U-Eksodusi 1
1 La-ke ngamabizo amadodana kaIsrayeli afika eGibhithe loJakobe; afika, ileyo laleyo lomuzi wayo,
The sons of Jacob who went to Egypt with him along with their families were
2 uRubeni, uSimeyoni, uLevi, loJuda,
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,
3 uIsakari, uZebuluni, loBhenjamini,
Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,
4 uDani, loNafithali, uGadi, loAsheri.
Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
5 Njalo yonke imiphefumulo eyaphuma ekhalweni lukaJakobe yayiyimiphefumulo engamatshumi ayisikhombisa. Kodwa uJosefa wayeseGibhithe.
Altogether there were 70 people [who went with] Jacob. That included his [sons, his grandsons, and two great-grandsons]. [His son] Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 UJosefa wasesifa labo bonke abafowabo, lalesosizukulwana sonke.
[Eventually] Joseph and his [older and younger] brothers and everyone [else in their family who lived] (in that generation/at that time) died.
7 Njalo abantwana bakoIsrayeli bazalana, baba banengi, banda, baba lamandla kakhulukazi, ilizwe laze lagcwaliswa yibo.
But Jacob’s descendants kept giving birth to many children [IDM]. The number [of his descendants] kept becoming larger and larger. As a result, there were so many of them that they were everywhere in Egypt (OR, that they [became a threat] to the Egyptians).
8 Kwasekuvela inkosi entsha phezu kweGibhithe eyayingamazi uJosefa.
Then [several hundred years later], a new king began to rule [MTY] in Egypt. He did not know [what] Joseph [had done for the people of Egypt long ago].
9 Yasisithi esizweni sayo: Khangela, isizwe sabantwana bakoIsrayeli sinengi, futhi silamandla kulathi.
He said to his people, “Look [at what has happened]! The Israeli people have become so numerous and so powerful that they [now might conquer] us!
10 Wozani, asisihlakanipheleni, hlezi sande, njalo kuzakuthi lapho kusehla impi, laso sihlangane lezitha zethu, silwe simelene lathi, senyuke sisuke elizweni.
We must find a way to control them! If we do not do that, their population will continue to grow. Then, if enemies [PRS] attack us, they will join with our enemies and fight against us, and they will escape from [our] land.”
11 Ngakho bamisa phezu kwaso izinduna zesibhalo ukusihlupha ngemithwalo yabo. Njalo samakhela uFaro imizi eyiziphala, iPithoma leRamesesi.
So [the king and his officials] put supervisors over the Israeli people to cause them to suffer very much by [forcing them] to work very hard. They forced [the Israeli people to] build [two] cities, Pithom and Ramses, in which to store [supplies for the king/government].
12 Kodwa kwathi ekusihlupheni kwaso kwang'khona sisanda, kwang'khona sisabalala. Ngakho banengwa ngabantwana bakoIsrayeli.
But the more cruelly they treated the [Israeli people], the bigger the Israeli [population] grew, and they became more numerous all over [the land]. So the Egyptian people began to be afraid of the Israeli people.
13 Njalo amaGibhithe abasebenzisa abantwana bakoIsrayeli ngochuku,
They forced the Israeli people to work very hard,
14 aze enza impilo zabo zababa ngomsebenzi onzima, ngodaka langezitina, langawo wonke umsebenzi emasimini; ngomsebenzi wabo wonke, ababenza bawenza ngodlakela.
and by making them slaves, they made their lives miserable. They [forced them] to [build many buildings with] mortar and bricks. [They also forced them to do] other work in the fields. [In making them do all this work, the Egyptian officials treated them] ruthlessly/cruelly.
15 Inkosi yeGibhithe yasikhuluma lababelethisi amaHebherukazi, obizo lowokuqala lalinguShifira, lebizo lowesibili lalinguPhuwa,
There were two Hebrew (midwives/women who helped the women when they were giving birth). [Hebrew means the same as Israeli.] The names of the women were Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to [those two women],
16 yasisithi: Nxa libelethisa amaHebherukazi, lapho libabona ezihlalweni zokubeletha, uba kuyindodana, liyibulale; kodwa uba kuyindodakazi, iyekeleni iphila.
“When you help the Hebrew women when they are giving birth [MTY], if [the baby that is born] is a boy, you must kill it. If [the baby] is a girl, you (may let it live/do not have to kill them).”
17 Kodwa ababelethisi babemesaba uNkulunkulu, kabenzanga njengalokho yakhuluma kubo inkosi yeGibhithe, kodwa babayekela abafana baphila.
But the midwives feared/revered God. So they did not do what the king told them to do. They allowed the baby boys to live.
18 Inkosi yeGibhithe yasibiza ababelethisi, yathi kubo: Liyenzeleni linto ukuthi liyekele abafana baphile?
So the king summoned the [two] midwives and said to them, “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the baby boys live?”
19 Ababelethisi basebesithi kuFaro: Ngoba amaHebherukazi kawanjengabafazi bamaGibhithe; ngoba alamandla, umbelethisi engakafiki kuwo, asebelethile.
[One of] the midwives replied to the king, “[You need to realize that] the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. The Hebrew women are very strong/healthy. They give birth [to their babies] before we can get to them [to help them].”
20 Ngalokhu uNkulunkulu wabenzela ababelethisi okuhle, labantu banda, baba lamandla kakhulu.
So God acted kindly toward the midwives, and the [Hebrew] people became even more numerous and strong.
21 Kwasekusithi, ngoba ababelethisi bamesaba uNkulunkulu, wabakhela imizi.
Furthermore, because the midwives feared/revered God, he enabled them also to give birth to children.
22 UFaro waselaya isizwe sakhe sonke esithi: Yonke indodana ezalwayo liyiphosele emfuleni, kodwa yonke indodakazi liyiyekele iphile.
Then the king commanded all (the [Egyptian] people/his [advisors]): “You must throw into the Nile [River] every baby boy born that the [Hebrew women] give birth to! But you can allow the baby girls to live.”
