< UDutheronomi 7 >

1 Lapho iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho isikungenisa elizweni oya kulo ukudla ilifa lalo, ixotshe izizwe ezinengi phambi kwakho, amaHethi lamaGirigashi lamaAmori lamaKhanani lamaPerizi lamaHivi lamaJebusi, izizwe eziyisikhombisa ezinkulu lezilamandla kulawe,
“Yahweh our God will bring you to the land that you will soon enter and occupy. As you advance, he will expel from that land seven people-groups that are more powerful and more numerous than you are. He will expel the Heth people-group, the Girgash people-group, the Amor people-group, the Canaan people-group, the Periz people-group, the Hiv people-group, and the Jebus people-group.
2 lapho iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho izinikela phambi kwakho, uzazitshaya, uzitshabalalise lokuzitshabalilisa. Ungenzi isivumelwano lazo, ungabi lasihawu kuzo.
When Yahweh our God enables you to defeat [DOU] them, you must kill all of them. You must not make (an alliance/a peace treaty) with any of them. You must not act mercifully toward them.
3 Ungathathani lazo, unganiki indodakazi yakho kundodana yakhe, njalo indodakazi yakhe ungayithatheli indodana yakho.
You must not marry any of them. You must not allow your daughters to marry any of their sons or allow your sons to marry any of their daughters.
4 Ngoba izaphambula indodana yakho ekungilandeleni, ukuze bakhonze abanye onkulunkulu; ngakho ulaka lweNkosi luzalivuthela, lukubhubhise masinyane.
Because, if you did that, those people would cause your children to stop worshiping Yahweh and to worship other gods. If that happens, Yahweh will be very angry with you and he will get rid of you immediately.
5 Kodwa-ke lizakwenza njalo kuzo; lizadiliza amalathi azo, liphahlaze insika zazo eziyizithombe, ligamule izixuku zabo, litshise ngomlilo izithombe zazo ezibaziweyo.
This is what you must do to those people: Tear down their (altars/places for sacrificing animals), break apart the stone pillars [that are dedicated to their male god Baal], cut down the [poles that they use when they worship the goddess] Asherah, and burn their [wooden] idols.
6 Ngoba uyisizwe esingcwele eNkosini uNkulunkulu wakho; iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho ikukhethile ukuthi ube yisizwe sayo kanye, kuzo zonke izizwe ezisebusweni bomhlaba.
You must do that because you are a group of people who belong to Yahweh our God. He has chosen you from among all the people-groups in the world to be his own special people.
7 INkosi kayehliselanga uthando lwayo phezu kwenu, kumbe ilikhethe, ngenxa yokuthi lalibanengi kulaziphi izizwe; ngoba lalibalutshwana kulazo zonke izizwe;
“It was not because you were more numerous than any other people-group that Yahweh preferred you; you are one of the smallest people-groups on the earth.
8 kodwa kungenxa yokuthi iNkosi yalithanda, langenxa yokuthi yayizagcina isifungo eyasifunga kuboyihlo, iNkosi yalikhupha ngesandla esilamandla, yakuhlenga endlini yobugqili, esandleni sikaFaro inkosi yeGibhithe.
Instead, it is because Yahweh loved you and because he wanted to do what he vowed to your ancestors. That is the reason that he rescued you by his great power [MTY], and freed you from being slaves [MTY] of the king of Egypt.
9 Ngakho yazi ukuthi iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho inguNkulunkulu, uNkulunkulu othembekileyo, ogcina isivumelwano lomusa kubo abamthandayo labagcina imilayo yakhe, kuze kube sezizukulwaneni eziyinkulungwane,
So do not forget that Yahweh our God is the only/true God. He will do what he agreed to do for you, and he will faithfully love (for 1,000 generations/forever) all those who love him and who obey his commandments.
10 lophindisela abamzondayo ebusweni babo, ukubabhubhisa. Kayikuphuza komzondayo, uzamphindisela ebusweni bakhe.
But for those who hate him, he will (pay them back/do to them what they deserve); he will punish them and quickly get rid of them.
11 Ngakho uzagcina imilayo lezimiso lezahlulelo engikulaya zona lamuhla ukuzenza.
“So you must be sure to obey all the commandments and rules and regulations that I am giving to you today.
12 Kuzakuthi ngoba lisizwa lezizahlulelo, lizigcine, lizenze, iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho izakugcinela isivumelwano lomusa eyakufungela oyihlo.
If you heed these commands and obey them faithfully, Yahweh our God will do what he has agreed to do for you, and he will faithfully love you, which is what he vowed to your ancestors that he would do.
13 Njalo izakuthanda, ikubusise, ikwandise. Futhi izabusisa isithelo sesizalo sakho, lesithelo selizwe lakho, amabele akho, lewayini lakho elitsha, lamafutha akho, umqegu wenkomo zakho, lemihlambi yezimvu zakho, elizweni alifungela oyihlo ukukunika lona.
He will love you and bless you. He will enable you to have many children [DOU]. He will bless your fields, with the result that you will have plenty of grain and [grapes to make] wine and plenty of [olive] oil. You will have many cattle and sheep. He will do all these things for you in the land that he promised to your ancestors that he would give to you.
14 Uzabusiswa kulazo zonke izizwe; kakuyikuba khona phakathi kwakho owesilisa ongazaliyo lowesifazana oyinyumba, loba phakathi kwezifuyo zakho.
He will bless you more than he will bless any other people-group. All of you will be able to have/produce children [LIT]. All of your livestock will be able to produce offspring.
15 LeNkosi izasusa kuwe wonke umkhuhlane; kayiyikukwehlisela lasinye sezifo ezimbi zeGibhithe ozaziyo, kodwa izazehlisela phezu kwabo bonke abakuzondayo.
And Yahweh will protect you from all illnesses. You will not be afflicted with any of the dreadful diseases that [our ancestors knew about] in Egypt, but all your enemies will be inflicted with those diseases.
16 Njalo uzabaqothula bonke abantu ezabanikela kuwe iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho; ilihlo lakho lingabazweli, ungakhonzi onkulunkulu babo, ngoba lokhu kuzakuba ngumjibila kuwe.
You must get rid of all the people-groups that Yahweh our God will enable you to conquer. Do not [SYN] act mercifully toward any of them. And do not worship their gods, because if you do that, it would be like falling into a trap [from which you will never be able to escape].
17 Nxa uzakuthi enhliziyweni yakho: Izizwe lezi zinengi kulami; ngingazixotsha njani elifeni lazo?
“Do not think to yourselves, ‘These people-groups are more numerous/powerful than we are, so we certainly cannot [RHQ] expel them.’
18 Ungazesabi, khumbula kuhle lokho iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho eyakwenza kuFaro lakuGibhithe lonke,
Do not be afraid of them. Instead, think about what Yahweh our God did to the king of Egypt and to all the people whom he [ruled].
19 izilingo ezinkulu ilihlo lakho elazibonayo, lezibonakaliso, lezimangaliso, lesandla esilamandla, lengalo eyeluliweyo, iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho eyakukhupha ngakho. INkosi uNkulunkulu wakho izakwenza njalo kuzo zonke izizwe ozesabayo.
Do not forget the terrible plagues that your ancestors saw [Yahweh inflict on the people of Egypt], and the many [DOU] miracles [that he performed], and the very powerful [DOU, MTY] way by which he brought your ancestors out [of Egypt]. Yahweh our God will do the same kind of things to the people-groups that you are afraid of now.
20 Futhi-ke iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho izathumela olonyovu phakathi kwazo, zize zibhujiswe eziseleyo lezicatshele ubuso bakho.
Furthermore, he will cause them to become terrified, and he will destroy those who remain alive and run away to hide from you.
21 Kaliyikutshaywa luvalo ngazo, ngoba iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho iphakathi kwakho, uNkulunkulu omkhulu lowesabekayo.
Do not be afraid of those people, because Yahweh our God will be with/among you. He is a great God; he is the one you should be afraid of.
22 INkosi uNkulunkulu wakho izazingcothula lezizizwe phambi kwakho kancinyane kancinyane; ungeziqede masinyane, hlezi izilo zeganga zikwandele.
He will expel those people-groups gradually. You should not [try to] expel all of them at one time, because if you did that, the number of wild animals would quickly increase, [and you would not be able to get rid of them].
23 Kodwa iNkosi uNkulunkulu wakho izazinikela phambi kwakho, iziphazamise ngokuphazamiseka okukhulu, zize zichithwe.
Instead, Yahweh will enable you to defeat your enemies [one people-group at a time]. He will cause them to panic until they are destroyed.
24 Izanikela ezandleni zakho amakhosi azo, njalo uzacitsha ibizo lawo lisuke ngaphansi kwamazulu; kakulamuntu ozakuma phambi kwakho uze uzibhubhise.
He will enable you to defeat [IDM] their kings. After you kill them, their names will be forgotten {people will forget about them}. No people-group will be able to stop you; you will destroy all of them.
25 Izithombe ezibaziweyo zabonkulunkulu bazo lizazitshisa ngomlilo. Ungafisi isiliva legolide elikuzo, ungazithatheli lona, hlezi ubanjwe emjibileni ngalo, ngoba liyisinengiso eNkosini uNkulunkulu wakho.
You must burn the wooden idols [that represent] their gods. Do not desire to take the silver or gold [decorations] that are on those idols, because if you take them for yourselves, they will be like a trap [to cause you to want to worship those idols]. Yahweh hates [the worship of those idols].
26 Njalo ungasingenisi isinengiso endlini yakho, hlezi ube yinto eqalekisiweyo njengaso; usenyanye lokusenyanya, unengwe lokunengwa yiso, ngoba siyinto eqalekisiweyo.
You must not bring any of those disgusting idols into your houses, because if you do that, God will curse you like he curses them. You must hate and despise [DOU] those idols, because they are things that [Yahweh] has cursed.”

< UDutheronomi 7 >