KwabaseRoma 2
1 Ngakho kawulakuzilandulela, wena muntu, loba ungubani owahlulelayo; ngoba ngalokho owahlulela ngakho omunye, uyazilahla wena, ngoba wena owahlulelayo wenza izinto ezifananayo.
Therefore you have nothing to say in your own defense, whoever you are who set yourself up as a judge. In judging others you condemn yourself, for you who set yourself up as a judge do the very same things.
2 Njalo siyazi ukuthi ukwahlulela kukaNkulunkulu kungokweqiniso phezu kwalabo abenza izinto ezinjalo.
And we know that God’s judgment falls unerringly on those who do them.
3 Njalo ucabanga lokho yini, O muntu owahlulela abenza izinto ezinjalo, lawe uzenza lezozinto, ukuthi wena uzaphepha ukwahlulela kukaNkulunkulu?
You who judge those that do such things and yet are yourself guilty of them – do you suppose that you of all people will escape God’s judgment?
4 Kumbe uyayeyisa yini inotho yomusa wakhe leyokubekezela lesineke, ungazi ukuthi umusa kaNkulunkulu ukukhokhelela ekuphendukeni?
Or do you think lightly of his abundant kindness, patience, and forbearance, not realizing that his kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
5 Kodwa ngobulukhuni bakho lenhliziyo yakho engaphendukiyo uzibekela ulaka ngosuku lolaka lolwesambulo sokwahlulelwa okulungileyo kukaNkulunkulu,
Hard-hearted and impenitent as you are, you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath, when God’s justice as a judge will be revealed;
6 ozavuza lowo lalowo ngokwemisebenzi yakhe;
for he will give to everyone what their actions deserve.
7 impilo elaphakade kubo abalesineke ngokwenza imisebenzi elungileyo bedinga inkazimulo lodumo lokungabhubhi; (aiōnios g166)
To those who, by perseverance in doing good, aim at glory, honor, and all that is imperishable, he will give immortal life; (aiōnios g166)
8 kodwa intukuthelo lolaka kulabo abalenkani, njalo bengalaleli iqiniso kodwa belalela ukungalungi,
while as to those who are factious, and disobedient to truth but obedient to evil, wrath and anger, distress and despair,
9 usizi lokubandezeleka, phezu kwawo wonke umphefumulo womuntu owenza ububi, owomJuda kuqala lowomGriki;
will fall on every human being who persists in wrongdoing – on the Jew first, but also on the Greek.
10 kodwa inkazimulo lodumo lokuthula kuye wonke owenza okuhle, kumJuda kuqala lakumGriki;
But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does right – for the Jew first, but also for the Greek,
11 ngoba kakukho ukubandlulula umuntu kuNkulunkulu.
since God shows no partiality.
12 Ngoba bonke abonileyo bengelamlayo, ngokunjalo bazabhubha bengelamlayo; njalo bonke abonileyo emlayweni, bazagwetshwa ngomlayo;
All who, when they sin, are without Law will also perish without Law; while all who, when they sin, are under Law, will be judged as being under Law.
13 ngoba kakusibo abezwayo umlayo abalungileyo phambi kukaNkulunkulu, kodwa abenzayo umlayo bazalungisiswa.
It is not those who hear the words of a Law that are righteous before God, but it is those who obey it that will be pronounced righteous.
14 Ngoba nxa abezizwe abangelawo umlayo besenza ngokwemvelo okungokomlayo, bona, bengelawo umlayo, bangumlayo kubo ngokwabo;
When Gentiles, who have no Law, do instinctively what the Law requires, they, though they have no Law, are a Law to themselves;
15 ababonakalisa ukuthi umsebenzi womlayo ulotshiwe enhliziyweni zabo; isazela sabo laso siyafakaza, lemicabango yabo ibasole omunye komunye kumbe njalo ibavikele omunye komunye,
for they show the demands of the Law written on their hearts; their consciences corroborating it, while in their thoughts they argue either in self-accusation or, it may be, in self-defense –
16 ngosuku uNkulunkulu azakwahlulela ngalo imfihlo zabantu, ngoJesu Kristu, ngokwevangeli lami.
on the day when God passes judgment on people’s inmost lives, as the good news that I tell declares that he will do through Christ Jesus.
17 Khangela wena ubizwa ngokuthi ungumJuda, weyeme emlayweni, uzincoma ngoNkulunkulu,
But, perhaps, you bear the name of ‘Jew,’ and are relying on Law, and boast of belonging to God, and understand his will,
18 usazi intando yakhe, usemukela izinto ezingcono, ufundiswe emlayweni,
and, having been carefully instructed from the Law, have learned to appreciate the finer moral distinctions.
19 njalo uzithembile wena ukuthi ungumholi weziphofu, ukukhanya kwabasemnyameni,
Perhaps you are confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in the dark, an instructor of the unintelligent,
20 umeluleki wezithutha, umfundisi wensane, ulesimo solwazi lolweqiniso emlayweni.
and a teacher of the childish, because in the Law you possess the outline of all knowledge and truth.
21 Ngakho wena ofundisa omunye, kawuzifundisi yini? Wena otshumayela ukuthi ungebi, uyeba yini?
Why, then, you teacher of others, don’t you teach yourself? Do you preach against stealing, and yet steal?
22 Wena othi ungafebi, uyafeba yini? Wena onengwa yizithombe, uphanga amathempeli yini?
Do you forbid adultery, and yet commit adultery? Do you loathe idols, and yet plunder temples?
23 Wena ozincoma ngomlayo, udumaza uNkulunkulu ngokweqa umlayo yini?
Boasting, as you do, of your Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law?
24 Ngoba ibizo likaNkulunkulu liyahlanjazwa phakathi kwabezizwe ngenxa yenu, njengoba kulotshiwe.
For, as scripture says – ‘The Gentiles insult God’s name because of you’!
25 Ngoba isibili ukusoka kuyasiza, uba usenza umlayo; kodwa uba ungumeqi womlayo, ukusoka kwakho sekuyikungasoki.
Circumcision has its value, if you are obeying the Law. But, if you are a breaker of the Law, your circumcision is no better than uncircumcision.
26 Ngakho uba ukungasoki kugcina izimiso zomlayo, ukungasoki kwakhe kakuyikubalwa yini ukuthi kuyikusoka?
If, then, an uncircumcised man pays regard to the requirements of the Law, won’t he, although not circumcised, be regarded by God as if he were?
27 Lokungasoki ngemvelo, uba kugcwalisa umlayo, kungekugwebe yini wena ongumeqi womlayo ngombhalo langokusoka?
Indeed, the person who, owing to his birth, remains uncircumcised, and yet scrupulously obeys the Law, will condemn you, who, for all your written Law and your circumcision, are yet a breaker of the Law.
28 Ngoba kayisuye umJuda onguye ngokusobala, njalo kakusikho ukusoka okusobala enyameni;
For a man who is only a Jew outwardly is not a real Jew; nor is outward bodily circumcision real circumcision. The real Jew is the person who is a Jew in soul;
29 kodwa yena ungumJuda onguye ngasese, lokusoka kungokwenhliziyo, emoyeni, kungeyisikho ngombhalo; ondumiso yakhe kayiveli ebantwini kodwa kuNkulunkulu.
and the real circumcision is the circumcision of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal thing. Such a person wins praise from God, though not from people.
