Bigwa kwe mabgwe e zwikumbuludzo
1 Kwakati itjaba tjose tje Iziraela tjisinotjuluka gwizi gwe Jorodani, Yahwe bakadwa Joshuwa bakati, 2 “Shalula balume bali gumi lina babili mu bathu ibaba, mmwe ne mmwe wabo ali milile ludzi gugwe, 3 ngono ubadwe uti, ‘Mmwe ne mmwe wenyu ngaatole bgwe ling'ompela mu gwizi pabe pali mile bapirisiti, muasenge munoabiga kwamunonolala nasi.’ ”
4 Ipapo Joshuwa kadana balume bali gumi lina babili kudwa mu bathu be Iziraela, baakabe ashalula mmwe ne mmwe edwa mu ludzi gugwe, 5 ngono kabadwa kati, “Pindilani mbeli kwe Bhokisi le Tjidumano tja Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu, mungine pakati kwe gwizi gwe Jorodani, mmwe ne mmwe wenyu kuyenda nge mbalo ye njudzi dze bathu be Iziraela, mmwe ne mmwe aswike apike bgwe ling'ompela aliyise ku bukotokelo, 6 mabgwe iyawa abe ikumbuludzo mu muli. Mangwana ha bana benyu be mubhuzwa beti, ‘Mabgwe iyawa anodwani?’ 7 Mowobabudza kuti, kwakati Bhokisi le Tjidumano tja Yahwe litjuluka gwizi, vula ikama wunga, ndizo mabgwe iyawa anowobe ikumbuludzo tje tjakashingikala mu bathu be Iziraela nge kusingapele kose.”
8 Ngono balume be Iziraela bakathama sekwakaleba Joshuwa, bakatola mabgwe ali gumi lina mabili pakati kwe Jorodani kuyenda nge mbalo ye njudzi dze bathu be Iziraela koga sekwakadwiwa Joshuwa ndi Yahwe. Bakatola mabgwe bakanoabiga kwabakabe bakakotokela. 9 Joshuwa kabiga mabgwe mamwe ali gumi lina mabili pakati kwe gwizi pakabe pali mile bapirisiti bakabe bakasenga Bhokisi le Tjidumano. Mabgwe iyawo ayapo na nasi. 10 Bapirisiti bakabe bakasenga Bhokisi le Tjidumano bakabe bali mile pakati kwe gwizi kuswikilila kwathamiwa tjimwe ne tjimwe tjakabe tjadwiwa Joshuwa ndi Yahwe kuti atjidwe bathu kuti batjithame kuyendidzana nakose kwakabe kwadwiwa Joshuwa ndi Mushe.
Bathu bakatjuluka gwizi belibilidza, 11 ngono kwakati bathu bose basinobe batjuluka, Bhokisi le Tjidumano la Yahwe likatjuluka lakasengwa nge bapirisiti, itjaba tjakalingilila. 12 Balume be ludzi gwa Rubheni ne gwa Gadi ne gwamu le ludzi gwa Manase, bose bakabe bakashakatila mathumo bakatungamila Baiziraela Mushe sekwa akabadwa. 13 Kwakabe kuli balume bangabhata zwiwulu zwili makumi manna (40 000) bakazwilulwamisila ngwa bakapinda mbeli kwa Yahwe beyenda ku mabala e Jerikho. 14 Mu zhuba ilelo Yahwe bakakudza Joshuwa mbeli kwe Baiziraela bose ngono Baiziraela bakazwiyisa pasi mbeli kwa Joshuwa butjilo gugwe gose koga sekwa bakabe bezwiyisa pasi mbeli kwa Mushe. 15 Ngono Yahwe bakadwa Joshuwa bakati, 16 “Idwa bapirisiti bakasenga bhokisi le butendeki kuti babhude mu gwizi gwe Jorodani.” 17 Ndizo Joshuwa kadwa bapirisiti kati babhude mu gwizi. 18 Kwakati koga bapirisiti bakasenga Bhokisi le Tjidumano tja Yahwe betshamba pasi pakawoma vula ikatangisa wunga koga se mukutanga.
19 Bathu bakabhuda mu Jorodani mu zhuba le bugumi le mwedzi we kutanga ngono bakanokotokela ku Giligala ku n'gathu uku bhezhuba kwe Jerikho. 20 Ngono Joshuwa katola mabgwe ali gumi lina mabili akabe atogwa mu gwizi gwe Jorodani kaatshila kaamisa mu Giligala. 21 Ngono Joshuwa wakadwa bathu be Iziraela eti, “Mangwana ha bana be bana benyu bebhuzwa botate babo kuti mabgwe iyawa anodwani, 22 mu babudze muti, ‘Baiziraela bakatjuluka gwizi gwe Jorodani gwakawoma.’ 23 Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu bakapkhwisa vula mu Jorodani kuswikila mose matjuluka koga Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu sekwa bakathama ku Gungwa Shaba, bakapkhwisa vula kuswikilila tose tatjuluka, 24 kuti ndizo bathu bose bamu shango bazibe kuti Yahwe bana masimba ne kuti mugale mutja Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu misi yose.”
The People Set Up a Monument
1 After Israel had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua:
2-3 Tell one man from each of the twelve tribes to pick up a large rock from where the priests are standing. Then tell the men to set up those rocks as a monument at the place where you camp tonight.
4 Joshua chose twelve men; then he called them together 5 and said:
Go to the middle of the riverbed where the sacred chest is, and pick up a large rock. Carry it on your shoulder to our camp. There are twelve of you, so there will be one rock for each tribe. 6-7 Someday your children will ask, “Why are these rocks here?” Then you can tell them how the water stopped flowing when the chest was being carried across the river. These rocks will always remind our people of what happened here today.
8 The men followed the instructions that the Lord had given Joshua. They picked up twelve rocks, one for each tribe, and carried them to the camp, where they put them down.
9 Joshua set up a monument next to the place where the priests were standing. This monument was also made of twelve large rocks, and it is still there in the middle of the river.
The People of Israel Set Up Camp at Gilgal
10-13 The army got ready for battle and crossed the Jordan with everyone else. They marched quickly past the sacred chest and into the desert near Jericho. Forty thousand soldiers from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh led the way, as Moses had ordered.
The priests stayed right where they were until the people had followed the orders that the Lord had given Moses and Joshua. Then they watched as the priests carried the chest the rest of the way across.
14-18 “Joshua,” the Lord said, “tell the priests to come up from the Jordan and bring the chest with them.” So Joshua went over to the priests and told them what the Lord had said. And as soon as the priests carried the chest past the highest place that the floodwaters of the Jordan had reached, the river flooded its banks again.
That's how the Lord showed the Israelites that Joshua was their leader. For the rest of Joshua's life, they respected him as they had respected Moses.
19 It was the tenth day of the first month of the year when Israel crossed the Jordan River. They set up camp at Gilgal, which was east of the land controlled by Jericho. 20 The men who had carried the twelve rocks from the Jordan brought them to Joshua, and they made them into a monument. 21 Then Joshua told the people:
Years from now your children will ask you why these rocks are here. 22-23 Tell them, “The Lord our God dried up the Jordan River so we could walk across. He did the same thing here for us that he did for our people at the Red Sea, 24 because he wants everyone on earth to know how powerful he is. And he wants us to worship only him.”