1 “Musitongo bhayila Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu ng'ombe kene pkhwizi ina bulema, tjifo kene tjili tjakatini zwatjo ngoti ikoku koshimika kuna Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu.”
2 “Ha ili kuti pakati kwenyu mu mmwe we mizi yenyu yamunopiwa ndi Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu kowanika nlume kene nkadzi unothama tjimwe tjakabipa mu mesho a Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu, etjinya tjidumano tjawo, 3 ngono akayenda kanoshingila midzimu mimwe ngono kainamata, kuli zhuba kene mwedzi kene mibunga ye zhuzhugwi yandakadzibila, 4 mabudziwa ngono mahwa ngekwatjo. Shakisisani, ngono ha kuli malebeswa kwakwako kuti tjinoshimika saikoku tjakashingwa mu Iziraela, 5 ipapo muzhise kumikoba yenyu nlume iwoyo kene nkadzi iwoyo wakathama tjithu itjetji tjakabipa ngono mukikithidze nlume iwoyu kene nkadzi iwoyu nge mabgwe afe. 6 Nge butendeki gwe batendeki babili kene batatu iye wakafanila kuti afe ngaabulawe, nthu asitongo bulawa nge butendeki gwe nthu nng'ompela. 7 Maboko e batendeki abe iwo e kutanga kumbulaya, shule kube kuzha maboko e bathu bose. Ndizo muduse tjibi pakati kwenyu.”
8 “Ha kungabe ne ndebo yakasima mumuli, ingabe ye kubulayana kene ye kutjetana kene ye kukubadzana, ndebo imwe ne imwe koga mu mizi yenyu yakamusimila, ipapo mumilike muyende ku bugalo gunowoshalugwa ndi Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu. 9 Muyende ku bapirisiti be Balevi ne ku nsumikilisi umu tjigalo mazhuba iyawo, mu bakumbile ngono banoleba nkumbulo wakalingisana. 10 Ipapo muthame tjinodumana ne tjabamubudza kudwa mu bugalo igogo gunowoshalugwa ndi Yahwe, ngono mube ne njele kuthama tjinodumana na kose kwabamudwa. 11 Muthame kuyendidzana ne milayo yabamupa, kudumane ne bheledzo labaleba kumuli, muthame sayikoko, musitongo pambuka mu kusumikilisa kwabaleba kumuli, musitongobuyila ku luji kene lumeshwe. 12 Nthu unothama tjinolambana ne mpirisiti umilile kushingila mbeli kwa Yahwe Ndzimu kene nsumikilisi unowofa, ndizo muduse tjibi mu Iziraela. 13 Ngono bathu bose banowohwa bakatja bakasitongobe ne manyimwe kakale.
Fanilo dza mambo
14 “Uti waswika ku shango yaunopiwa ndi Yahwe Ndzimu uwo ngono ube ugala muili, ipapo ube uti, ‘Ndowozwibigila mambo se njudzi dzose dzakandipoteleka,’ 15 malebeswa ungazwibigila mambo iye washalugwa ndi Yahwe Ndzimu uwo. Ali unodwa mu bana ba tate babo ungambiga mambo wenyu, usitongozwibila ntaya. 16 Koga tjiyapo asizwiwatshile mbizi dzikabe njinji kene kathama kuti bathu babgwilile ku Egipiti benowatsha mbizi se Yahwe bakati kumuli, ‘Musitongo shandukila ikweno kakale.’ 17 Kakale asitongo be ne bakadzi banjinji, moyo uwe udwa upambuka mu zila, naiko asitongo watsha siliva iye ne golide iye.”
18 “Ngono ati egala pa tjigalo tje bumambo gugwe azwikwaligwe mu lukwalo ntutshi we nlayo iwoyu, kudwa muna umu maboko e bapirisiti be Balevi. 19 Agale anawo ngono awubale mazhuba wose e butjilo gugwe kuti azwidiye kutja Yahwe Ndzimu uwe nge kulondolodza matama wose e nlayo eashinga, 20 kuti moyo uwe usitongomilidzika ezwiwana ali pezhugwi kwe bana batate babe ne kuti asitongo bhuda mu nlayo kayendila ku luji kene ku lumeshwe kuti adwilile tjibaka tjilefu mu bumambo gugwe, iye ne bana babe mu Iziraela.”
Sacrifices That Have Something Wrong with Them
Moses said to Israel:
1 If an ox or a sheep has something wrong with it, don't offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God—he will be disgusted!
Put To Death People Who Worship Idols
Moses said to Israel:
2-3 The Lord your God is giving you towns to live in. But later, a man or a woman in your town may start worshiping other gods, or even the sun, moon, or stars. I have warned you not to worship other gods, because whoever worships them is disobeying the Lord and breaking the agreement he made with you. 4 So when you hear that someone in your town is committing this disgusting sin, you must carefully find out if that person really is guilty. 5-7 But you will need two or three witnesses—one witness isn't enough to prove a person guilty.
Get rid of those who are guilty of such evil. Take them outside your town gates and everyone must stone them to death. But the witnesses must be the first to throw stones.
Difficult Cases
Moses said to Israel:
8-12 It may be difficult to find out the truth in some legal cases in your town. You may not be able to decide if someone was killed accidentally or murdered. Or you may not be able to tell whether an injury or some property damage was done by accident or on purpose. If the case is too difficult, take it to the court at the place where the Lord your God chooses to be worshiped.
This court will be made up of one judge and several priests who serve at the Lord's altar. They will explain the law to you and give you their decision about the case. Do exactly what they tell you, or you will be put to death. 13 When other Israelites hear about it, they will be afraid and obey the decisions of the court.
The King
Moses said:
14 People of Israel, after you capture the land the Lord your God is giving you, and after you settle on it, you will say, “We want a king, just like the nations around us.”
15 Go ahead and appoint a king, but make sure that he is an Israelite and that he is the one the Lord has chosen.
16 The king should not have many horses, especially those from Egypt. The Lord has said never to go back there again. 17 And the king must not have a lot of wives—they might tempt him to be unfaithful to the Lord. Finally, the king must not try to get huge amounts of silver and gold.
18 The official copy of God's laws will be kept by the priests of the Levi tribe. So, as soon as anyone becomes king, he must go to the priests and write out a copy of these laws while they watch. 19 Each day the king must read and obey these laws, so that he will learn to worship the Lord with fear and trembling 20 and not think that he's better than everyone else.
If the king completely obeys the Lord's commands, he and his descendants will rule Israel for many years.