Woneka kwa Joshuwa
1 Kwakati shule kwabe tjibaka Yahwe bakapa Baiziraela kunyaluluka mu kugwa ne zwita zwabo zose kubapoteleka, Joshuwa mu tjibaka itjetjo wakabe atjikwegula kwazo, 2 Joshuwa kakubunganya bathu bose be Iziraela, bakulu ne batungamili ne basumikilisi ne makombgwa ngono kabadwa kati, “Imi ndakwegula ndabe nthuntana, 3 ngono imwi makazwibonegwa tjimwe ne tjimwe tjakashingwa ndi Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu mu zwitjaba nge kwenyu, Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu ndibo bakabe bemugwila. 4 Ndakapa njudzi dzenyu shango kuti ibe thaka yenyu kudwa ku bhezhuba kwe gwizi gwe Jorodani kunoti ku Gungwa Bukulu kunomila zhuba. Ndakamupa shango ye zwitjaba zose zwandakakunda ne zwakasala. 5 Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu banowozwitatila kutjena namwi bakazwisundila kutjena mbeli kwenyu ngono mowotola shango dzabo koga Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu sekwa bakamugadzabgwe. 6 Ndizoke ngwenu simani, mulondolodze tjimwe ne tjimwe tjakakwagwa mu Lukwalo gwe nlayo gwa Mushe, musitongo gufupatila ndodwa ne kang'ompela. 7 Musitongo shingidzana ne njudzi idzedzi dzipakati kwenyu, musitongo dana mazina e midzimu yabo kene ili kutuna nayo kene kuli kuithigamila. 8 Koga makafanila kuti mubhatilile muna Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu koga sekwa makathama kuswikila nasi. 9 Yahwe bakatatila zwitjaba zwakasima kutjena na nasi kose akuna wakamukunda. 10 Yahwe Ndzimu wedu bakagadzabgwe kuti banowotigwila ndizo nthu ng'ompela ekunda bathu bali tjiwulu (1 000). 11 Ndizo mubone kuti moda Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu.
12 “Koga ha mufupatila Yahwe muzwizwadzanya ne Bezwitjaba izwezwi zwipakati kwenyu kene mube mulobolelana nazo, 13 mube muziba kuti Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu abangatjatatile zwitjaba kutjena namwi. Koga zowobe bhuzhu, zwikamulalila, zowobe shamu mu muli kakale zwikabe mihwa mu mesho enyu kuswikilila maloba mose mu shango iyeyi yakanaka yamakapiwa ndi Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu.
14 “Ngono ngwenu ndatjibe pejo ngofa. Mukatikati kwenyu moziba tjoselele kuti akuna tja Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu tjabakagadzabgwe tjabasakashingikadza, tjimwe ne tjimwe tjabakagadzabgwe bakatjishingikadza, akuna tjakabakona. 15 Koga se zwithu zose zwibuya zwakagadziwabgwe ndi Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu bakazwishingikadza, Yahwe banowodelusila zwithu zwakabipa pezhugwi kwenyu sekwa bakaleba, kudzina bemukolomodza mu shango iyeyi mbuya iyo Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu yabakamupa. 16 Ha mutjuluka Tjidumano tja Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu, itjo tjabakamudwa, mube muyenda munoshingila midzimu ipoga kakale muinamata, bushongola gwa Yahwe gowodelukila mu muli ngono tjinyolotjo mowolobesiwa mu shango yakanaka yabakamupa iyo.”
Joshua's Farewell Speech
1 The Lord let Israel live in peace with its neighbors for a long time, and Joshua lived to a ripe old age. 2 One day he called a meeting of the leaders of the tribes of Israel, including the old men, the judges, and the officials. Then he told them:
I am now very old. 3 You have seen how the Lord your God fought for you and helped you defeat the nations who lived in this land. 4-5 There are still some nations left, but the Lord has promised you their land. So when you attack them, he will make them run away. I have already divided their land among your tribes, as I did with the land of the nations I defeated between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
6 Be sure that you carefully obey everything written in The Book of the Law of Moses and do exactly what it says.
7 Don't have anything to do with the nations that live around you. Don't worship their gods or pray to their idols or make promises in the names of their gods. 8 Be as faithful to the Lord as you have always been.
9 When you attacked powerful nations, the Lord made them run away, and no one has ever been able to stand up to you. 10 Any one of you can defeat a thousand enemy soldiers, because the Lord God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 Be sure to always love the Lord your God. 12-13 Don't ever turn your backs on him by marrying people from the nations that are left in the land. Don't even make friends with them. I tell you that if you are friendly with those nations, the Lord won't chase them away when you attack. Instead, they'll be like a trap for your feet, a whip on your back, and thorns in your eyes. And finally, none of you will be left in this good land that the Lord has given you.
14 I will soon die, as everyone must. But deep in your hearts you know that the Lord has kept every promise he ever made to you. Not one of them has been broken. 15-16 Yes, when the Lord makes a promise, he does what he has promised. But when he makes a threat, he will also do what he has threatened. The Lord is our God. He gave us this wonderful land and made an agreement with us that we would worship only him. But if you worship other gods, it will make the Lord furious. He will start getting rid of you, and soon not one of you will be left in this good land that he has given you.