2 Imilando 28
1 UAhazi wayeleminyaka engamatshumi amabili esiba yinkosi; wabusa iminyaka elitshumi lesithupha eJerusalema. Kodwa kenzanga okuqondileyo emehlweni eNkosi, njengoDavida uyise.
Ahaz was 20 years old when he became the king [of Judah]. He ruled from Jerusalem for 16 years. His ancestor King David was a good king, but Ahaz was not like David. He constantly disobeyed Yahweh
2 Ngoba wahamba ezindleleni zamakhosi akoIsrayeli, wasesenzela oBhali izithombe ezibunjwe ngokuncibilikisa.
and was as sinful as the kings of Israel had been. He made idols of the god Baal.
3 Yena watshisa impepha esihotsheni sendodana kaHinomu, watshisa lamadodana akhe emlilweni, njengokwamanyala ezizwe iNkosi eyazixotsha elifeni phambi kwabantwana bakoIsrayeli.
He burned incense in Hinnom Valley. He even [killed some of] his own sons [and] offered [them] as sacrifices to be completely burned. That imitated the disgusting customs of the people-groups who previously lived there, people whom Yahweh had expelled as the Israelis advanced through the land.
4 Wanikela imihlatshelo watshisa impepha endaweni eziphakemeyo laphezu kwamaqaqa langaphansi kwaso sonke isihlahla esiluhlaza.
Ahaz offered sacrifices [to idols] at shrines on hilltops and under every big green tree.
5 Ngakho iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakhe yamnikela esandleni senkosi yeSiriya; asemtshaya, athumba kuye abathunjiweyo abanengi, abasa eDamaseko. Futhi wanikelwa esandleni senkosi yakoIsrayeli eyamtshaya ngokutshaya okukhulu.
Therefore Yahweh his God allowed his army to be defeated by the army of the king of Syria. They captured many soldiers of Judah and took them as prisoners to Damascus. The army of the king of Israel also defeated the army of Judah and killed very many of their soldiers.
6 Ngoba uPheka indodana kaRemaliya wabulala koJuda abazinkulungwane ezilikhulu lamatshumi amabili ngasuku lunye, bonke bengamadoda alamandla, ngoba babeyidelile iNkosi uNkulunkulu waboyise.
In one day the army of Remaliah’s son, King Pekah [of Israel], killed 120,000 soldiers in Judah. That happened because [the people of] Judah had abandoned Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors [worshiped].
7 UZikiri iqhawe lakoEfrayimi wasebulala uMahaseya indodana yenkosi loAzirikamu umphathi wendlu loElkana owesibili enkosini.
Zicri, a warrior from the tribe of Ephraim, killed king Ahaz’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam the officer in charge of the palace, and Elkanah, the king’s assistant.
8 Abantwana bakoIsrayeli basebethumba kubafowabo abazinkulungwane ezingamakhulu amabili, abesifazana, amadodana, lamadodakazi; baphanga lempango enengi kibo, bayiletha impango eSamariya.
The soldiers of Israel captured 200,000 of the people of Judah, including many wives and sons and daughters [of the soldiers of Judah]. They also seized and took back to Samaria many valuable things.
9 Kodwa kwakukhona lapho umprofethi weNkosi obizo lakhe lalinguOdedi; wasephuma phambi kwebutho elalisiza eSamariya, wathi kibo: Khangelani, ngenxa yolaka lweNkosi uNkulunkulu waboyihlo phezu kukaJuda, ibanikele esandleni senu; libabulele-ke ngolaka olufinyelele emazulwini.
But a prophet of Yahweh whose name was Obed was there [in Samaria]. He went out of the city to meet the army when it returned to Samaria. He said to them, “Because Yahweh, the God whom your ancestors [belonged to], was angry with [the people of] Judah, he allowed you to defeat them. But God has seen the cruel way that you slaughtered them.
10 Khathesi-ke lina lithi lehlisela ngaphansi kwenu abantwana bakoJuda labeJerusalema babe yizigqili lezigqilikazi. Kodwa lina kakulamacala yini kini amelene leNkosi uNkulunkulu wenu?
And now you want to [sin by] causing men and women from Judah to become your slaves, but you have certainly also sinned against Yahweh our God!
11 Ngakho-ke ngilalelani; libuyisele abathunjiweyo elibathumbe kubafowenu, ngoba ukuvutha kolaka lweNkosi kuphezu kwenu.
So listen to me! Send back [to Judah] your fellow-countrymen whom you have captured, because Yahweh is extremely angry with you [for what you did to them].”
12 Kwasekusukuma amadoda kunhloko zabantwana bakoEfrayimi, oAzariya indodana kaJohanani, uBerekiya indodana kaMeshilemothi, loJehizikiya indodana kaShaluma, loAmasa indodana kaHadilayi, bamelana lalabo ababengena bevela ebuthweni.
Then some of the leaders of [the tribe of] Ephraim—Azariah the son of Jehohanan, Berekiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai—rebuked those who were returning from the battle.
13 Basebesithi kibo: Kaliyikungenisa abathunjiweyo lapha kube licala eNkosini limelene lathi; ngoba lina lithi lizakwengeza ezonweni zethu lemacaleni ethu, ngoba isiphambeko sethu sikhulu, lokuvutha kolaka kuphezu kukaIsrayeli.
They said to them, “You must not bring those prisoners here! If you do that, Yahweh will consider that we are guilty of sinning. We are already guilty of committing many sins; do you want to cause us to be even more guilty by committing another sin? God is already very angry with [us people of] Israel!”
14 Ngakho abahlomileyo batshiya abathunjiweyo lempango phambi kweziphathamandla lebandla lonke.
So, while their leaders and others were watching, the soldiers released the prisoners, and also gave back to them the valuable things that they had captured.
15 Lamadoda abizwa ngamabizo asukuma, abamba abathunjiweyo, agqokisa bonke ababenqunu babo ngokuvela empangweni; yebo abagqokisa, abafaka amanyathela, abanika ukudla, abanathisa, abagcoba, athwala bonke ababuthakathaka ngabobabhemi, abasa eJeriko, umuzi wamalala, duze labafowabo; basebebuyela eSamariya.
The leaders who were selected took some of the clothes that the soldiers had taken from the prisoners and gave those clothes back to the people who were naked. They also gave to the prisoners sandals and other clothes and things to eat and drink, and they gave them olive oil to rub on their wounds. They gave donkeys to those who were very weak, in order that they could ride on them. Then they led them all to Jericho, the city that had many palm trees. Then those leaders [of Israel] returned to Samaria.
16 Ngalesosikhathi inkosi uAhazi yathuma emakhosini eAsiriya ukumncedisa.
About that time, King Ahaz sent [a message] to the king of Assyria requesting help.
17 Ngoba amaEdoma ayesebuye atshaya uJuda, athumba abathunjwa.
[He did that because the army from] the Edom people-group had come again and attacked Judah and taken away many of the people of Judah as prisoners.
18 LamaFilisti ayehlasele imizi yesihotsha leningizimu yakoJuda, athumba iBeti-Shemeshi, leAjaloni, leGederothi, leSoko lemizana yayo, leTimina lemizana yayo, leGimizo lemizana yayo; ahlala khona.
At the same time, men from Philistia had raided/attacked towns in the foothills and in the southern desert of Judah. They had captured Beth-Shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth [cities], as well as Soco, Timnah and Gimzo [towns] and the nearby villages.
19 Ngoba iNkosi yamthobisa uJuda ngenxa kaAhazi inkosi yakoIsrayeli, ngoba wamenza ze uJuda, wasephambuka kakhulu eNkosini.
Yahweh [allowed those things to happen in order to] humble king Ahaz, because he had encouraged the people of Judah to do wicked things and had disobeyed Yahweh very much.
20 Ngakho uTiligathi-Pileseri inkosi yeAsiriya wafika kuye, wamhlupha, kodwa kamqinisanga.
Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, sent [his army saying that they would] help Ahaz, but instead of helping him, they caused him to experience trouble.
21 Ngoba uAhazi wathatha isabelo sendlu kaJehova lesendlu yenkosi leseziphathamandla, wasipha inkosi yeAsiriya; kodwa kayimsizanga.
Ahaz’s [soldiers] took some of the [valuable] things from the temple and from the king’s palace and from other leaders of Judah and sent them to the king of Assyria [to pay him to help them], but the king of Assyria refused to help Ahaz.
22 Ngesikhathi sohlupho lwakhe wengeza-ke ekuphambekeni emelene loJehova. Le yinkosi uAhazi.
While King Ahaz was experiencing those troubles, he disobeyed Yahweh even more.
23 Ngoba wahlabela onkulunkulu beDamaseko ababemtshayile, wathi: Ngoba onkulunkulu bamakhosi eSiriya bayawasiza, ngizahlabela bona ukuze bangisize. Kodwa bona baba yimbangela yokuwa kwakhe, kuye lakuIsrayeli wonke.
He offered sacrifices to the gods that were worshiped in Damascus, whose [army] had defeated his [army]. He thought, “The gods that are worshiped by the kings of Syria have helped them, so I will offer sacrifices to those gods in order that they will help me.” But worshiping those gods caused Ahaz and all of Israel to be ruined.
24 UAhazi waseqoqa izitsha zendlu kaNkulunkulu, waziquma iziqa izitsha zendlu kaNkulunkulu, wavala iminyango yendlu yeNkosi, wazenzela amalathi kuyo yonke ingonsi eJerusalema.
Ahaz gathered all the furnishings [that were used] in the temple and broke them into pieces. He locked the doors of the temple and set up altars [for worshiping idols] at every street corner in Jerusalem.
25 Lakuwo wonke umuzi ngomuzi wakoJuda wenza indawo eziphakemeyo zokutshisela abanye onkulunkulu impepha, wayithukuthelisa iNkosi uNkulunkulu waboyise.
In every town in Judah, his workers built shrines to burn sacrifices to other gods, and that caused Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors [worshiped], to be very angry.
26 Ezinye-ke zezindaba zakhe lazo zonke indlela zakhe, ezokuqala lezokucina, khangela, zibhaliwe egwalweni lwamakhosi akoJuda lawakoIsrayeli.
A record of the other things that Ahaz did while he was the king, from when he started to rule until he died, is written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel’.
27 UAhazi waselala laboyise, basebemngcwabela emzini, eJerusalema; kodwa kabamlethanga emangcwabeni amakhosi akoIsrayeli. UHezekhiya indodana yakhe wasesiba yinkosi esikhundleni sakhe.
Ahaz died and was buried in Jerusalem, but he was not buried in the tombs where the other kings [had been buried]. Then his son Hezekiah became the king.
