eliphuma emlonyeni kaThixo.
He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
4 Izigqoko zenu aziguganga njalo lezinyawo zenu azivuvukanga kuleyo minyaka engamatshumi amane.
Your clothing did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.
5 Gcinani lokhu ezinhliziyweni zenu lazi ukuthi njengendoda ikhuza indodana yayo, ngokufananayo uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu uyalikhuza.
So know in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.
6 Gcinani imilayo kaThixo uNkulunkulu wenu lihambe endleleni yakhe njalo limkhonze.
Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, walking in His ways and fearing Him.
7 Ngakho uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu ulisa elizweni elihle, ilizwe elilezifula leziziba zamanzi, intombo zamanzi ezimpompoza ezigodini lasemaqaqeni;
For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks and fountains and springs that flow through the valleys and hills;
8 elizweni lengqoloyi lebhali, amavini lemikhiwa, amaphomegranathi, amafutha ama-oliva lenyosi;
a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey;
9 elizweni lapha okungasayi kusweleka khona isinkwa njalo aliyikuswela lutho; elizweni lapho amatshe akhona ayinsimbi kanti njalo lingemba ikhopha emaqaqeni.
a land where you will eat food without scarcity, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and whose hills are ready to be mined for copper.
10 Lizakuthi selidlile lasutha, lidumise uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu ngelizwe elihle alinike lona.
When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.
11 Linanzelele ukuthi alilibali uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu, lingehluleki ukugcina imilayo yakhe, imithetho kanye lezimiso engilinika zona lamuhla.
Be careful not to forget the LORD your God by failing to keep His commandments and ordinances and statutes, which I am giving you this day.
12 Kungenzeka ukuthi lithi selidlile lasutha, selakhe izindlu ezinhle lahlala lazinza,
Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell,
13 njalo imihlambi yezifuyo zenu leyezimvu zenu isiqhelile yanda kuze kuthi lesiliva legolide lenu selilinengi kanye lakho konke okwenu sekukunengi kuphindwe kanenginengi,
and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all that you have is multiplied,
14 liziqhenye ezinhliziyweni zenu, libe selikhohlwa uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu, yena owalikhupha eGibhithe, walikhupha elizweni lobugqili.
then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
15 UThixo walikhokhela enkangala enkulu eyesabekayo, eyomileyo engelamanzi, elobuthi benyoka lenkume. Walinika amanzi aphuma edwaleni.
He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.
16 Walinika imana ukuba lidle enkangala, into abangazange bayazi oyihlo, ukulichumisa njalo lokulilinga ukuze kuthi ekucineni kulihambele kuhle.
He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.
17 Mhlawumbe lingathi, ‘Ngokuzimisela kwami langamandla ezandla zami sengizidalele inotho.’
You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”
18 Kodwa khumbulani uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu ngoba kunguye olipha amandla okunotha, lokho kuyikho ukugcwaliseka kwesivumelwano sakhe, sona afunga kubokhokho benu, okulokhu kunjalo lalamuhla.
But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.
19 Nxa lizake likhohlwe uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu beselilandela abanye onkulunkulu libakhonze libakhothamele, ngiyalifungela lamuhla ukuthi lizabhujiswa ngempela.
If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.
20 Njengezizwe uThixo azibhubhisa phambi kwenu lani lizabhujiswa nguThixo uNkulunkulu wenu.”
Like the nations that the LORD has destroyed before you, so you will perish if you do not obey the LORD your God.
