Exodus 1
1 These were the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob) who came with him to Egypt along with their families:
La-ke ngamabizo amadodana kaIsrayeli afika eGibhithe loJakobe; afika, ileyo laleyo lomuzi wayo,
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
uRubeni, uSimeyoni, uLevi, loJuda,
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
uIsakari, uZebuluni, loBhenjamini,
4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
uDani, loNafithali, uGadi, loAsheri.
5 Jacob had 70 descendants there, including Joseph who was already in Egypt.
Njalo yonke imiphefumulo eyaphuma ekhalweni lukaJakobe yayiyimiphefumulo engamatshumi ayisikhombisa. Kodwa uJosefa wayeseGibhithe.
6 Eventually Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died.
UJosefa wasesifa labo bonke abafowabo, lalesosizukulwana sonke.
7 However, the Israelites had many children and their numbers increased rapidly. In fact there were so many of them that they became very powerful—the country was full of them.
Njalo abantwana bakoIsrayeli bazalana, baba banengi, banda, baba lamandla kakhulukazi, ilizwe laze lagcwaliswa yibo.
8 Then a new king came to power who didn't know anything about Joseph.
Kwasekuvela inkosi entsha phezu kweGibhithe eyayingamazi uJosefa.
9 He conferred with his fellow Egyptians and said, “Look at these Israelites—there are more than them than us, and they're more powerful than us.
Yasisithi esizweni sayo: Khangela, isizwe sabantwana bakoIsrayeli sinengi, futhi silamandla kulathi.
10 We've got to make plan to deal with them before they become so many that if there's a war they'll side with our enemies and fight us, and flee the country.”
Wozani, asisihlakanipheleni, hlezi sande, njalo kuzakuthi lapho kusehla impi, laso sihlangane lezitha zethu, silwe simelene lathi, senyuke sisuke elizweni.
11 So the Egyptians made them do forced labor and put taskmasters in charge of them. They used them to build the storage towns of Pithom and Rameses.
Ngakho bamisa phezu kwaso izinduna zesibhalo ukusihlupha ngemithwalo yabo. Njalo samakhela uFaro imizi eyiziphala, iPithoma leRamesesi.
12 But the more the Israelites were mistreated, the more they grew in numbers and spread out—and the more the Egyptians detested them.
Kodwa kwathi ekusihlupheni kwaso kwang'khona sisanda, kwang'khona sisabalala. Ngakho banengwa ngabantwana bakoIsrayeli.
13 The Egyptians worked the Israelites brutally,
Njalo amaGibhithe abasebenzisa abantwana bakoIsrayeli ngochuku,
14 making their lives a misery. They made them do hard labor, building with mortar and brick, and all kind of heavy work in the fields. In all of this hard labor they treated them brutally.
aze enza impilo zabo zababa ngomsebenzi onzima, ngodaka langezitina, langawo wonke umsebenzi emasimini; ngomsebenzi wabo wonke, ababenza bawenza ngodlakela.
15 Then the king gave orders to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah.
Inkosi yeGibhithe yasikhuluma lababelethisi amaHebherukazi, obizo lowokuqala lalinguShifira, lebizo lowesibili lalinguPhuwa,
16 He told them, “When you assist the Hebrew women during childbirth, if you see it's a boy, kill him; but if it's a girl, let her live.”
yasisithi: Nxa libelethisa amaHebherukazi, lapho libabona ezihlalweni zokubeletha, uba kuyindodana, liyibulale; kodwa uba kuyindodakazi, iyekeleni iphila.
17 But because the midwives revered God, they didn't do what the king of Egypt had ordered. They let the boys live as well.
Kodwa ababelethisi babemesaba uNkulunkulu, kabenzanga njengalokho yakhuluma kubo inkosi yeGibhithe, kodwa babayekela abafana baphila.
18 The king of Egypt called the midwives in and demanded to know, “Why have you done this— letting the male children live?”
Inkosi yeGibhithe yasibiza ababelethisi, yathi kubo: Liyenzeleni linto ukuthi liyekele abafana baphile?
19 “Hebrew women aren't like Egyptian women,” the midwives told Pharaoh. “They give birth more easily—they have them before we midwives arrive.”
Ababelethisi basebesithi kuFaro: Ngoba amaHebherukazi kawanjengabafazi bamaGibhithe; ngoba alamandla, umbelethisi engakafiki kuwo, asebelethile.
20 God treated the midwives well, and the people increased in number so there were even more of them.
Ngalokhu uNkulunkulu wabenzela ababelethisi okuhle, labantu banda, baba lamandla kakhulu.
21 Because the midwives revered God, he gave them families of their own.
Kwasekusithi, ngoba ababelethisi bamesaba uNkulunkulu, wabakhela imizi.
22 Then Pharaoh issued this order to all his people: “Throw every Hebrew boy that's born into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
UFaro waselaya isizwe sakhe sonke esithi: Yonke indodana ezalwayo liyiphosele emfuleni, kodwa yonke indodakazi liyiyekele iphile.
