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 continued to live in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived, 2 and this is the story of Jacob's family.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, took care of the sheep and goats with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's concubines. He brought bad reports to his father about what his brothers were doing.
3 Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he had been born to him when he was old. He made a long robe with full sleeves for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they hated their brother so much that they would not speak to him in a friendly manner.
5 One time Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more. 6 He said, “Listen to the dream I had. 7 We were all in the field tying up sheaves of wheat, when my sheaf got up and stood up straight. Yours formed a circle around mine and bowed down to it.”
8 “Do you think you are going to be a king and rule over us?” his brothers asked. So they hated him even more because of his dreams and because of what he said about them.
9 Then Joseph had another dream and told his brothers, “I had another dream, in which I saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to me.”
10 He also told the dream to his father, and his father scolded him: “What kind of a dream is that? Do you think that your mother, your brothers, and I are going to come and bow down to you?” 11 Joseph's brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept thinking about the whole matter.
Joseph Is Sold and Taken to Egypt
12 One day when Joseph's brothers had gone to Shechem to take care of their father's flock, 13 Jacob said to Joseph, “I want you to go to Shechem, where your brothers are taking care of the flock.”
Joseph answered, “I am ready.”
14 His father told him, “Go and see if your brothers are safe and if the flock is all right; then come back and tell me.” So his father sent him on his way from Hebron Valley.
Joseph arrived at Shechem 15 and was wandering around in the country when a man saw him and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 “I am looking for my brothers, who are taking care of their flock,” he answered. “Can you tell me where they are?”
17 The man said, “They have already left. I heard them say that they were going to Dothan.” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
18 They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted against him and decided to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes that dreamer. 20 Come on now, let's kill him and throw his body into one of the dry wells. We can say that a wild animal killed him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams.”
21 Reuben heard them and tried to save Joseph. “Let's not kill him,” he said. 22 “Just throw him into this well in the wilderness, but don't hurt him.” He said this, planning to save him from them and send him back to his father. 23 When Joseph came up to his brothers, they ripped off his long robe with full sleeves. 24 Then they took him and threw him into the well, which was dry.
25 While they were eating, they suddenly saw a group of Ishmaelites traveling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were loaded with spices and resins. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother and covering up the murder? 27 Let's sell him to these Ishmaelites. Then we won't have to hurt him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed, 28 and when some Midianite traders came by, the brothers pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
29 When Reuben came back to the well and found that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes in sorrow. 30 He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there! What am I going to do?”
31 Then they killed a goat and dipped Joseph's robe in its blood. 32 They took the robe to their father and said, “We found this. Does it belong to your son?”
33 He recognized it and said, “Yes, it is his! Some wild animal has killed him. My son Joseph has been torn to pieces!” 34 Jacob tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. He mourned for his son a long time. 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “I will go down to the world of the dead still mourning for my son.” So he continued to mourn for his son Joseph.
36 Meanwhile, in Egypt the Midianites had sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of the king's officers, who was the captain of the palace guard.