The Lord's Angel Speaks to Israel
1 The Lord's angel went from Gilgal to Bochim and gave the Israelites this message from the Lord:
I promised your ancestors that I would give this land to their families, and I brought your people here from Egypt. We made an agreement that I promised never to break, 2 and you promised not to make any peace treaties with the other nations that live in the land. Besides that, you agreed to tear down the altars where they sacrifice to their idols. Why haven't you kept your promise?
3 And so, I'll stop helping you defeat your enemies. Instead, they will be there to trap you into worshiping their idols.
4 The Israelites started crying loudly, 5 and they offered sacrifices to the Lord. From then on, they called that place “Crying.”
Israel Stops Worshiping the Lord
6-9 Joshua had been faithful to the Lord. And after Joshua sent the Israelites to take the land they had been promised, they remained faithful to the Lord until Joshua died at the age of 110. He was buried on his land in Timnath-Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. Even though Joshua was gone, the Israelites were faithful to the Lord during the lifetime of those men who had been leaders with Joshua and who had seen the wonderful things the Lord had done for Israel.
10 After a while the people of Joshua's generation died, and the next generation did not know the Lord or any of the things he had done for Israel. 11-13 The Lord had brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they had worshiped him. But now the Israelites stopped worshiping the Lord and worshiped the idols of Baal and Astarte, as well as the idols of other gods from nearby nations.
The Lord was so angry 14-15 with the Israelites that he let other nations raid Israel and steal their crops and other possessions. Enemies were everywhere, and the Lord always let them defeat Israel in battle. The Lord had warned Israel he would do this, and now the Israelites were miserable.
The Lord Chooses Leaders for Israel
16 From time to time, the Lord would choose special leaders known as judges. These judges would lead the Israelites into battle and defeat the enemies that made raids on them. 17 In years gone by, the Israelites had been faithful to the Lord, but now they were quick to be unfaithful and to refuse even to listen to these judges. The Israelites disobeyed the Lord, and instead of worshiping him, they worshiped other gods.
18 When enemies made life miserable for the Israelites, the Lord felt sorry for them. He would choose a judge and help that judge rescue Israel from its enemies. The Lord was kind to Israel as long as that judge lived. 19 But afterwards, the Israelites would become even more sinful than their ancestors had been. The Israelites were stubborn—they simply would not stop worshiping other gods or following their teachings.
The Lord Lets Enemies Test Israel
20 The Lord was angry with Israel and said:
The Israelites have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They won't obey me, 21 so I'll stop helping them defeat their enemies. Israel still had a lot of enemies when Joshua died, 22 and I'm going to let those enemies stay. I'll use them to test Israel, because then I can find out if Israel will worship and obey me as their ancestors did.
23 That's why the Lord had not let Joshua get rid of those enemy nations all at once.
Omweengeli wOmwene
1 Opo nee omweengeli wOmwene okwa dja muGilgal e uya kuBokim, ndele ta ti: “Ame nde mu pitifa mo muEgipiti ndele nde mu eta medu eli, nde li udanekela ooxo nokwaana, ndele nda tile: ‘Ame ihandi ka teya po ehangano letu nanye fiyo alushe, 2 ndelenee inamu ninga nande ehangano noonakukalamo vomedu eli. Oiyambelo yavo mu noku i ngumauna po.’ Ndelenee nye inamu pwilikina ondaka yange. Paife omwa ninga shike? 3 Onghee hano ohandi mu lombwele yo: Ame ihandi ke va taataa komesho yeni, opo vo otava ka ninga ovatondadi veni, noikalunga yavo tai ka ninga omwiyo weni.” 4 Ndele fimbo omweengeli wOmwene a popifa ovana aveshe vaIsrael neendjovo edi, ovanhu va yelula ondaka yavo ndele tava lili. 5 Ndele va luka onhele oyo Bokim ndele va yandjela eyambo lavo kOmwene.
Oukali wOvaisraeli mefimbo lovatokolipangeli
6 Opo nee Josua okwa lekela ovanhu, novana vaIsrael, keshe umwe, okwa ya moshitukulwafyuululwa shaye e ke shi nangale. 7 Novanhu ova longela Omwene omafiku aeshe fimbo Josua kwa li e nomwenyo nomafiku aeshe fimbo ovakulunhu ava va kala nomwenyo konima yefyo laJosua, ava va mona oilonga aishe inene yOmwene, e i ningila Israel. 8 Ndelenee Josua yaNun, omupiya wOmwene okwa fya e nomido efele nomulongo. 9 Ndele vo ove mu paka monhele yoshitukulwafyuululwa shaye muTimnat-Heres, keemhunda daEfraim koumbangalanhu womhunda yaGaas. 10 Ndele epupi olo alishe, eshi la ongelwa kooxe, epupi limwe la holoka konima yavo, lo inali shiiva Omwene nosho yo inava shiiva oilonga ye e i ningila Israel. 11 Novana vaIsrael va ninga eshi inashi wapala momesho Omwene, vo ova longela ooBaal, 12 ndele va efa Omwene Kalunga kooxe, ou e va pitifa mo medu laEgipiti, ndele va shikula oikalunga yoiwana oyo ya li ye va dingilila, ndele ve i linyongamena ndele va handukifa Omwene. 13 Ndele vo eshi va efa Omwene ndele va longela ooBaal nooAstarot, 14 ehandu lOmwene ola xwamena Ovaisraeli ndele Ye e va efela momake ovahanauni, ava ve va lwa. Ndele Ye okwe va landifa po momake ovatondadi vavo ve va dingilila, onghee hano va nyengwa okulipopila moipafi yovatondadi vavo. 15 Keshe apa va ya, eke lOmwene le va lwifa noku va etela owii, ngaashi Omwene e shi va tongelele nongaashi Omwene e shi va anenene.
16 Ndelenee alushe eshi va hangika koudjuu, Omwene okwa pendula ovatokolipangeli, ava ve va xupifa mo momake ovahanauni vavo. 17 Vo inava pwilikina yo nande ovatokolipangeli vavo, ndelenee moluhaelo va shikula oikalunga imwe ndele ve linyongamena kuyo. Va yapuka mo diva mondjila ei ooxe va enda nayo, mokudulika koipango yOmwene. Hasho va ninga. 18 Ndele alushe Omwene ngeenge e va pendulila ovatokolipangeli, Omwene okwa li pamwe nomutokolipangeli oku va xupifa mo momake ovatondadi vavo momafiku aeshe omutokolipangeli, osheshi Omwene okwa li e va uditile olukeno, vo eshi va kema omolwovafininiki novahepeki vavo. 19 Ndelenee alushe omutokolipangeli eshi a fya, vo ova nyona ve dule ooxe, okushikula oikalunga imwe yo ve i longela nokulinyongamena kuyo. Vo inava efa oilonga yavo nokweenda kwavo moukukutu. 20 Onghee hano ehandu lOmwene la xwamena Israel ndele Ye ta ti: “Oshiwana eshi eshi sha teya ehangano lange nde li lombwela ooxe ndele itashi pwilikine ondaka yange, 21 ame ihandi ka taataa vali komesho yavo oshiwana nande shimwe shomuyo, Josua e i xupifa mefimbo lefyo laye, 22 molwayo Ame nda hala okuyeleka Ovaisraeli, vo ngeenge tava diinine tuu ondjila yOmwene ngaashi ooxe ve i diinina, ile ahowe.” 23 Onghee hano Omwene okwa efa oiwana oyo i kale po, Ye ine i taataa diva, ndele ine i yandja momake aJosua.
