2 Imilando 15
1 UMoya kaNkulunkulu wasesehlela phezu kukaAzariya indodana kaOdedi.
The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded.
2 Wasephuma ukuhlangabezana loAsa, wathi kuye: Ngilalela, Asa loJuda wonke loBhenjamini; iNkosi ilani liselayo. Uba-ke liyidinga, izafunyanwa yini; kodwa uba liyilahla, izalilahla.
He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Yahweh is with you, while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
3 Okwensuku ezinengi uIsrayeli wayengelaye uNkulunkulu weqiniso, njalo engelaye umpristi ofundisayo, njalo engelawo umlayo.
Now for a long period, Israel was without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without the law.
4 Kodwa ekubandezelweni kwakhe waphendukela eNkosini, uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli, basebemdinga, wasefunyanwa yibo.
But when in their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.
5 Langalezozikhathi kwakungelakuthula kophumayo lakongenayo, ngoba inhlupheko ezinengi zaziphezu kwabo bonke abakhi bamazwe.
In those times there was no peace for him who traveled away, nor for him who traveled to here; instead, great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands.
6 Basebephahlazwa, isizwe ngesizwe, lomuzi ngomuzi, ngoba uNkulunkulu wabahlupha ngayo yonke imbandezelo.
They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city, for God troubled them with all kinds of suffering.
7 Ngakho lina qinani, zingadangali izandla zenu, ngoba kulomvuzo ngomsebenzi wenu.
But be strong, and do not let your hands be weak, for your work will be rewarded.”
8 Lapho uAsa esizwa lamazwi lesiprofetho sikaOdedi umprofethi, waziqinisa, wasusa izinengiso elizweni lonke lakoJuda loBhenjamini lemizini ayeyithumbile entabeni yakoEfrayimi, wavuselela ilathi leNkosi elalingaphambi kwekhulusi leNkosi.
When Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and drove away the disgusting things from all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had captured from the hill country of Ephraim, and he rebuilt Yahweh's altar, which was in front of the portico of Yahweh's house.
9 Wasebuthanisa wonke uJuda loBhenjamini labemzini labo ababevela koEfrayimi loManase lakoSimeyoni; ngoba bawelela kuye bevela koIsrayeli ngobunengi lapho bebona ukuthi iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakhe yayilaye.
He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who stayed with them—people from of Ephraim and Manasseh, and from Simeon. For they came from Israel to him in great numbers, when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him.
10 Basebebuthana eJerusalema ngenyanga yesithathu ngomnyaka wetshumi lanhlanu wokubusa kukaAsa.
So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of Asa's reign.
11 Basebehlabela iNkosi ngalolosuku okwempango ababeyilethile, inkabi ezingamakhulu ayisikhombisa lezimvu ezizinkulungwane eziyisikhombisa.
They sacrificed to Yahweh in that day some of the plunder that they had brought: seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep and goats.
12 Basebengena esivumelwaneni sokudinga iNkosi, uNkulunkulu waboyise, ngenhliziyo yabo yonke langomphefumulo wabo wonke.
They entered into a covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and with all their soul.
13 Njalo wonke ongadingi iNkosi uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli uzabulawa, kusukela komncinyane kusiya komkhulu, kusukela kowesilisa kusiya kowesifazana.
They agreed that whoever refused to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether the person was small or great, whether man or woman.
14 Basebefunga eNkosini ngelizwi elikhulu langokumemeza langezimpondo langempondo zezinqama.
They swore to Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, and with trumpets and horns.
15 AbakoJuda bonke bathokoza-ke ngesifungo, ngoba babefungile ngenhliziyo yabo yonke, beyidingile ngaso sonke isifiso sabo, yasifunyanwa yibo; ngakho iNkosi yabaphumuza inhlangothi zonke.
All Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart, and they sought God with their whole desire, and he was found by them. Yahweh gave them peace all around them.
16 Njalo mayelana loMahaka unina kaAsa inkosi, yamsusa ekubeni yindlovukazi, ngoba wayenzele isixuku into enengekayo. UAsa wasegamula into yakhe enengekayo, wayichola, wayitshisela esifuleni iKidroni.
He also removed Maacah, his grandmother, from being queen, because she had made a disgusting figure out of an Asherah pole. Asa cut down the disgusting figure, ground it to dust and burned it at the brook Kidron.
17 Kanti indawo eziphakemeyo kazisuswanga koIsrayeli; lanxa kunjalo inhliziyo kaAsa yayiphelele insuku zakhe zonke.
But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, Asa's heart was completely devoted all his days.
18 Wasengenisa endlini kaNkulunkulu izinto ezingcwele zikayise, lezinto zakhe ezingcwele, isiliva legolide lezitsha.
He brought into the house of God the silver and gold and the utensils that he and his father had dedicated for that purpose.
19 Kakusabanga khona impi kwaze kwaba ngumnyaka wamatshumi amathathu lanhlanu wokubusa kukaAsa.
There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.
