Joshua 8
1 Zvino Jehovha akati kuna Joshua, “Usatya kana kuvhundutswa. Tora varwi vose uende unorwisa Ai. Nokuti ndaisa mambo weAi, navanhu vake, neguta rake nenyika yake mumaoko ako.
Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged [because of what happened at] Ai. Lead all of your soldiers and go there again. I will help you to defeat the king of Ai, his people, and his city, and [enable you to take] his land.
2 Munofanira kuita kuAi namambo waro sezvamakaita kuJeriko namambo waro, kunze kwokuti apa munofanira kuzvitakurira zvamunotapa zvavo nezvipfuwo. Muise vangavandira guta necheseri kwaro.”
Your army will do to the people of Ai and their king like what you did to the people of Jericho and their king. But this time [I will permit you to] take all their possessions and keep them for yourselves. But first, tell some of your soldiers to [hide behind] the city [and] prepare to suddenly attack it.”
3 Naizvozvo Joshua akasimuka nehondo yose kuti andorwisa Ai. Akasarudza mhare dzokurwa dzinokwana zviuru makumi matatu akavatuma usiku.
So Joshua led all his army toward Ai. He chose 30,000 of his best fighters/warriors and prepared to send them out during the night.
4 Akavarayira achiti, “Nyatsoteererai. Munofanira kuvandira guta necheseri kwaro. Musaende kure naro. Mose munofanira kugara makagadzirira.
He said to them, “Listen carefully. Some of you must hide on the other side of the city. Do not go far from the city. Just be ready [to attack].
5 Ini navanhu vose vandinavo tichafamba takananga guta, zvino kana varume vakauya kuti vazorwa nesu, sezvavakaita pakutanga, tichavatiza.
I and the men who are with me will march toward the city [in the morning]. The men in the city will come out to fight us, like they did before. Then we will turn around and start to run away from them.
6 Vachatidzinganisa kusvikira tavakwezvera kure neguta, nokuti vachati, ‘Vari kutitiza sezvavakamboita pakutanga.’ Naizvozvo kana tavatiza,
They will think that we are running away from them like we did before. So they will chase us away from the city. While we are running away,
7 imi munofanira kusimuka kubva pamunenge makavanda motora guta. Jehovha Mwari wenyu acharipa mumaoko enyu.
[those of you who are hiding come out and] rush into the city and capture it. Yahweh your God will enable you to conquer it.
8 Kana matora guta, ripisei nomoto. Muite zvamarayirwa naJehovha, tarirai, ndakurayirai.”
After you capture the city, burn it. Do what Yahweh has commanded us to do. Those are the orders I am giving to you.”
9 Ipapo Joshua akavatuma, vakaenda kunzvimbo yokunovandira vakagara pakati peBheteni neAi, kumavirazuva kweAi, asi Joshua akarara kuvanhu usiku ihwohwo.
Then Joshua [prepared to] send some of them to [hide and] wait between Ai and Bethel, which was west of Ai. But Joshua stayed with his other soldiers that night.
10 Mangwana mangwanani Joshua akaronga vanhu, uye iye navatungamiri veIsraeri vakafamba pamberi pavo vachienda kuAi.
Early the next morning, Joshua gathered his soldiers together. Then he and the other Israeli leaders led them up to Ai.
11 Hondo yose yaiva naye yakafamba vakaswedera pedyo neguta vakasvika nechemberi kwaro. Vakadzika musasa kumusoro kweAi, mupata uri pakati pavo neguta.
They all set up their tents close to Ai, just to the north of the city, where all the people of the city could see them. There was a valley between them and the city.
12 Joshua akanga atora varume vangasvika zviuru zvishanu akavarayira kuti vavandire pakati peBheteri neAi, kumavirazuva kweguta.
Then Joshua chose about 5,000 men and told them to go and hide just west of the city, between Ai and Bethel.
13 Vakarayira varwi kuti vatore nzvimbo dzavo, vose vaiva mumusasa nechokumusoro kweguta navakanga vakavandira kumavirazuva kwaro. Usiku ihwohwo Joshua akapinda mumupata.
So those men did that. The main group of soldiers was north of the city, and the others were hiding west of the city. That night Joshua went down into the valley.
14 Zvino mambo weAi paakaona izvi, iye navarume vose veguta vakakurumidza kubuda mangwanani kuti vasangane navaIsraeri varwe panzvimbo yakanga yakatarisana neArabha. Asi haana kuziva kuti akanga avandirwa seri kweguta.
When the king of Ai saw the Israeli army, he and his soldiers got up early the next morning and quickly went out of the city to fight them. They went to a place east of the city, but they did not know that some Israeli soldiers were hiding behind the city.
15 Joshua navaIsraeri vose vakavarega vachivadzingirira vachidzokera shure, vakatiza vakananga kugwenga.
Joshua and the Israeli soldiers [who were with him] allowed the army of Ai to push them back. They ran toward the desert.
16 Varume vose veAi vakadaidzwa kuti vavadzingirire, uye vakadzingirira Joshua vachibva vakwezvwa kubva kuguta.
The men in Ai were ordered to chase after Joshua and his men. So they left the city and started to pursue the Israelis.
17 Hapana murume kana mumwe akasara muAi kana muBheteri asina kudzingirira vaIsraeri. Vakasiya guta rakashama vakadzingirira vaIsraeri.
All the men of Ai and the men of Bethel pursued the Israeli army. They did not leave even one man in Ai to defend it. The [gates of the] city were left wide open.
18 Ipapo Jehovha akati kuna Joshua, “Simudza pfumo rawakabata muruoko rwako urinongedzere kuAi, nokuti ndichaisa guta iri muruoko rwako.” Naizvozvo Joshua akanongedzera pfumo rake kuAi.
Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “[Lift up] your spear [and] point it toward Ai, because I am going to enable your soldiers to capture it!” So Joshua pointed [his spear] toward Ai.
19 Akati achangoita izvi varume vaiva vakavandira vakasimuka kubva panzvimbo dzavo nokukurumidza vakamhanya vachienda mberi. Vakapinda muguta vakaripamba ndokukurumidza kuritungidza nomoto.
When the Israeli men who were hiding saw that, they rushed out from the places where they were hiding and ran into the city. They quickly captured it and set it on fire.
20 Varume veAi vakacheuka vakaona utsi hweguta huchikwira kudenga, asi vakashayiwa pokupukunyuka napo kumativi ose, nokuti vaIsraeri vakanga vachitizira kugwenga vakatendeukira vaivatevera.
When the men of Ai looked back, they saw smoke rising from their city. But they could not escape, because the Israeli troops stopped running away.
21 Joshua navaIsraeri vose pavakaona kuti vavandiri vakanga vatora guta uye utsi hwakanga huchikwira kubva muguta, vakatendeuka vakarwisa varume veAi.
Joshua and his men saw that the men who had been hiding had captured the city and were burning it, and they saw the smoke rising. So they turned around and started to attack the men of Ai.
22 Varume vakanga vakavandira vakabudawo muguta kuzorwa navo, naizvozvo vakabva vaiswa pakati pavaIsraeri, vamwe nechokuno, vamwe nechokoko. VaIsraeri vakavauraya zvokusasiya kana mumwe chete wavo ari mupenyu kana vakatiza.
Meanwhile, the soldiers who had captured the city came out [and attacked them from the rear]. So the men of Ai were caught between the two groups of Israeli soldiers. None of the men of Ai escaped. The Israelis fought until they killed all of them. Only the king of Ai was still alive.
23 Asi vakatora mambo weAi ari mupenyu vakauya naye kuna Joshua.
Then they seized the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.
24 VaIsraeri pavakapedza kuuraya varume vose veAi nomunondo kusango nokurenje kwavakanga vavadzinganisira, uye mushure mokunge mumwe nomumwe wavo aurayiwa nomunondo, vose vakadzokera kuAi vakauraya vose vaivamo.
While they were fighting, the Israeli army pursued the men of Ai into the fields and into the desert, and killed all of them. Then they went to Ai and killed everyone who was there.
25 Zuva iroro kwakafa varume navakadzi vaisvika zviuru gumi nezviviri, vanhu vose veAi.
They killed 12,000 men and women.
26 Nokuti Joshua haana kudzosa ruoko rwake rwakanga rwakasimudza pfumo kusvikira aparadza vose vaigara muAi.
Joshua continued to point his spear [LIT] toward Ai, until all the people in Ai had been killed.
27 Asi vaIsraeri vakazvitorera zvipfuwo nezvakapambwa muguta iri, sezvakanga zvarayirwa Joshua naJehovha.
The Israeli soldiers took for themselves the animals and the other things that had belonged to the people of Ai, just like Yahweh had told Joshua that they should do.
28 Naizvozvo Joshua akapisa Ai akariita murwi, rikava dongo kusvika nanhasi.
Joshua and his soldiers burned Ai city and caused it to become a pile of ruins. It is still like that today.
29 Akasungirira mambo weAi mumuti akamusiya kusvikira manheru. Zuva rodoka, Joshua akavarayira kuti vaturure chitunha chake mumuti vachikande pasi pasuo reguta. Vakaitawo murwi mukuru wamatombo, uchiripo nanhasi.
Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree and left his corpse hanging there until the evening. At sunset Joshua told his men to take the king’s corpse down from the tree and to throw it on the ground at the city gate. [After they did that], they piled a lot of rocks on top of the corpse, and that pile of rocks is still there.
30 Zvino Joshua akavakira Jehovha, Mwari waIsraeri, aritari pagomo reEbhari,
Joshua [told his men to] build on Ebal Mountain an altar for Yahweh, the God [who is worshiped by] the Israeli people.
31 sezvakanga zvarayirwa vaIsraeri naMozisi muranda waJehovha. Akaivaka sezvazvakanyorwa muBhuku roMurayiro waMozisi. Yakanga iri aritari yamabwe asina kuvezwa, hapana kumboshandiswa mudziyo wesimbi pairi. Vakapa kuna Jehovha zvipiriso zvinopiswa uye vakabayira zvipiriso zvokuwadzana pairi.
They built it just like Moses, the man who served God [well], had written previously in the laws [that God had given to him]. They made it from stones that had not been cut using iron tools. The Israelis then offered sacrifices to Yahweh that were burned completely on the altar. They also offered sacrifices to restore fellowship with Yahweh.
32 Zvino ipapo, pamberi pavaIsraeri, Joshua akanyorazve pamabwe murayiro waMozisi, waakanga ambonyora.
As the Israelis watched, Joshua wrote on stones the laws that [Yahweh had given] to Moses previously.
33 VaIsraeri vose navatorwa, navakuru vavo navatariri vavo, navatongi vavo, vakanga vakamira kumativi maviri eareka yesungano yaJehovha, vakatarisa avo vakanga vakaitakura, vaprista, vakanga vari vaRevhi. Imwe hafu yavanhu yakanga yakamira pamberi pegomo reGerizimu uye imwe hafu yakamira pamberi pegomo reEbhari, sezvakanga zvarayirwa naMozisi muranda waJehovha pakutanga paakati vanhu veIsraeri varopafadzwe.
The Israeli leaders, the officials, the judges, and other Israelis were there, standing nearby. Many people who were not Israelis were also there. Half of the people stood [on one side of the valley] below Ebal Mountain, and the other half of the people stood [on the other side of the valley] below Gerizim Mountain. The sacred chest was [in the valley] between the two groups. That was what Moses had previously commanded that the people should do when [Yahweh was about to] bless them.
34 Mushure maizvozvo, Joshua akaverenga mashoko ose omurayiro, maropafadzo nezvituko sokunyorwa kwazvakaitwa muBhuku roMurayiro.
Then Joshua read [to the people] all that [Moses] had written previously. That included what Yahweh had taught them and the ways [that he promised] to bless them [if they obeyed his commands], or to curse them [if they disobeyed them].
35 Hapana shoko kana rimwe pane zvose zvakanga zvarayirwa naMozisi, risina kuverengerwa ungano yose yavaIsraeri naJoshua, kusanganisira vakadzi navana, navatorwa vaigara pakati pavo.
All the Israelis gathered together [to listen]—the men, the women, and the children. The (foreigners/people who were not Israelis) who were living among them also listened, while Joshua read all the commands that Moses had written.
