Josefa ne bakulu babe
1 Jakubo wakagala mu shango yakagagwa ndi tate babe, shango ye Kanana. 2 Eyi i ndongoloso ngekwe nsha wa Jakubo.
Josefa wakati ali nzhuzha una makole ali gumi lina makole ali kutendeka kabe elisa zwithuwo ne bakulu babe, bakololo ba Bhiliha ne ba Zilipa bakadzi ba tate babe ngono kabatjeta kuna tate babe.
3 Iziraela wakabe eda Josefa kupinda bakololo babe bamwe bose, ngoti azwagwa akwegula ngono kanthumila jasi lakanaka lina maboko malefu. 4 Ngono bakati bebona kuti unonda kubapinda bose bakambenga, bebe basingatjanlebese zubuyanana.
5 Gumwe busiku Josefa kawolota ngono kati ebudza bakulu babe bakambenga kunyanyisa. 6 Kabadwa kati, “Hwililani hwope dzangu dzandawolota. 7 Takabe tisunga zwishwa zwe koroni mu nnda ngono ipapo tjishwa tjangu tjikamuka tjikama, zwenyu zwikama kutjipoteleka zwitjikotamila.”
8 Bakulu babe bakandwa bakati, “Apa unodwa kuti unowotibusa ukabe mambo wedu iwe kene?” Ngono bakambenga kunyanyisa ngekwe mawoloto awe ne ngekwe tjaakaleba.
9 Ngono kawolota dzimwe hwope kakale kabudza bakulu babe kati, “Ndawolota kakale ndibona zhuba ne mwedzi ne nyenyedzi dzili gumi lina kung'ompela zwindikotamila.”
10 Koga wakati ebudza tate babe ne bakulu babe, tate babe bakantjemela beti, “I hwope dzakatini idzedzi dzawawolota? Apa mmeyabo nami ne bakulu babo towozha mbeli kuko tikakuthigamila kene?” 11 Bakulu babe bakanthamila fupa, koga tate babe bakakulondolodza mu moyo wabo ikoku.
Josefa unotengesiwa
12 Bakulu ba Josefa bakayenda ku danga kufudza pkhwizi dza tate babo pejo ne Shekemu. 13 Iziraela kati kuna Josefa, “Bakulu babo bakudanga pejo ne Shekemu. Buya ndikutume ku bali.”
Iye kadabila eti, “Kwakalulwama.”
14 Jakubo kabe eti kunli, “Yenda unolekula bakulu babo ne zwithuwo, ubuye undibudze kuti wawana kwakatini?” Ndizo kantuma kudwa ku nkuku we Heburoni.
Josefa kati eswika ku Shekemu 15 kapungaila pungaila mu shango ngono kawangwa ne mmwe nlume kanbhuzwa kati, “Unoshakani?”
16 Josefa kashandula eti, “Ndoshaka bakulu bangu. Mungandibudza kwabangabe befudza zwithuwo zwabo kene?”
17 Nlume iwoyo kabe eti, “Bakafuluka imomu. Ndakabahwa beti banoyenda ku Dotani.” Ndizo Josefa kayenda ku Dotani.
18 Bakulu babe bakambona atjithambo, ngono kati asathu kaswika pabali bakalangana kumbulaya. 19 Bakalebesana beti, “N'woloti ihwowuje hwoyoyu waswika. 20 Ngatimbulayeni tinlashile mu limwe le matshime iyawa. Towoti wakajiwa nge tjibandana. Ipapo towobona kuti kowoshingikalani nge mawoloto awe.”
21 Rubheni kati ehwa ikoku kagwisa kunsunungula mu maboko abo. Wakati ku bali, “Ngatisimbulayeni.” 22 “Musitebule malopa. Munlashile mu tshime ileli mu tjilambanyika, musitongo nlonga luboko.” Rubheni wakaleba ikoku kuti ansunungule mu bali ekon'yisa kuna tate babe. 23 Ndizo Josefa wakati eswika pa bakulu babe bakammbula jasi lile lefu lina maboko malefu laakabe akaambala, 24 ngono bakantola bakanlashila mu tshime. Tshime ilelo lakabe lisina tjimwe, lakabe lisina vula.
25 Bakati batjigele pasi beja bakabona gupo le Baishimaeli lili mu gwendo kudwa ku Giliyadi. Kamela dzabo dzakabe dzakabelesiwa mimotsha ne nyonje. Bakabe bali mu zila beyenda ku Egipiti. 26 Juda kabe eti ku bakulu babe ne ku banung'una babe, “Towobuyigwa ngeni ha tibulaya nnung'una wedu tikozwimba lufu gugwe. 27 Buyani tintengeseni ku Baishimaeli, tisimbulayeni. Kana iko nnung'una wedu, i nyama ne lopa ledu.” Bakulu ne banung'una babe bakaduma. 28 Ndizo kukati baseenyi be Midiyani beswika, bakulu ba Josefa bakankweba bendusa mu tshime bebe bentengesa makumi mabili e shekele dze siliva ku Baishimaeli bakayenda naye ku Egipiti.
29 Rubheni kati ebgwilila ku tshime kawana Josefa asipo ngono kabhata zwiambalo zwizwe kazwipalula nge shungu. 30 Kabgwilila ku banung'una babe kati ku bali, “Mwana aapo! Ndowolinga ngayi dumbu?”
31 Ipapo bakabulaya mbudzi bakatola jasi la Josefa bakalidubika mu malopa. 32 Bakatola jasi ilelo bakaliyisa kuna tate babo bakati, “Takanunga jasi ileli. Bonani kene lisi le mwana wenyu.”
33 Jakubo kaliziba ngono kati, “I jasi le mwanangu! Wakajiwa nge tjibandana. Malebeswa Josefa wakamwaugwanyiwa.” 34 Ipapo Jakubo kapalula zwiambalo zwizwe, kaambala jila le saka ngono kalilila nkololo uwe mazhuba manjinji. 35 Bakololo babe bose ne bakololokadzi babe bose bakazha kunnyaladza, koga kalamba kunyaladziwa kati, “Aa, ndowongina mu ikumbu kuna mwanangu ndilila.” Sa ikoko tate babe bakanlilila.
36 Bamidiyani ibo bakatengesa Josefa ku Egipiti kuna Potifa mmwe we hadzasha dza Faro, ali ntungamili we batjengeti babe.
Joseph and His Brothers
1 Jacob lived in the land of Canaan, where his father Isaac had lived, 2 and this is the story of his family.
When Jacob's son Joseph was 17 years old, he took care of the sheep with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. But he was always telling his father all sorts of bad things about his brothers.
3 Jacob loved Joseph more than he did any of his other sons, because Joseph was born when Jacob was very old. Jacob had even given Joseph a fancy coat 4 which showed that Joseph was his favorite son, and so Joseph's brothers hated him and would not be friendly to him.
5 One day, Joseph told his brothers what he had dreamed, and they hated him even more. 6 Joseph said, “Let me tell you about my dream. 7 We were out in the field, tying up bundles of wheat. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles gathered around and bowed down to it.”
8 His brothers asked, “Do you really think you are going to be king and rule over us?” Now they hated Joseph more than ever because of what he had said about his dream.
9 Joseph later had another dream, and he told his brothers, “Listen to what else I dreamed. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down to me.”
10 When he told his father about this dream, his father became angry and said, “What's that supposed to mean? Are your mother and I and your brothers all going to come and bow down to you?” 11 Joseph's brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept wondering about the dream.
Joseph Is Sold and Taken to Egypt
12 One day when Joseph's brothers had taken the sheep to a pasture near Shechem, 13 his father Jacob said to him, “I want you to go to your brothers. They are with the sheep near Shechem.”
“Yes, sir,” Joseph answered.
14 His father said, “Go and find out how your brothers and the sheep are doing. Then come back and let me know.” So he sent him from Hebron Valley.
Joseph was near Shechem 15 and wandering through the fields, when a man asked, “What are you looking for?”
16 Joseph answered, “I'm looking for my brothers who are watching the sheep. Can you tell me where they are?”
17 “They're not here anymore,” the man replied. “I overheard them say they were going to Dothan.”
Joseph left and found his brothers in Dothan. 18 But before he got there, they saw him coming and made plans to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Look, here comes the hero of those dreams! 20 Let's kill him and throw him into a pit and say that some wild animal ate him. Then we'll see what happens to those dreams.”
21 Reuben heard this and tried to protect Joseph from them. “Let's not kill him,” he said. 22 “Don't murder him or even harm him. Just throw him into a well out here in the desert.” Reuben planned to rescue Joseph later and take him back to his father.
23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they pulled off his fancy coat 24 and threw him into a dry well.
25 As Joseph's brothers sat down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with all kinds of spices that they were taking to Egypt. 26 So Judah said, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and hide his body? 27 Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not harm him. After all, he is our brother.” And the others agreed.
28 When the Midianite merchants came by, Joseph's brothers took him out of the well, and for 20 pieces of silver they sold him to the Ishmaelites who took him to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the well and did not find Joseph there, he tore his clothes in sorrow. 30 Then he went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”
31 Joseph's brothers killed a goat and dipped Joseph's fancy coat in its blood. 32 After this, they took the coat to their father and said, “We found this! Look at it carefully and see if it belongs to your son.”
33 Jacob knew it was Joseph's coat and said, “It's my son's coat! Joseph has been torn to pieces and eaten by some wild animal.”
34 Jacob mourned for Joseph a long time, and to show his sorrow he tore his clothes and wore sackcloth. 35 All of Jacob's children came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will go to my grave, mourning for my son.” So Jacob kept on grieving.
36 Meanwhile, the Midianites had sold Joseph in Egypt to a man named Potiphar, who was the king's official in charge of the palace guard.