UGenesisi 8
1 UNkulunkulu wasemkhumbula uNowa, lakho konke okuphilayo, laso sonke isifuyo, esasilaye emkhunjini. UNkulunkulu wavunguzisa umoya phezu komhlaba, lamanzi etsha.
But God hadn't forgotten about Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the ark. God sent a wind to blow over the earth, and the floodwaters started to drop.
2 Kwasekumiswa imithombo yokujula lamasango empophoma zamazulu, lezulu elivela emazulwini lanqandwa.
The subterranean waters were closed off, and the heavy rainfall was stopped.
3 Lamanzi etsha esuka emhlabeni, ehamba ebuyela; amanzi asencipha ekupheleni kwensuku ezilikhulu lamatshumi amahlanu.
The floodwaters steadily receded from the earth. They had gone down so much that by 150 days after the flood began
4 Umkhumbi wasuhlala ngenyanga yesikhombisa, ngosuku lwetshumi lesikhombisa lwenyanga, phezu kwezintaba zeArarathi.
the ark grounded on the mountains of Ararat. This happened on the seventeenth day of the seventh month.
5 Lamanzi aya esetsha kwaze kwaba senyangeni yetshumi; ngeyetshumi ngosuku lokuqala lwenyanga kwabonakala ingqonga zezintaba.
The waters continued to drop so that by the first day of the tenth month the tops of mountains could be seen.
6 Kwasekusithi ekupheleni kwensuku ezingamatshumi amane, uNowa wasevula iwindi lomkhumbi ayelenzile,
Forty days later Noah opened the window he'd made in the ark,
7 wasethuma iwabayi, lazulazula njalo, aze atsha amanzi emhlabeni.
and sent a raven out. It flew back and forth until the water on the earth had dried up.
8 Wasethuma ijuba lisuka kuye, ukubona ukuthi amanzi asemalutshwana yini ebusweni bomhlaba;
Then he sent a dove out to see if the waters had gone down enough to expose dry ground.
9 kodwa ijuba kalitholanga indawo yokuphumula kwengaphansi yonyawo lwalo, ngakho labuyela kuye emkhunjini, ngoba amanzi ayekhona ebusweni bomhlaba wonke. Waseselula isandla sakhe, walithatha, walingenisa kuye emkhunjini.
But the dove couldn't find anywhere to land. So it came back to Noah in the ark because water was still covering the whole earth. He reached out his hand, picked up the dove, and took it back into the ark with him.
10 Waselinda futhi ezinye izinsuku eziyisikhombisa; wasephinda elithuma ijuba lisuka emkhunjini.
He waited another seven days and sent the dove out from the ark again.
11 Ijuba laselibuya kuye ngesikhathi santambama, khangela-ke, ihlamvu lomhlwathi elisanda ukuquntwa lalisemlonyeni walo; ngakho uNowa wasesazi ukuthi amanzi asemalutshwana phezu komhlaba.
When it came back to him in the evening it had a freshly-picked olive leaf in its beak, so Noah knew the floodwaters were mainly gone from the earth.
12 Waselinda futhi ezinye insuku eziyisikhombisa; waselithuma ijuba; kalabe lisabuyela kuye futhi.
Again he waited another seven days and sent the dove out again, but this time it didn't return to him.
13 Kwasekusithi ngomnyaka wamakhulu ayisithupha lanye, ngenyanga yokuqala, ngolokuqala lwenyanga, amanzi atsha emhlabeni. UNowa wasesusa isifulelo somkhumbi, wabona, khangela-ke, ubuso bomhlaba babomile.
By now Noah was 601, and by the first day of the first month, the floodwaters on the earth were gone. Noah pulled back the ark's covering and saw that the ground was drying out.
14 Njalo ngenyanga yesibili, ngosuku lwamatshumi amabili lesikhombisa lwenyanga, umhlaba wawusuwomile.
By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was dry.
15 UNkulunkulu wasekhuluma kuNowa, esithi:
Then God told Noah,
16 Phuma emkhunjini, wena lomkakho lamadodana akho labafazi bamadodana akho kanye lawe.
“Leave the ark, you and your wife, your sons and their wives.
17 Konke okuphilayo okulawe, kuyo yonke inyama, eyenyoni leyesifuyo leyakho konke okuhuquzelayo kuhuquzela emhlabeni, phuma lakho; ukuze kuzale kwande emhlabeni, kuzale, kwande phezu komhlaba.
Let all the animals go—the birds, the wild animals, the creatures that run along the ground—so that they can breed and increase their numbers on the earth.”
18 UNowa wasephuma, lamadodana akhe, lomkakhe, labafazi bamadodana akhe kanye laye.
So Noah and his wife, his sons and their wives, left the ark.
19 Yonke inyamazana, konke okuhuquzelayo, layo yonke inyoni, konke okuhamba emhlabeni, ngenhlobo zakho, kwaphuma emkhunjini.
All the animals, all the creatures that run along the ground, all the birds—everything that lives on land—also left, each kind leaving together.
20 UNowa waseyakhela iNkosi ilathi; wathatha kuso sonke isifuyo esihlambulukileyo, lakuyo yonke inyoni ehlambulukileyo, wanikela umnikelo wokutshiswa phezu kwelathi.
Noah built an altar, and sacrificed some of the clean animals and birds as a burnt offering.
21 INkosi yasisizwa uqhatshi olumnandi; iNkosi yasisithi enhliziyweni yayo: Kangisayikuphinda ngiqalekise umhlaba ngenxa yomuntu, ngoba ukuceba kwenhliziyo yomuntu kubi kusukela ebutsheni bakhe; futhi kangisayikuphinda ngitshaye konke okuphilayo njengalokhu ngenzile.
The Lord accepted the sacrifice, and said to himself, “I won't ever again curse the ground because of human beings, even though every single thought in their minds is evil from childhood. I won't ever destroy all life again as I have just done.
22 Ngazo zonke izinsuku zomhlaba, ukuhlanyela lokuvuna, lamakhaza lokukhudumala, lehlobo lobusika, lemini lobusuku, kakuyikuphela.
As long as the earth exists, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will never come to an end.”
A Dove is Sent Forth from the Ark
