2 Madzimambo 17
1 Mugore regumi namaviri raAhazi mambo weJudha, Hoshea mwanakomana waEra akava mambo weIsraeri muSamaria, uye akatonga kwamakore mapfumbamwe.
Elah’s son Hoshea began to rule Israel after King Ahaz had ruled Judah for twelve years. Hoshea ruled in Samaria for nine years.
2 Akaita zvakaipa pamberi paJehovha, asi haana kuita samadzimambo eIsraeri akamutangira.
He did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil, but he did not do as many evil things as the previous kings of Israel had done.
3 Sharimaneseri mambo weAsiria akauya kuzorwisa Hoshea, iye akava muranda wake akaripa mutero kwaari.
[The army of] King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked and defeated [the army of] King Hoshea. As a result, the Israelis were forced to pay a lot of tribute/taxes to Assyria each year.
4 Asi mambo weAsiria akazoziva kuti Hoshea yaiva mhandu, nokuti akanga atuma nhume kuna So, mambo weIjipiti, uye akarega kuripa mutero kuna mambo weAsiria, sezvaaisiita gore negore. Naizvozvo Sharimaneseri akamubata akamuisa mutorongo.
But several years later, Hoshea secretly planned to rebel against the rulers of Assyria. He sent messengers to So/Osorkon, the king of Egypt, [asking if his army could help the Israelis fight against the army of Assyria]. Hoshea also stopped paying the tribute/taxes that he had been paying to Assyria every year. But the king of Assyria found out about those things, so he told his officers to put Hoshea in prison.
5 Mambo weAsiria akarwisa nyika yose, akafamba akananga kuSamaria akarikomba kwamakore matatu.
Then he [brought the army of] Assyria to Israel, and they attacked everywhere in that land. His army surrounded Samaria [city] for three years.
6 Mugore repfumbamwe raHoshea, mambo weAsiria akakunda Samaria akaendesa vaIsraeri kuAsiria. Akavagarisa muHara, nomuGozani, pedyo noRwizi rweHazori uye nomumaguta avaMedhia.
Finally, after King Hoshea had been ruling Israel for nine years, the army of Assyria [MTY] [forcefully entered] the city [and] captured [the people]. They took the Israeli people to Assyria and forced some of them to live in Halah [town]. They forced others to live near the Habor River in Gozan district. They forced others to live in the towns where the Mede people-group lived.
7 Izvi zvose zvakaitika nokuda kwokuti vaIsraeri vakanga vatadzira Jehovha Mwari wavo, akanga avabudisa kubva muIjipiti pasi poruoko rwaFaro mambo weIjipiti. Vakanamata vamwe vamwari
Those things happened because the Israeli people had sinned against Yahweh their God. He had rescued their [ancestors] from the power [MTY] of the king of Egypt and brought them [safely] out of Egypt, but later they began to worship other gods.
8 uye vakatevera tsika dzedzimwe ndudzi dzakanga dzadzingwa pamberi pavo naJehovha, pamwe chete netsika dzakanga dzatangiswa namadzimambo eIsraeri.
They imitated the things that the heathen/pagan people-groups did. Those were the groups that Yahweh had expelled as the Israelis occupied their land. The Israeli people also did the evil things that the kings of Israel (introduced/showed to them).
9 VaIsraeri vakaita zvinhu zvakanga zvisina kururama kuna Jehovha Mwari wavo muchivande. Vakazvivakira matunhu akakwirira mumaguta avo ose, kubva pachirindo chavarindi kusvikira kuguta rakakomberedzwa.
The Israeli people also secretly did many things that were not pleasing to Yahweh their God. They built shrines [to worship idols] in all their cities, including small towns and big cities with walls around them.
10 Vakazvimisira matombo namatanda okunamata pamusoro pezvikomo zvose zvakakwirira napasi pemiti yose yakapfumvutira.
They set up stone pillars [to honor gods], and poles [to worship the goddess] Asherah at the top of every high hill and under every [big] tree.
11 Vakapisa zvinonhuhwira panzvimbo dzose dzakakwirira, sezvakanga zvichiitwa nendudzi dzakadzingwa pamberi pavo naJehovha. Vakaita zvinhu zvakaipa zvikatsamwisa Jehovha.
The Israelis burned incense in every place where they worshiped those gods, just like the people-groups who lived there previously had done—the groups that Yahweh had expelled from the land. The Israelis did many wicked things that caused Yahweh to become angry.
12 Vakanamata zvifananidzo, kunyange Jehovha akanga ati, “Musaita izvi.”
Yahweh warned them many times that they should not worship idols, but they did it anyway.
13 Jehovha akayambira Israeri neJudha kubudikidza navaprofita vake vose navaoni akati, “Ibvai panzira dzenyu dzakaipa. Cherechedzai mirayiro nemitemo yangu maererano noMurayiro wose wandakarayira madzibaba enyu kuti vauteerere uye uyo wandakapa kwamuri kubudikidza navaranda vangu vaprofita.”
Yahweh frequently sent his prophets and (seers/those who saw visions from Yahweh) to warn the people of Israel and the people of Judah. The message that Yahweh gave them was, “Turn away from all your evil behavior. Obey my commands and my laws, the laws that I told your ancestors [to obey] and which I told the prophets who served me to tell to you [again].”
14 Asi havana kuda kuteerera uye vakava nemitsipa mikukutu sezvakanga zvakaita madzibaba avo, avo vasina kuvimba naJehovha Mwari wavo.
But the Israeli people would not pay attention. They were stubborn [IDM] just like their ancestors were. Just like their ancestors did, they refused to believe in Yahweh their God.
15 Vakaramba mitemo yake nesungano yaakanga aita namadzibaba avo uyewo neyambiro dzaakanga avapa. Vakatevera zvifananidzo zvisina maturo ivo pachavo vakava vasina maturo. Vakatevedzera ndudzi dzakanga dzakavakomberedza kunyange Jehovha akanga avarayira akati, “Musaita sezvavanoita,” asi vakaita zvinhu zvavakarambidzwa naJehovha.
They rejected Yahweh’s laws and the agreement that he had made with their ancestors. They ignored Yahweh’s warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and as a result they themselves became worthless. Although Yahweh had commanded them not to imitate the evil behavior of the people-groups that lived near them, they disobeyed that command.
16 Vakasiya mirayiro yose yaJehovha Mwari wavo vakazviitira zvifananidzo zviviri zvakaumbwa zvemhuru, uye nedanda reAshera. Vakanamata nyeredzi dzose dzokudenga, uye vakanamata Bhaari.
The Israeli people disobeyed all of Yahweh’s commands. They made two metal calves [to worship]. They set up two poles [to worship the goddess] Asherah, and they worshiped [the god] Baal, and the sun, the moon, and the stars.
17 Vakabayira vanakomana vavo navanasikana vavo mumoto. Vakaita zvokuvuka nouroyi vakazvitengesa kuti vaite zvakaipa pamberi paJehovha, vakamutsamwisa nazvo.
They also burned their own sons and daughters to be sacrifices [to those gods]. They went to fortune-tellers and they practiced sorcery. They continually chose [MET] to do [all kinds of] evil things that caused Yahweh to become angry.
18 Naizvozvo Jehovha akatsamwira Israeri zvikuru akavabvisa pamberi pake. Rudzi rwaJudha chete ndirwo rwakasara,
So, because Yahweh was very angry with the Israeli people, he allowed [their enemies] to take them away [from their country]. Only the people of the tribe of Judah were left [in the land].
19 uye kunyange vaJudhawo havana kuchengeta mirayiro yaJehovha Mwari wavo. Vakatevera tsika dzakanga dzatangwa neIsraeri.
But even the people of Judah did not obey the commands of Yahweh their God. They imitated the evil customs that the Israelis had introduced.
20 Naizvozvo Jehovha akaramba vanhu vose veIsraeri; akavatambudza akavapa mumaoko avaparadzi, kusvikira avabvisa pamberi pake.
So Yahweh rejected all the people of Israel and of Judah. He punished them by allowing the armies of other nations to defeat them [and take them away]. He got rid of all of them.
21 Akati abvarura Israeri kubva muimba yaDhavhidhi, vakaita Jerobhoamu mwanakomana waNebhati mambo wavo. Jerobhoamu akatsausa Israeri pakutevera Jehovha akavaita kuti vaite chivi chikuru.
Earlier, when Yahweh allowed the people of Israel to separate/break away from the area [MTY] that King David [had estabished], they chose Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, to be their king. Then Jeroboam enticed the people of Israel to stop worshiping Yahweh [and to worship idols instead]. He led them to commit great sins.
22 VaIsraeri vakaramba vari muzvivi zvose zvaJerobhoamu uye havana kutendeuka kubva pazviri
And the Israeli people continued to do the evil things that Jeroboam introduced. They did not turn away from those sins,
23 kusvikira Jehovha avabvisa pamberi pake, sezvaakanga avayambira kubudikidza navaranda vake vose vaprofita. Saka vanhu veIsraeri vakatapwa kubva kunyika yavo vakaendeswa kuusungwa muAsiria, uye vachiriko nanhasi.
until finally Yahweh got rid of them. That was just what his prophets had warned would happen. The Israeli people were taken away to the land of Assyria, and they still remain there.
24 Mambo weAsiria akauya navanhu kubva kuBhabhironi, nokuKuta, neAvha, neHamati neSefarivhaimu ndokuvagarisa mumaguta eSamaria pachinzvimbo chavaIsraeri. Vakatora Samaria vakagara mumaguta ayo.
The king of Assyria [ordered his soldiers to] take [groups of] people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim [cities] to [the] Samaria [region], and to resettle them in the towns there, to take the place of the Israelis [who lived there previously]. Those people took control over [the whole] Samaria [region] and lived in the towns there.
25 Pavakatanga kugarako, vakanga vasinganamati Jehovha; naizvozvo akatuma shumba pakati pavo dzikauraya vamwe vavo.
But those people [who came from other countries] did not worship Yahweh when they first arrived in Samaria. So Yahweh sent lions to kill some of them.
26 Vakazivisa mambo weAsiria kuti: “Vanhu vamabvisa mukavagarisa mumaguta eSamaria havazivi zvinodikanwa naMwari wenyika iyoyo. Akatuma shumba pakati pavo, dziri kuvauraya, nokuti vanhu havazivi zvaanoda.”
Then those people sent a message to the king of Assyria. They wrote, “We people who have resettled in the towns in Samaria do not know how to worship the God [that the Israelis worshiped] in this land. So he has sent lions among us to kill us, because we have not worshiped him correctly.”
27 Ipapo mambo weAsiria akarayira akati, “Itai kuti mumwe wavaprista vamakatapa kubva kuSamaria adzokere kunogarako agodzidzisa vanhu kuti mwari wenyika iyi anodei.”
[When] the king of Assyria [read this letter, he] commanded [his officers], “You brought many priests here from Samaria. Send one of them back there. Tell him to teach the people who are now living there how to worship correctly the God whom the Israelis worshiped in that land.”
28 Saka mumwe wavaprista vakanga vatapwa kubva kuSamaria akauya kuzogara muBheteri akavadzidzisa kunamata Jehovha.
So [the officers did that]. They sent one of the Israeli priests back to Samaria. That priest went to live in Bethel [city], and he taught the people there how to worship Yahweh.
29 Kunyange zvakadaro, rudzi rumwe norumwe rwakazviitira vamwari varwo mumaguta mazhinji mavaigara, vakavamisa mumatumba okunamatira akanga aitwa navanhu veSamaria mumatunhu akakwirira.
But the people [who returned from Babylon and started to live in Samaria and] continued to make their own idols. They placed them in the shrines that the Israelis had built there. The people of each people-group made idols in the cities in which they were living.
30 Varume vaibva kuBhabhironi vakavaka Sukoti-Bhenoti, vanhu vaibva kuKuta vakavaka Nerigari, vanhu vaibva kuHamati vakavaka Ashima;
The people from Babylon made idols to represent their god Succoth-Benoth. The people from Cuthah made idols to represent their god Nergal. The people from Hamath made idols to represent their god Ashima.
31 vaAvhi vakavaka Nibhazi Taritaki, uye vaSefavhi vakapisa vana vavo mumoto sezvibayiro kuna Adhiramereki naAnamereki vamwari veSefarivhaimi.
The people of Avva made idols to represent their gods Nibhaz and Tartak. The people from Sepharvaim sacrificed their own children. They completely burned them [in pits where hot fires were kept burning, ] as offerings to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech.
32 Vakanamata Jehovha, asi vakagadzawo mhando dzose dzavanhu vavo kuti vavashandire savaprista mumatumba panzvimbo dzakakwirira.
But those people also worshiped Yahweh, and they appointed from among their own groups many people to be priests at the shrines on the tops of the hills, in order that those priests could offer sacrifices for them there.
33 Vakanamata Jehovha, asi vakashumirawo vamwari vavo maererano netsika dzendudzi idzo dzavakanga vabviswa kwadziri.
So they revered Yahweh, but they also worshiped their own gods, just as the people living in the countries from which they had been taken to Samaria did.
34 Kusvikira nhasi vari kurambira mutsika dzavo dzekare. Havanamati Jehovha kana kuteerera mitemo nezvakatemwa, nemirayiro nemirau yakapiwa naJehovha kuvana vaJakobho, uyo waakatumidza kuti Israeri.
They still keep their old customs. They really do not worship Yahweh, and they do not obey all the laws and commands that Yahweh gave to the descendants of Jacob, to whom he gave the new name Israel.
35 Jehovha akati aita sungano navaIsraeri, akavarayira akati, “Musanamata kana vamwari vapi zvavo kana kuvapfugamira, kana kuvashumira kana kubayira kwavari.
Yahweh had previously made an agreement with their ancestors, commanding them not to worship other gods or bow down to honor them or do other things to please them or offer sacrifices to them.
36 Asi Jehovha uyo akakubudisai kubva munyika yeIjipiti nesimba guru uye noruoko rwakatambanudzwa, ndiye oga wamunofanira kunamata. Ndiye wamunofanira kupfugamira uye ndiye wamunofanira kupa zvibayiro.
He had said to them, “You must have an awesome respect for me, Yahweh, the one who brought you out of Egypt with my very great power [DOU]. I am the one whom you must bow down to honor, and I am the one to whom you must offer sacrifices.
37 Munofanira kugara makachenjerera kuchengeta mitemo yake nezvaakatonga, nemirayiro, nemirau yaakakunyorerai. Musanamata vamwe vamwari.
You must always obey the laws and commands that I [told Moses to] write for you. You must not worship other gods.
38 Musakanganwa sungano yandakaita nemi, uye musanamata vamwe vamwari.
And you must not forget the agreement that I made with your ancestors. You must not revere other gods.
39 Asi munofanira kunamata Jehovha Mwari wenyu; ndiye achakusunungurai kubva mumaoko avavengi venyu vose.”
Instead, you must revere me, Yahweh, your God. If you do that, I will rescue you from the power [MTY] of all your enemies.”
40 Kunyange zvakadaro, havana kuda kunzwa asi vakarambira mutsika dzavo dzakare.
But the people [from those foreign nations] would not heed what Yahweh said. Instead, they continued to adhere to their old customs.
41 Kunyange vanhu ava vainamata Jehovha, vaingoshumira vamwari vavo. Nanhasi vana vavo navazukuru vavo vanoramba vachiita zvimwe chetezvo zvaiitwa namadzibaba avo.
So, they worshiped Yahweh, but they also worshiped their idols. And their descendants still do the same thing.
