< U-Eksodusi 2 >
1 Kwasekusuka indoda yendlu yakoLevi, yathatha indodakazi yakoLevi.
Now a man of the house of Levi married a daughter of Levi,
2 Owesifazana wasethatha isisu, wazala indodana; eseyibonile ukuthi inhle, wayifihla inyanga ezintathu.
and she conceived and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months.
3 Kwathi engaselakuyifihla wayithathela isitsha semizi, wasibhada ngengcino langethara, wafaka umntwana kuso, wasibeka emihlangeni ekhunjini lomfula.
But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in the basket and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
4 Udadewabo wasezimisa khatshana ukuze azi okuzakwenziwa kuye.
And his sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 Kwasekusehla indodakazi kaFaro ukuyageza emfuleni; lamantombazana ayo ahamba eceleni komfula. Isibonile isitsha phakathi kwemihlanga, yathuma incekukazi yayo yasithatha.
Soon the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the Nile, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. And when she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to retrieve it.
6 Kwathi isivula, yabona umntwana, khangela-ke, umfanyana wakhala inyembezi. Yasimhawukela yathi: Lo ngomunye wabafana bamaHebheru.
When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the little boy was crying. So she had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”
7 Udadewabo wasesithi endodakazini kaFaro: Ngihambe yini ngiyekubizela umfazi omunyisayo kumaHebherukazi ukuze akumunyisele umfana?
Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”
8 Indodakazi kaFaro yasisithi kuye: Hamba. Intombi yasihamba, yabiza unina womfana.
“Go ahead,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. And the girl went and called the boy’s mother.
9 Indodakazi kaFaro yasisithi kuye: Thatha uhambe lalo umntwana, ungimunyisele yena; njalo mina ngizakupha iholo lakho. Owesifazana wasemthatha umntwana, wammunyisa.
Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him.
10 Umfana esekhulile, wamletha endodakazini kaFaro, wasesiba yindodana yayo. Yasisitha ibizo layo yathi nguMozisi, yathi: Ngoba ngamkhupha emanzini.
When the child had grown older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses and explained, “I drew him out of the water.”
11 Kwasekusithi ngalezonsuku, uMozisi esekhulile, waphuma waya kubafowabo, wakhangela imithwalo yabo; futhi wabona umGibhithe etshaya umHebheru kubafowabo.
One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people and observed their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
12 Wathalaza ngapha langapha; esebonile ukuthi kakulamuntu, wamtshaya umGibhithe, wamfihla etshebetshebeni.
After looking this way and that and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
13 Waphuma langosuku lwesibili, khangela-ke, amaHebheru amabili esilwa; wasesithi kowonileyo: Umtshayelani umakhelwane wakho?
The next day Moses went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you attacking your companion?”
14 Wasesithi: Ngubani okubeke ube yisiphathamandla lomahluleli phezu kwethu? Wena uzimisele ukungibulala yini njengalokho ubulele umGibhithe? UMozisi wasesesaba wathi: Isibili udaba luyaziwa.
But the man replied, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “This thing I have done has surely become known.”
15 Kwathi uFaro eseluzwile udaba, wadinga ukumbulala uMozisi. Kodwa uMozisi wabalekela ubuso bukaFaro, wahlala elizweni leMidiyani; wahlala emthonjeni.
When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, where he sat down beside a well.
16 Njalo umpristi weMidiyani wayelamadodakazi ayisikhombisa; eza ukukha, agcwalisa imikolo ukunathisa umhlambi kayise.
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.
17 Kwasekufika abelusi, bawaxotsha; kodwa uMozisi wasukuma, wawasiza wanathisa umhlambi wawo.
And when some shepherds came along and drove them away, Moses rose up to help them and watered their flock.
18 Lapho efika kuRehuweli uyise, wathi: Kungani libuye masinyane kangaka lamuhla?
When the daughters returned to their father Reuel, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”
19 Asesithi: Indoda engumGibhithe isophulile esandleni sabelusi; futhi yasikhela lokusikhela, yanathisa umhlambi.
“An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they replied. “He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
20 Wasesithi emadodakazini akhe: Kambe ingaphi? Kanti liyitshiyeleni indoda? Ibizeni, ukuze idle isinkwa.
“So where is he?” their father asked. “Why did you leave the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.”
21 UMozisi wasevuma ukuhlala lendoda; wasemnika uMozisi uZipora indodakazi yakhe.
Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.
22 Wasezala indodana; wayitha ibizo layo uGereshoma, ngoba wathi: Ngangingowemzini elizweni lemzini.
And she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
23 Kwasekusithi emva kwalezinsuku ezinengi, inkosi yeGibhithe yafa. Labantwana bakoIsrayeli babubula ngenxa yobugqili, bakhala; lokukhala kwabo kwenyukela kuNkulunkulu ngenxa yobugqili.
After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
24 UNkulunkulu wasesizwa ukububula kwabo, uNkulunkulu wakhumbula isivumelwano sakhe loAbrahama, loIsaka, njalo loJakobe.
So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
25 UNkulunkulu wasebona abantwana bakoIsrayeli, uNkulunkulu wabazi.
God saw the Israelites and took notice.