1 Apa ngono Bajuta banoyita pa bamwe ngeni kene? Kakale apa nshingo we buthumbi ini kene? 2 Kobhatsha kwazo, nge zila dzose! Tje kutanga, Ndzimu wakabathama batjengeti be matama awo. 3 Koga ha bamwe babo basakabe ne bugalimoyo kee? Apa kusagalamoyo ikoku kokolomodza bugalimoyo gwe Ndzimu kene? 4 Ndodwa! Ndzimu una malebeswa misi yose, nenguba bathu bose bali banyepi, sekwa kwakakwagwa kuyi,
“Kuti ndizo mululwamisiwe nge matama enyu,
kakale mushayiwe nlandu ha musumikilisiwa.”
5 Koga ha bubi gwedu gulakidza ndulamo ye Ndzimu tingatini wali? Apa tingati Ndzimu mbi ha utithamila bushongola kene? Ndoleba se kunoleba bathu. 6 Ndodwa! Ha kwabe kwakajalo Ndzimu ungasumikilisa shango tjini kene?
7 Koga ha manyepkhwa angu ezhisa kukudziwa kwe Ndzimu ngothama malebeswa e Ndzimu kuti aboneke nge buzhalo, ndi tja bongwa nlandu ntjini kene? 8 Ini ngono tisingathame mbipo, kuti ndizo kunaka kuzhe? Bamwe bathu banotitjinya mazina beti tojalo. Kubong'wa nlandu kwabo kwakabafanila.
Akuna wakalulwama
9 Ngono ngwenu kee? Apa iswi Bajuta toyita pa bamwe kene? Ndodwa ne kutukununu! Ndakaleba kale kuti Bajuta kose ne Bezwitjaba tipasi kwe simba le tjibi, 10 sekwa kwakakwagwa kuyi,
“Akuna iye wakalulwama,
ndodwa ne nng'ompela.
11 Akuna unohwisisa,
akuna unoshaka Ndzimu.
12 Bose bakafupatila Ndzimu,
bose bakatjinya.
Akuna unothama ndulamo,
ndodwa ne nng'ompela.
13 Wulo dzabo dzonga zwikumbu zwakaashama
banotjengedza nge ndimi dzabo
bana bushungu gunonga gwe nyoka mu milomo yabo,
14 milomo yabo izhele bhiso ne bushongola.
15 Banolibilidzila kutebula lopa,
16 pabapinda matongo ne buyendasi,
17 zila ye mbakiso abatoiziba.
18 Akuna kutja Ndzimu mubali.”
19 Ngwenu toziba kuti tjimwe ne tjimwe nlayo tjaunoleba, unotjileba kuna ibabo bapasi kwe nlayo, kuti milomo yose inyaladziwe ne shango yose ibe ne kuzwidabilila ku Ndzimu, 20 ngobe akuna nthu ungalulwamisiwa ngoshinga tjinoshakwa nge nlayo, nge kuti zibo ye tjibi inozha nge nlayo.
Zila ye Ndzimu ye kululwamisa bathu
21 Koga ngwenu zila ye Ndzimu ye kululwamisa bathu yakazumbunugwa kuzhe kwe nlayo, nenguba nlayo ne balebesambeli bepa butendeki nge kwayo. 22 Ndzimu unolulwamisa bathu nge kugalamoyo kwabo muna Jesu Kirisiti. Ngoti akuna shalaulo, 23 se bathu bose bakatjinya bakathayela gudzo le Ndzimu. 24 Koga banolulwamisiwa nge ngoni dze Ndzimu dzili tjipo nge kudzutunugwa kumuna Kirisiti Jesu, 25-26 Ndzimu wakadusa Nkololo wawo ili tjibhayilo kuti nge lopa lile tiamutjigwe nge kugalamoyo. Ikoku Ndzimu wakabe ulakidza kuti mu misi yakapinda wakabe ne moyo nlefu ukasibe ne hanya nge zwibi zwe bathu, koga ngwenu una hanya nazo kuti ndizo alakidze ndulamo yawo. Ikoku ekuthama ngoamutjila bathu bose bana kugalamoyo muna Jesu.
27 Tingazwikudza ngeni ngono? Akuna. Ini tisingazwikudze? Apa tingazwikudza nge mishingo kene? Aa, nge kugalamoyo koga. 28 Topedza titi, nthu unolulwamisiwa nge kugalamoyo, kusi nge kulondolodza nlayo. 29 Apa Ndzimu nge we Bajuta koga kene? Apa ate uli Ndzimu we Bezwitjababo kene? Ee, nge we Bezwitjababo. 30 Se Ndzimu uli nng'ompela unolulwamisa bakathumbigwa nge kugalamoyo kwabo ne basakathumbigwa nge kugalamoyo kwabobo. 31 Apa ikoku kodwa kuti nge kugalamoyo ikoku tolasha nlayo kene? Ndodwa! Tosimisa nlayo.
1 What good is it to be a Jew? What good is it to be circumcised? 2 It is good in a lot of ways! First of all, God's messages were spoken to the Jews. 3 It is true that some of them did not believe the message. But does this mean that God cannot be trusted, just because they did not have faith? 4 No, indeed! God tells the truth, even if everyone else is a liar. The Scriptures say about God,
“Your words
will be proven true,
and in court
you will win your case.”
5 If our evil deeds show how right God is, then what can we say? Is it wrong for God to become angry and punish us? What a foolish thing to ask. 6 But the answer is, “No.” Otherwise, how could God judge the world? 7 Since your lies bring great honor to God by showing how truthful he is, you may ask why God still says you are a sinner. 8 You might as well say, “Let's do something evil, so that something good will come of it!” Some people even claim that we are saying this. But God is fair and will judge them as well.
No One Is Good
9 What does all this mean? Does it mean that we Jews are better off than the Gentiles? No, it doesn't! Jews, as well as Gentiles, are ruled by sin, just as I have said. 10 The Scriptures tell us,
“No one is acceptable to God!
11 Not one of them understands
or even searches for God.
12 They have all turned away
and are worthless.
There isn't one person
who does right.
13 Their words are like
an open pit,
and their tongues are good
only for telling lies.
Each word is as deadly
as the fangs of a snake,
14 and they say nothing
but bitter curses.
15 These people quickly
become violent.
16 Wherever they go,
they leave ruin
and destruction.
17 They don't know how
to live in peace.
18 They don't even fear God.”
19 We know that everything in the Law was written for those who are under its power. The Law says these things to stop anyone from making excuses and to let God show that the whole world is guilty. 20 God doesn't accept people simply because they obey the Law. No, indeed! All the Law does is to point out our sin.
God's Way of Accepting People
21 Now we see how God does make us acceptable to him. The Law and the Prophets tell how we become acceptable, and it isn't by obeying the Law of Moses. 22 God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. 23 All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. 24 But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. 25-26 God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus.
27 What is left for us to brag about? Not a thing! Is it because we obeyed some law? No! It is because of faith. 28 We see that people are acceptable to God because they have faith, and not because they obey the Law. 29 Does God belong only to the Jews? Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is! 30 There is only one God, and he accepts Gentiles as well as Jews, simply because of their faith. 31 Do we destroy the Law by our faith? Not at all! We make it even more powerful.