Kolomogwa kwe nzi we Ai
1 Yahwe bakadwa Joshuwa bakati, “Usitje kakale usitemeke mafupa, tola babhayani bose uyende unonginilila nzi we Ai, bona ndakupa mambo we Ai ne bathu babe ne nzi uwe ne shango iye kuti ubakunde. 2 Uthame nzi we Ai ne mambo wawo koga sekwa wakathama mambo we Jerikho ne nzi we Jerikho, koga ngwenu mungazwitolela zwithuwo zwabo ne thundu dzabo. Mubalalile shule kwe nzi.”
3 Joshuwa ne babhayani bose bakamilika bakalinga ku nzi we Ai, Joshuwa wakabe ashalula balume bakasima bali zwiwulu zwili makumi matatu (30 000) kabatumila busiku kunolalila bathu be Ai 4 nge ndaulo inoti, “Bhulutanani kwazo. Yendani munolalila bathu be Ai shule kwe nzi wabo, musitongo yendila kulekule nawo. Mose koga mugale makateya zebe. 5 Ngono imi ne bamwe bose banami towononginilila Ai tingina tili mbeli kwe nzi ngono bathu be Ai banoti bezha kuwotigwisa koga se kutanga, towotizha. 6 Banowotitatamila kuswikila tabakwebela kulekule ne nzi wabo ndizo banowobe bezwidwa beti, ‘Banotitizha koga se kutanga.’ Ndizo atatizha tatjibe kule kule, 7 imwi mube mubhuda pa makabalalila mutole nzi wabo. Yahwe Ndzimu wedu banowomupa simba le kubakunda. 8 Amusinotola nzi we Ai mube muupisa nge moto. Muthame sekwakaleba Yahwe. Mubone kuti moshinga tjandinoleba” 9 Ndizo Joshuwa kadwa babhayani bali zwiwulu zwili makumi matatu (30 000) kuti batjiyenda kunolalila bathu be Ai. Malalilo abo akabe ali pakati kwe nzi we Bhetele ne ku golombedzo kwe Ai, koga Joshuwa iye kasala ne bamwe bakasala ku bukotokelo.
10 Tjimuka mangwanana Joshuwa ne batungamili be Iziraela bakalulwamisa babhayani, ngono bakamilika bakatungamila babhayani kuyenda ku Ai. 11 Balume bose be babhayani bakabe banaye bakasedzela ku nzi we Ai ngono bakanokotokela mbeli kwe nzi ku bunandzwa gwe Ai bakapalalanyiwa nge nkuku pakati kwabo ne nzi. 12 Joshuwa wakadwa balume bangabhata zwiwulu zwili zwishanu (5 000) kuti banolalila bathu be Ai bali pakati kwe nzi we Bhetele ne we Ai kunomila zhuba kwe nzi. 13 Bakalulwamisa babhayani bakatola mamo abo, bose bakabe bali mu bukotokelo bakabe bali ku bunandzwa, bakabe bakalalila bathu be Ai ku golombedzo. Joshuwa iye kayenda ku nkuku we Jorodani. 14 Kwakati mambo we Ai ebona babhayani ba Joshuwa, iye ne babhayani babe bose bakabinduka mu mangwanana makulu kunoshangana ne Baiziraela ku tjibata tje Araba kugwa nabo. Koga bakabe basinga zibe kuti kuna babhayani bakabalalila shule kwe nzi. 15 Joshuwa ne Baiziraela bose bakazwithama se bakundiwa ngono bakatizhila kuyendila ku tjilambanyika. 16 Balume bose be Ai bakadang'wa kuti babalonde, ngono bakalonda babhayani ba Joshuwa ngono bakabe kulekule ne nzi. 17 Kwakasala kusina ndodwa ne mbhayani nng'ompela wakasala mu Ai, bose bakatobela Baiziraela.
18 Ndizo Yahwe bakadwa Joshuwa bakati, “Tola thumo limu luboko gugo utendeke ku nzi we Ai, ngoti ngwenu mowokunda bathu be Ai.” Ndizo Joshuwa katendeka nsebe ku nzi we Ai. 19 Wakati koga ethama saikoku babhayani bakabe bakalalila bakamilika tjinyolotjo pabakabe balipo bakangina mu nzi bakatola nzi, tjinyolotjo bakaupisa nge moto. 20 Balume be Ai bakati belinga shule kwabadwa bakabona bhulubusi lithungailila ku makole, ngono bakashaya kwabangatizhila, ngobe Baiziraela bakabe betizha bakalinga ku tjilambanyika bakabe bashandukila zwita zwabo. 21 Ngono Joshuwa ne babhayani babe naibo bakabona bhulubusi ngono bakaziba kuti Baiziraela bamwe banginilila nzi we Ai. Ndizo bakashanduka bakabulaya balume be Ai. 22 Balume bamwe bakazhabo kuwonginilila Baiziraela ngono bakazwiwana bakakombiwa ne balume be babhayani be Baiziraela ngono bakababulaya bose. 23 Koga mambo we Ai iye bakasimbulaye, bakantola ali mpenyu ngono bakansa kuna Joshuwa.
24 Baiziraela bakati basinopedza bulaya balume be Ai ku tjibata tje tjilambanyika kwabakabe batatigwa, mmwe ne mmwe wabo bakampedzisa nge thumo, Baiziraela bakashandukila ku Ai bakanobulaya bose bakabe batjatjila mu Ai. 25 Mu zhuba ilelo balume be Baiziraela bakabulaya bathu bose mu nzi we Ai. Bakabulaya balume ne bakadzi bali zwiwulu zwili gumi ling'ompela lina bali babili (12 000), 26 Joshuwa wakaletjedza thumo lile lakatendeka ku nzi we Ai kuswikilila mmwe ne mmwe unogala mu Ai abulawa. 27 Koga Baiziraela bakazwitolegwa thundu ne zwithuwo Yahwe sekwa bakabe badwa Joshuwa. 28 Ndizo Joshuwa kapisa nzi we Ai kukasala ili duthu le matongo kuswikila nasi. 29 Joshuwa wakasungilila mambo we Ai mu nti kuswikilila madekwana, kwakati zhuba lomila Joshuwa kadwa bathu kuti badeluse mambo we Ai mu nti ngono balashile itumbu tjitje pa nkoba we nzi. Bakabutitika mabgwe asimashoma pezhugwi kukwe. Mabgwe iyawo na nasi atjiyapo.
Bagwa kwe nlayo ku Ebali
30 Kudwapo Joshuwa wakabakila Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo mu Dombo le Ebali, 31 koga Mushe sekwa akabe abudza Baiziraela. Wakabaka tjibeso koga sekwa kwakabe kwakakwagwa mu Lukwalo gwe nlayo gwa Mushe kuyi, “Tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo tjakafanila thamwa nge mabgwe azhele asakabezhiwa kakale asakatongo bezhiwa nge tshipi.” Mutjili bakapisila Yahwe zwibhayilo bakazhisa ne zwibhayilo zwinopisiwa zwe mbakisano. 32 Joshuwa kati ali ipapo mbeli kwe Baiziraela kakopela mu bgwe nlayo wakakwagwa ndi Mushe. 33 Baiziraela bose ne bazhi ne beni be shango ne bakulu be nzi ne balauli ne basumikilisi, bakabe bali mile hwunde ne Bhokisi le Tjidumano tja Yahwe bali mbeli kwe bapirisiti bakabe bali Balevi. Gwamu limwe le bathu lakabe lilimile mbeli kwe Dombo le Gerizimu ngono limwe lilimile mbeli kwe Dombo le Ebali koga sekwa Mushe nlada wa Yahwe akabe adusa ndaulo kutanga kuti kushigwe saikoku akupiwa dothodzo. 34 Kwakati shule Joshuwa kabala matama wose e nlayo, e makombolelo ne e bhiso koga sekwa kwakakwagwa mu Lukwalo gwe nlayo. 35 Akuna ndodwa nge dama ne ling'ompela lakabe lalebgwa ndi Mushe lisakabagwa ndi Joshuwa mbeli kwe gubungano lose le Iziraela ne bakadzi ne bana ne bazhi bose babakabe begala nabo.
1 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land: 2 And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.
3 ¶ So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour, and sent them away by night. 4 And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, even behind the city: go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready: 5 And I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city: and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them, 6 (For they will come out after us) till we have drawn them from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we will flee before them. 7 Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. 8 And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire: according to the commandment of the LORD shall ye do. See, I have commanded you.
9 ¶ Joshua therefore sent them forth: and they went to lie in ambush, and abode between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people. 10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11 And all the people, even the people of war that were with him, went up, and drew nigh, and came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai: now there was a valley between them and Ai. 12 And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city. 13 And when they had set the people, even all the host that was on the north of the city, and their liers in wait on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.
14 ¶ And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it , that they hasted and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at a time appointed, before the plain; but he wist not that there were liers in ambush against him behind the city. 15 And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. 16 And all the people that were in Ai were called together to pursue after them: and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city. 17 And there was not a man left in Ai or Beth-el, that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel. 18 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city. 19 And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand: and they entered into the city, and took it, and hasted and set the city on fire. 20 And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way: and the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers. 21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and slew the men of Ai. 22 And the other issued out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side: and they smote them, so that they let none of them remain or escape.
23 And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. 24 And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword. 25 And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. 26 For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27 Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the word of the LORD which he commanded Joshua. 28 And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day. 29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.
30 ¶ Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal, 31 As Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.
32 ¶ And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. 33 And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.