Deuteronomy 4
1 Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances which I teach you, to do them, that you may live and go in and possess the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives you.
“Zwana-ke khathesi, Oh Israyeli, izimiso lemithetho engizalifundisa yona. Ilandeleni ukuze liphile njalo libe lakho ukuyalithatha lelolizwe uThixo uNkulunkulu wabokhokho benu alinika lona.
2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Lingangezeleli kulokho engililaya khona njalo lingaphunguli loba yikuphi kwakhona, kodwa gcinani imilayo kaThixo uNkulunkulu wenu engilinika yona.
3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal Peor; for the LORD your God has destroyed all the men who followed Baal Peor from among you.
Lazibonela ngawenu amehlo okwenziwa nguThixo eBhali-Pheyori. UThixo uNkulunkulu wenu wabatshabalalisa bonke ababekhonza uBhali wasePheyori,
4 But you who were faithful to the LORD your God are all alive today.
kodwa lina lonke elabambelela kuThixo uNkulunkulu wenu lilokhu lisaphila lalamuhla lokhu.
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land where you go in to possess it.
Liyabona sengalifundisa izimiso lemithetho uThixo wami angilaya ngazo, ukuze liyigcine elizweni elingena kulo ukuba lilithathe.
6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who shall hear all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
Lizigcine ngonanzelelo ngoba lokhu kuzaveza obala ukuhlakanipha lokuzwisisa kwenu ezizweni ezizakuzwa ngalezizimiso njalo zitsho zithi, ‘Ngeqiniso lesisizwe esilodumo yisizwe sabantu abahlakaniphileyo njalo abazwisisayo.’
7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to them as the LORD our God is whenever we call on him?
Yisiphi esinye isizwe esilodumo esilabonkulunkulu baso ababaseduze laso njengoThixo uNkulunkulu wethu oba lathi nxa sikhuleka kuye?
8 What great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you today?
Yisiphi esinye isizwe esilezimiso eziqondileyo lemithetho enjengale imithetho engiyethula phambi kwenu lamuhla na?
9 Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children—
Kodwa linanzelele, liqaphelisise ukuze lingakhohlwa izinto elizibonileyo loba zilibaleke ezinhliziyweni zenu ekuphileni kwenu konke. Fundisani abantwabenu ngalezizinto njalo labo babofundisa abantwababo labantwana babantwana abalandela emva kwabo.
10 the day that you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me, “Assemble the people to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.”
Khumbulani usuku elema ngalo phambi kukaThixo uNkulunkulu wenu eHorebhi, lapho athi khona kimi, ‘Buthanisa abantu ukuze bezwe amazwi ami ukuze bakwazi ukungidumisa nxa belokhu besahlala elizweni njalo bafundise abantwababo.’
11 You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
Lasondela lema ngaphansi kwentaba ilavuka amalangabi eqonga phezulu, kulamayezi amnyama lomnyama owesabekayo.
12 The LORD spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice.
Ngakho uThixo wakhuluma lani ephakathi komlilo. Lezwa umdumo welizwi kodwa alizange libone lutho; kwaba yilizwi lodwa nje.
13 He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments. He wrote them on two stone tablets.
Wakhupha ilizwi lokubuyisana lesivumelwano sakhe, imiThetho eliTshumi, waselilaya ukuba liyilandele njalo wayiloba ezibhebhedwini zamatshe ezimbili.
14 The LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it.
Kungalesosikhathi lapho uThixo angiqondisa ukuba ngilifundise izimiso lemilayo okuzamele liyilandele ekuchapheni kwenu uJodani lisiya elizweni elizalithumba libe ngelenu.”
15 Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that the LORD spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire,
“Akulalutho loba yisimo bani elasibonayo mhla uThixo ekhuluma lani eHorebhi ephakathi kwelangabi lomlilo. Kunjalo-nje kumele lizinanzelele okuqinileyo,
16 lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
ukuze lingaxhwali libe selizenzela isithombe, loba umfanekiso olesimo bani, loba ngesilesimo sesilisa loba esesifazane,
17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,
loba yiphi inyamazana emhlabeni loba inyoni endizayo emkhathini,
18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;
loba yisiphi isinanakazana esihuquzelayo emhlabathini loba yinhlanzi ngaphansi kwamanzi.
19 and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.
Njalo nxa likhangela phezulu esibhakabhakeni libona ilanga, inyanga kanye lezinkanyezi, zonke ezihlobise zacecisa isibhakabhaka, lingalingeki lizikhothamele beselikhonza izinto uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu azibekela izizwe zonke ngaphansi kwezulu.
20 But the LORD has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today.
Kodwa-ke lina, uThixo walithatha walenyula eziko lokuncibilikisa insimbi, walikhipha eGibhithe, ukuze libe ngabantu belifa lakhe, njengoba linje lamuhla.
21 Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance;
UThixo wangithukuthelela ngenxa yenu, wafunga waphelela wathi angiyikuchapha uJodani ngingene elizweni uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu alinika lona ukuba libe yilifa lenu.
22 but I must die in this land. I must not go over the Jordan, but you shall go over and possess that good land.
Mina ngizafela kulelilizwe; angiyikuchapha uJodani, kodwa lina seliseduze ukuba lichaphe liyelithumba lelolizwe elihle.
23 Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you.
Nanzelelani ukuthi lingalibali isivumelwano sikaNkulunkulu wenu asenza lani; lingazenzeli isithombe loba singesesimo bani salokho uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu akwalileyo.
24 For the LORD your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
Ngoba uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu ungumlilo oqothulayo, uNkulunkulu olobukhwele.
25 When you father children and children’s children, and you have been long in the land, and then corrupt yourselves, and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the LORD your God’s sight to provoke him to anger,
Ngemva kokuba selike laba labantwana, lesizukulwane njalo selihlale ezweni okwesikhathi eside, lingasuka libe selixhwala beselizenzela loba yisiphi isithombe, lisenza okubi emehlweni kaThixo uNkulunkulu wenu limthukuthelisa,
26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed.
ngibiza izulu lomhlaba ukuthi libe ngufakazi wami ukuze libhujiswe masinyazana lingangeni elizweni elizachapha uJodani ukuze lilithumbe. Aliyikuhlala kulo isikhathi eside kodwa iqiniso yikuthi lizatshabalaliswa.
27 The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will lead you away.
UThixo uzalihlakaza ezizweni, njalo abalutshwana benu yibo abazasinda ezizweni uThixo azalifuqela khona.
28 There you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
Khonale lizakhonza onkulunkulu ababunjwe ngabantu ngezigodo langamatshe, abangeke babone loba bezwe loba badle loba bezwe ukunuka.
29 But from there you shall seek the LORD your God, and you will find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Kodwa nxa likhonale lingadinga uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu, lizamfumana nxa limdinga ngezinhliziyo zenu ezipheleleyo langemiphefumulo yenu yonke.
30 When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to the LORD your God and listen to his voice.
Nxa selisosizini zonke lezizinto sezilehlela, lapho-ke ngezinsuku ezizayo lizabuyela kuThixo uNkulunkulu wenu limlalele.
31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.
Phela uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu nguNkulunkulu olomusa; kayikulidela loba alibhubhise loba alibale isivumelwano sakhe asenza labokhokho benu, leso asiqinisa kubo ngesifungo.”
32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as great as this thing is, or has been heard like it?
“Buzani khathesi ngezinsuku ezedlulayo, kudala lingakabi khona, kusukela ngosuku uNkulunkulu adala ngalo umuntu emhlabeni; buzani kusukela ngapha kwamazulu kusiya ngale kwamazulu. Kambe kukhona yini okukhulu kangaka okwedlula lokhu osekuke kwenzakala loba kwezwakala na?
33 Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have heard, and live?
Sikhona na esinye isizwe esake sezwa uNkulunkulu ekhuluma ephakathi kwelangabi lomlilo, njengalokhu eselikuzwile, saphila na?
34 Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
Kukhona na unkulunkulu oseke wazama ukuzithathela esinye isizwe phakathi kwesinye, ngokuhlola, ngemilingo yezibonakaliso, lezimangaliso, lezimpi, ngesandla esilamandla langokwelula ingalo, loba izenzo ezinkulu ezesabekayo, njengakho konke uThixo uNkulunkulu wenu alenzela khona eGibhithe lizibonela ngamehlo enu?
35 It was shown to you so that you might know that the LORD is God. There is no one else besides him.
Lakutshengiswa konke lokhu ukuze lazi ukuthi uThixo unguNkulunkulu; ngaphandle kwakhe kakho omunye futhi.
36 Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you. On earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the middle of the fire.
Esemazulwini wakwenza ukuthi lilizwe ilizwi lakhe ukuze libe lobuntu. Emhlabeni walitshengisa amalangabi omlilo akhe omkhulu, njalo lawezwa amazwi akhe ephuma emlilweni.
37 Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their offspring after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt;
Ngenxa yokuthi wabathanda okhokho benu wakhetha izizukulwane zabo ezalandela ngemva kwabo, walikhipha eGibhithe ngoBukhona bakhe kanye langamandla akhe amakhulu,
38 to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today.
ukuxotsha zonke izizwe phambi kwenu, izizwe ezilamandla kulezenu lokulingenisa elizweni lazo ukuze aliphe lona libe yilifa lenu, njengoba kunjalo lamuhla.
39 Know therefore today, and take it to heart, that the LORD himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no one else.
Yamukelani njalo likugcine ezinhliziyweni zenu lamuhla ukuthi uThixo unguNkulunkulu ezulwini phezulu lasemhlabeni phansi. Kakho omunye.
40 You shall keep his statutes and his commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God gives you for all time.
Gcinani izimiso zakhe lemilayo yakhe, engilinika yona lamuhla, ukuze kulihambele kahle lina kanye labantwabenu lokuthi liphile isikhathi eside elizweni eliliphiwa nguThixo uNkulunkulu wenu ukuze libe ngelenu kokuphela.”
41 Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise,
Ngakho uMosi wasekhetha amadolobho amathathu empumalanga yeJodani,
42 that the man slayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally and didn’t hate him in time past, and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:
ukuze kuthi wonke oyabe ebulele omunye abalekele khona nxa eyabe ebulele umakhelwane kungekho mona kodwa kube yingozi. Bangabalekela kwelinye lala amadolobho ukuze baphephise impilo zabo.
43 Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
Amadolobho lawo kwakuyila: iBhezeri emagcekeni asenkangala, lingelabakoRubheni; iRamothi eGiliyadi, lingelabakoGadi; kanye lelaseGolani eBhashani lona lingelabakoManase.
44 This is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.
Lo ngumthetho owethulwa nguMosi kwabako-Israyeli.
45 These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt,
Lezi kwakuyizilinganiso, izimiso lemithetho eyethulwa nguMosi kubo ekuphumeni kwabo eGibhithe
46 beyond the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck when they came out of Egypt.
njalo babesesigodini esiseduzane leBhethi-Pheyori empumalanga yeJodani elizweni likaSihoni inkosi yama-Amori, yena owabusa eHeshibhoni njalo wehlulwa nguMosi labako-Israyeli bephuma eGibhithe.
47 They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise;
Bathatha ilizwe lakhe kanye lelizwe lika-Ogi inkosi yaseBhashani, amakhosi ama-Amori womabili empumalanga yeJodani.
48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Zion (also called Hermon),
Ilizwe leli lalisuka e-Aroweri emaphethelweni ezindonga zase-Arinoni kusiya entabeni yaseSiyoni (khona kuyiHemoni),
49 and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
kuhlanganisa layo yonke i-Arabha empumalanga yeJodani kuze kuyefika oLwandle lwe-Arabha, ngaphansi komthezuko wasePhisiga.
