Imisebenzi 7
1 Umpristi omkhulu wasesithi: Kambe lezizinto zinjalo?
The high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 Wasesithi: Madoda, bazalwane labobaba, lalelani. UNkulunkulu wenkazimulo wabonakala kubaba wethu uAbrahama eseMesopotamiya, engakahlali eHarani,
He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
3 wasesithi kuye: Phuma elizweni lakini lezihlotsheni zakho, uze elizweni engizakutshengisa lona.
and said to him, ‘Get out of your land and away from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’
4 Wasesuka elizweni lamaKhaladiya wahlala eHarani; kwathi esuka lapho, emva kokufa kukayise, wamsusa wamhlalisa kulelilizwe elihlezi kilo lina khathesi;
Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land where you are now living.
5 kodwa kamnikanga ilifa kilo, hatshi lanyathela; kodwa wathembisa ukumnika lona libe ngelakhe, lelenzalo yakhe emva kwakhe, engakabi lamntwana.
He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his offspring after him, when he still had no child.
6 UNkulunkulu wasekhuluma kanje esithi inzalo yakhe izakuba yisihambi elizweni lemzini, bazayenza isigqili bazayiphatha kubi, iminyaka engamakhulu amane;
God spoke in this way: that his offspring would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.
7 kodwa lesosizwe, abazakuba yizigqili kuso, ngizasigweba mina, kutsho uNkulunkulu; njalo emva kwalezizinto bazaphuma, bangikhonze kulindawo.
‘I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve me in this place.’
8 Wasemnika isivumelwano sokusoka; ngokunjalo wazala uIsaka, wamsoka ngosuku lwesificaminwembili; loIsaka wazala uJakobe, loJakobe okhokho abalitshumi lambili.
He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
9 Okhokho basebesiba lomona bathengisa uJosefa eGibhithe; kodwa uNkulunkulu wayelaye,
“The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him
10 wasemkhulula kuzo zonke inhlupheko zakhe, wamnika umusa lenhlakanipho phambi kukaFaro inkosi yeGibhithe; wasembeka ukuba ngumbusi phezu kweGibhithe lowendlu yakhe yonke.
and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
11 Kwasekufika indlala elizweni lonke leGibhithe leleKhanani, lokuhlupheka okukhulu; labobaba bethu kabatholanga ukudla.
Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food.
12 Kodwa uJakobe esezwile ukuthi kukhona amabele eGibhithe, wathuma obaba bethu okokuqala.
But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time.
13 Kwathi ngokwesibili uJosefa waziswa kubafowabo, labakibo kaJosefa babonakaliswa kuFaro.
On the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh.
14 UJosefa wasethumela wabizela kuye uyise uJakobe, lalo lonke usendo lwakhe, kulemiphefumulo engamatshumi ayisikhombisa lanhlanu.
Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his relatives, seventy-five souls.
15 UJakobe wasesehlela eGibhithe, wasesifa yena labobaba bethu;
Jacob went down into Egypt and he died, himself and our fathers;
16 basebethwalelwa eShikemi, balaliswa engcwabeni uAbrahama ayelithenge ngentengo yemali kumadodana kaHamori weShikemi.
and they were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the children of Hamor of Shechem.
17 Kwathi sesisondele isikhathi sesithembiso uNkulunkulu ayesifunge kuAbrahama, bakhula abantu banda eGibhithe,
“But as the time of the promise came close which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
18 kwaze kwavela enye inkosi, eyayingamazi uJosefa.
until there arose a different king who didn’t know Joseph.
19 Yona yasiphatha ngobuqili isizukulu sakithi, yabahlupha obaba bethu, ukubalahlisa insane zabo, ukuze zingaphili.
The same took advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to abandon their babies, so that they wouldn’t stay alive.
20 Ngalesosikhathi kwazalwa uMozisi, waba muhle kuNkulunkulu; owondliwa endlini kayise inyanga ezintathu.
At that time Moses was born, and was exceedingly handsome to God. He was nourished three months in his father’s house.
21 Eselahliwe, indodakazi kaFaro yamdobha, yazondlela yena ukuthi abe yindodana.
When he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up and reared him as her own son.
22 Njalo uMozisi wafundiswa kuyo yonke inhlakanipho yamaGibhithe; wasesiba lamandla ngamazwi langemisebenzi.
Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in his words and works.
23 Kwathi eselesikhathi seminyaka engamatshumi amane agcweleyo, kwafika enhliziyweni yakhe ukuthi ahambele abafowabo abantwana bakoIsrayeli.
But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.
24 Kwathi ebona omunye ephathwa kubi, wamvikela wamphindisela ohlutshwayo, watshaya umGibhithe;
Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him who was oppressed, striking the Egyptian.
25 njalo wayethemba ukuthi abafowabo bazaqedisisa ukuthi uNkulunkulu ubanika inkululeko ngesandla sakhe; kodwa kabaqedisisanga.
He supposed that his brothers understood that God, by his hand, was giving them deliverance; but they didn’t understand.
26 Njalo ngosuku olulandelayo wazibonakalisa kubo ababesilwa, wabalamula ngamandla, esithi: Madoda, lingabazalwane; liphathanelani kubi?
“The day following, he appeared to them as they fought, and urged them to be at peace again, saying, ‘Sirs, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another?’
27 Kodwa lowo owayemona umakhelwane wamsunduza, esithi: Ubekwe ngubani ukuba ngumbusi lomahluleli phezu kwethu?
But he who did his neighbour wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
28 Usufuna ukungibulala yini, njengoba ubulele umGibhithe izolo?
Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
29 Ngalelilizwi uMozisi wasebaleka, waba ngowemzini elizweni leMadiyani, lapho azala khona amadodana amabili.
Moses fled at this saying, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
30 Kwathi sekugcwaliseke iminyaka engamatshumi amane, kwabonakala kuye enkangala yentaba iSinayi ingilosi yeNkosi phakathi kwelangabi lomlilo esihlahleni.
“When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.
31 Kwathi uMozisi esebonile wamangala ngalowombono; esasondela ukuthi akhangelisise, ilizwi leNkosi lafika kuye lisithi:
When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. As he came close to see, the voice of the Lord came to him,
32 Mina nginguNkulunkulu waboyihlo, uNkulunkulu kaAbrahama loNkulunkulu kaIsaka loNkulunkulu kaJakobe. UMozisi wasethuthumela, kazaba lesibindi sokukhangelisisa.
‘I am the God of your fathers: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Moses trembled and dared not look.
33 INkosi yasisithi kuye: Khulula amanyathela enyaweni zakho; ngoba indawo omi kiyo ingumhlabathi ongcwele.
The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you stand is holy ground.
34 Ngikubonile lokukubona ukuhlutshwa kwabantu bami abaseGibhithe, njalo ngizwile ukububula kwabo; sengehlile ukuthi ngibakhulule; khathesi-ke woza, ngizakuthuma eGibhithe.
I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.’
35 UMozisi lo abamalayo besithi: Ubekwe ngubani ukuba ngumbusi lomahluleli? - nguye uNkulunkulu amthumayo ukuba ngumbusi lomkhululi ngesandla sengilosi eyabonakala kuye esihlahleni.
“This Moses whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
36 Yena wabakhupha, esenze izimangaliso lezibonakaliso elizweni leGibhithe loLwandle oluBomvu, lenkangala iminyaka engamatshumi amane.
This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.
37 Nguye lowo uMozisi owathi kubantwana bakoIsrayeli: INkosi uNkulunkulu wenu uzalivusela umprofethi kubazalwane benu onjengami; lizamuzwa yena.
This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from amongst your brothers, like me.’
38 Nguye lowo owayesebandleni enkangala, kanye lengilosi eyakhuluma laye entabeni iSinayi kanye labobaba bethu; owemukela amazwi aphilayo, ukuze asinike;
This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living revelations to give to us,
39 yena obaba bethu abangavumanga ukumlalela, kodwa bamsunduzela eceleni, basebebuyela eGibhithe ngenhliziyo zabo,
to whom our fathers wouldn’t be obedient, but rejected him and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,
40 besithi kuAroni: Senzele onkulunkulu abazahamba phambi kwethu; ngoba uMozisi lo, owasikhupha elizweni iGibhithe, kasazi ukuthi wehlelwe yini.
saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’
41 Basebesenza ithole ngalezonsuku, baletha umhlatshelo esithombeni, bajabula ngemisebenzi yezandla zabo.
They made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.
42 Kodwa uNkulunkulu wafulathela, wabanikela ukuthi bakhonze ibutho lezulu; njengokulotshiweyo encwadini yabaprofethi ukuthi: Laletha kimi yini imihlatshelo leminikelo iminyaka engamatshumi amane enkangala, ndlu kaIsrayeli?
But God turned away and gave them up to serve the army of the sky, as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘Did you offer to me slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43 Njalo lathatha ithabhanekele likaMoloki lenkanyezi kankulunkulu wenu uRefani, imifanekiso elayenza ukuthi liyikhonze; njalo ngizalithuthela ngaphambili kweBhabhiloni.
You took up the tabernacle of Moloch, the star of your god Rephan, the figures which you made to worship, so I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
44 Obaba bethu babelalo ithabhanekele lobufakazi enkangala, njengokulayela kwalowo owakhuluma loMozisi, ukuthi alenze ngomfanekiso ayewubonile;
“Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen;
45 okwathi futhi obaba bethu abalandelayo sebelemukele balingenisa kanye loJoshuwa empahleni yezizwe, uNkulunkulu azixotsha phambi kobuso babobaba, kwaze kwaba sensukwini zikaDavida;
which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations whom God drove out before the face of our fathers to the days of David,
46 owathola umusa phambi kukaNkulunkulu, wacela ukutholela uNkulunkulu kaJakobe ithabhanekele.
who found favour in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.
47 Kodwa uSolomoni wamakhela indlu.
But Solomon built him a house.
48 Kodwa oPhezukonke kahlali ethempelini elenziwe ngezandla, njengokutsho komprofethi ukuthi:
However, the Most High doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says,
49 Izulu kimi liyisihlalo sobukhosi, lomhlaba uyisenabelo senyawo zami; lizangakhela indlu enjani, kutsho iNkosi; kumbe yiyiphi indawo yami yokuphumula?
‘heaven is my throne, and the earth a footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build me?’ says the Lord. ‘Or what is the place of my rest?
50 Isandla sami kasizenzanga yini zonke lezizinto?
Didn’t my hand make all these things?’
51 Lina ntamo zilukhuni njalo abangasokanga enhliziyweni lendlebeni, lina limelana njalonjalo loMoya oyiNgcwele; njengaboyihlo, linjalo lani.
“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
52 Nguwuphi owabaprofethi oyihlo abangamzingelanga? Basebebulala labo abamemezela ngaphambili ngokuza koLungileyo, yena lo lina khathesi eselabangabanikeli lababulali bakhe;
Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.
53 elemukela umlayo ngokuhlela kwezingilosi, kodwa kaliwulondolozanga.
You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!”
54 Bathi sebezwile lezizinto, bahlabeka enhliziyweni zabo, bamgedlela amazinyo.
Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
55 Kodwa yena egcwele uMoya oNgcwele, wajolozela ezulwini, wabona inkazimulo kaNkulunkulu, loJesu emi ngakwesokunene sikaNkulunkulu,
But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56 wasesithi: Khangelani, ngibona amazulu evulekile, leNdodana yomuntu imi ngakwesokunene sikaNkulunkulu.
and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57 Kodwa bamemeza ngelizwi elikhulu, bavala indlebe zabo, batheleka phezu kwakhe bengqondonye;
But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, then rushed at him with one accord.
58 basebemkhuphela ngaphandle komuzi, bamkhanda ngamatshe; labafakazi babeka phansi izembatho zabo enyaweni zejaha elithiwa nguSawuli.
They threw him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 Bamkhanda ngamatshe uStefane, ebiza esithi: Nkosi Jesu, yemukela umoya wami.
They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
60 Waseguqa ngamadolo, wamemeza ngelizwi elikhulu esithi: Nkosi, ungababaleli lesisono. Esetshilo lokhu walala.
He knelt down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
