The Blessings of Obedience
(Leviticus 26.3-13Deuteronomy 7.12-24)1 “If you obey the Lord your God and faithfully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, he will make you greater than any other nation on earth. 2 Obey the Lord your God and all these blessings will be yours:
3 “The Lord will bless your towns and your fields.
4 “The Lord will bless you with many children, with abundant crops, and with many cattle and sheep.
5 “The Lord will bless your grain crops and the food you prepare from them.
6 “The Lord will bless everything you do.
7 “The Lord will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack from one direction, but they will run from you in all directions.
8 “The Lord your God will bless your work and fill your barns with grain. He will bless you in the land that he is giving you.
9 “If you obey the Lord your God and do everything he commands, he will make you his own people, as he has promised. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that the Lord has chosen you to be his own people, and they will be afraid of you. 11 The Lord will give you many children, many cattle, and abundant crops in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you. 12 He will send rain in season from his rich storehouse in the sky and bless all your work, so that you will lend to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any. 13 The Lord your God will make you the leader among the nations and not a follower; you will always prosper and never fail if you obey faithfully all his commands that I am giving you today. 14 But you must never disobey them in any way, or worship and serve other gods.
The Consequences of Disobedience
(Leviticus 26.14-46)15 “But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all his commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you:
16 “The Lord will curse your towns and your fields.
17 “The Lord will curse your grain crops and the food you prepare from them.
18 “The Lord will curse you by giving you only a few children, poor crops, and few cattle and sheep.
19 “The Lord will curse everything you do.
20 “If you do evil and reject the Lord, he will bring on you disaster, confusion, and trouble in everything you do, until you are quickly and completely destroyed. 21 He will send disease after disease on you until there is not one of you left in the land that you are about to occupy. 22 The Lord will strike you with infectious diseases, with swelling and fever; he will send drought and scorching winds to destroy your crops. These disasters will be with you until you die. 23 No rain will fall, and your ground will become as hard as iron. 24 Instead of rain, the Lord will send down duststorms and sandstorms until you are destroyed.
25 “The Lord will give your enemies victory over you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run from them in all directions, and all the people on earth will be terrified when they see what happens to you. 26 When you die, birds and wild animals will come and eat your bodies, and there will be no one to scare them off. 27 The Lord will send boils on you, as he did on the Egyptians. He will make your bodies break out with sores. You will be covered with scabs, and you will itch, but there will be no cure. 28 The Lord will make you lose your mind; he will strike you with blindness and confusion. 29 You will grope about in broad daylight like someone blind, and you will not be able to find your way. You will not prosper in anything you do. You will be constantly oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to help you.
30 “You will be engaged to a young woman—but someone else will marry her. You will build a house—but never live in it. You will plant a vineyard—but never eat its grapes. 31 Your cattle will be butchered before your very eyes, but you will not eat any of the meat. Your donkeys will be dragged away while you look on, and they will not be given back to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given as slaves to foreigners while you look on. Every day you will strain your eyes, looking in vain for your children to return. 33 A foreign nation will take all the crops that you have worked so hard to grow, while you receive nothing but constant oppression and harsh treatment. 34 Your sufferings will make you lose your mind. 35 The Lord will cover your legs with incurable, painful sores; boils will cover you from head to foot.
36 “The Lord will take you and your king away to a foreign land, where neither you nor your ancestors ever lived before; there you will serve gods made of wood and stone. 37 In the countries to which the Lord will scatter you, the people will be shocked at what has happened to you; they will make fun of you and ridicule you.
38 “You will plant plenty of seed, but reap only a small harvest, because the locusts will eat your crops. 39 You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you will not gather their grapes or drink wine from them, because worms will eat the vines. 40 Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, because they will be taken away as prisoners of war. 42 All your trees and crops will be devoured by insects.
43 “Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours. 44 They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers.
45 “All these disasters will come on you, and they will be with you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep all the laws that he gave you. 46 They will be the evidence of God's judgment on you and your descendants forever. 47 The Lord blessed you in every way, but you would not serve him with glad and joyful hearts. 48 So then, you will serve the enemies that the Lord is going to send against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, and naked—in need of everything. The Lord will oppress you harshly until you are destroyed. 49 The Lord will bring against you a nation from the ends of the earth, a nation whose language you do not know. They will swoop down on you like an eagle. 50 They will be ruthless and show no mercy to anyone, young or old. 51 They will eat your livestock and your crops, and you will starve to death. They will not leave you any grain, wine, olive oil, cattle, or sheep; and you will die. 52 They will attack every town in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and the high, fortified walls in which you trust will fall.
53 “When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you. 54-55 Even the most refined man of noble birth will become so desperate during the siege that he will eat some of his own children because he has no other food. He will not even give any to his brother or to the wife he loves or to any of his children who are left. 56-57 Even the most refined woman of noble birth, so rich that she has never had to walk anywhere, will behave in the same way. When the enemy besieges her town, she will become so desperate for food that she will secretly eat her newborn child and the afterbirth as well. She will not share them with the husband she loves or with any of her children.
58 “If you do not obey faithfully all of God's teachings that are written in this book and if you do not honor the wonderful and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 he will send on you and on your descendants incurable diseases and horrible epidemics that can never be stopped. 60 He will bring on you once again all the dreadful diseases you experienced in Egypt, and you will never recover. 61 He will also send all kinds of diseases and epidemics that are not mentioned in this book of God's laws and teachings, and you will be destroyed. 62 Although you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few of you will survive, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as the Lord took delight in making you prosper and in making you increase in number, so he will take delight in destroying you and in bringing ruin on you. You will be uprooted from the land that you are about to occupy.
64 “The Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve gods made of wood and stone, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have ever worshiped before. 65 You will find no peace anywhere, no place to call your own; the Lord will overwhelm you with anxiety, hopelessness, and despair. 66 Your life will always be in danger. Day and night you will be filled with terror, and you will live in constant fear of death. 67 Your hearts will pound with fear at everything you see. Every morning you will wish for evening; every evening you will wish for morning. 68 The Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships, even though he said that you would never have to go there again. There you will try to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves, but no one will want to buy you.”
Eyambeko lyoonakuvulika
(Lev. 16:3-13Deut. 7:12-24)1 “Ngele oto vulika kOmuwa Kalunga koye e to dhiginine shili iipango ye ayihe mbyoka tandi yi ku pe nena, ote ke ku nenepeka u vule iigwana ayihe kombanda yevi. 2 Vulika ano kOmuwa Kalunga koye, nomayambeko ngaka agehe otaga ka ninga goye.
3 “Omuwa ota yambeke omikunda dhoye nomapya goye.
4 “Omuwa ote ku yambekele oluvalo lwoye, eloolo lyiimeno yoye niimuna yoye oongombe noonzi.
5 “Omuwa ota yambeke iilya yoye niikulya ya za muyo.
6 “Omuwa ota yambeke ashihe to shi ningi.
7 “Omuwa ota ka dhenga aatondi yoye, uuna taye ku ponokele. Nge taye ya, otaa ziilile kombinga yimwe, ihe otaa ka halakana noondjila heyali taa yi ontuku.
8 “Omuwa Kalunga koye ota ka yambeka iilonga yoye nota ka udhitha iigandhi yoye iilya. Ote ku yambeke mevi ndyoka te li ku pe.
9 “Ngele oto vulika kOmuwa Kalunga koye e to gwanitha ayihe mbyoka a popi, ote ku ningi oshigwana she mwene, ngaashi u uvaneke. 10 Nena iigwana ayihe kombanda yevi otayi ka mona kutya Omuwa okwe ku hogolola u ninge oshigwana she mwene, oyo notayi ku tila. 11 Omuwa ote ke ku pa oluvalo olwindji, iimuna oyindji neloolo lyiilya mevi ndyoka e li uvanekele oohokulu te li ku pe. 12 Ota ka lokitha omvula pethimbo lyo opala tayi zi mompungulo ye yeloolo megulu nokuyambeka iilonga yoye ayihe; oto ka lilwa oongunga kiigwana oyindji, ihe ngoye ito pumbwa okuhehela nando okushimwe shayo. 13 Omuwa Kalunga koye ote ke ku ninga omuwiliki mokati kiigwana, hamulandulishinkoti; oto ka kala aluhe u na elago noito shunduka, ngele to vulika shili kiipango mbyoka ayihe tandi yi ku pe nena ndjika. 14 Ihe ino gamuka ko kuyo, u uke kolulyo nenge kolumoho nenge u simaneke nokulongela iikalunga.”
Egeelo lyaatangalali
(Lev. 26:14-46)15 “Ihe ngele ito vulika kOmuwa Kalunga koye noito dhiginine shili omautho niipango ye ayihe mbyoka tandi yi ku pe nena, etulomutima alihe ndika otali ku adha e tali ku thingi:
16 “Omuwa ota ka tula omutima iilando yoye nomalundu goye.
17 “Omuwa ota ka tula omutima iilya yoye niikulya ya za muyo.
18 “Omuwa ote ke ku tula omutima gwoluvalo lwa pumba, gwiilya ya theta noongombe noonzi dhimwedhimwe adhike.
19 “Omuwa ota ka tula omutima ashihe to shi ningi.
20 “Ngele oto ningi nayi nokutinda Omuwa, ote ku undulile omupya, evundakano nomalwa mwaayihe to yi ningi, sigo wa yonuka po thiluthilu. 21 Ote ku tumine omalega, sigo wa pu mo naanaa moshilongo shoka to ka lala. 22 Omuwa ote ku umbu uuvu wepunga, olwiidhi nomuthithilalo; ote ku tumine omutenya gwetokopya noluteni nokukukutika po iimeno yoye. Omupya nguka otagu ku hepeke, sigo wa si. 23 Omvula itayi ka loka we, nevi lyoye otali ka kalanda lya fa emanya. 24 Peha lyomvula Omuwa ote ke ku tumina ontsi nomutoko, sigo wa hanagulwa po.
25 “Omuwa ote ku sinditha kaatondi yoye. Oto ya homona to ziilile kombinga yimwe, ihe oto ke ya ya ontuku wa lamba oondjila heyali, naantu ayehe kombanda yevi otaa ka tila, ngele taa mono mbika tayi ku ningilwa. 26 Uuna tamu ka sa, oondhila niithitukuti otayi ka lya po omidhimba dheni, nokape na ngoka te yi halutha. 27 Omuwa ote ke ku tumina iitumbuka, ngaashi a ningile Aayegipiti. Olutu lwoye ote ke lu tutitha iilalo. Oto ka kakata iitumbuka nomaankadhi e to ka kala to nyu, ihe itaku ka kala omuti gwasha. 28 Omuwa ote ku umbu uuvu woonkwengu e te ku umbile uuposi nepiyagano. 29 Oto ka pampadhala moshanga shomutenya wa fa omuposi, noito vulu okumona ondjila yoye. Ito ka kala u na elago mwaayihe to yi ningi. Oto ka thindilwa pevi aluhe nokuyugwa, nopwaa na ngoka te ku kwatha.
30 “Oto ka yaleka omukadhona — ihe gulwe te ke mu hokana po. Oto ka tunga ongulu — ihe ito ka kala mo nando. Oto ka tsika omiviinu — ihe ito li omandjembele gadho. 31 Oongombe dhoye otadhi ka tselelwa montaneho yoye, ihe onyama yadho ito ke yi lya. Uusino woye otau ka kookololwa po, manga we u tala, noitau ke ku galulilwa we. Oonzi dhoye otadhi ka pewa po aatondi yoye, nokape na ngoka te ke ku kwatha. 32 Aamwoye aamati naakadhona otaa ka gandjwa po kaakwiilongo, ya ninge aapika, manga we shi tala. Esiku kehe oto ka nzana mo omeho goye to ligamene, pamwe aamwoye otaa galuka, ihe osima yowala. 33 Oshigwana oshikwiilongo otashi ka kutha po iimeno yoye ayihe mbyoka wi ihepekele oku yi kokitha, manga to kala po owala, kakele kedhiginino lyomahepeko nonyanya. 34 Omahepeko goye otaga piyaganeke omutse gwoye. 35 Omuwa ote ku umbu iitumbuka okuza komutse sigo okoshithi shompadhi.
36 “Omuwa ote ke ku kutha po ngoye nomukwaniilwa gwoye e te mu fala kevi lyaakwiilongo, nkoka ngoye mwene nenge oohokulu inaamu kala ko nale; nkoka oto ka longela iikalunga ya hongwa miiti nomomamanya. 37 Miilongo mbyoka Omuwa te ke ku halakanithila mo, aantu otaa ka haluthwa kwaashoka she ku ningilwa: otaye ke ku nyekelela noku ku sheka.
38 “Oto ka kuna ombuto oyindji, ihe oto ka teya oshishonashona, oshoka oombahu otadhi ka lya po iimeno yoye. 39 Oto ka tsika iitsambe yomiviinu e to yi helele, ihe ito ka likola omandjembele nenge u nwe omaviinu gayo, oshoka omazinyo otaga ka lya po oomviinu. 40 Omiolivi otadhi ka mena shaa mpoka mevi lyeni, ihe ito ka kala nando u na omagadhi gooholivi, oshoka ooholivi otadhi ka yagumuka ko. 41 Oto ka kala u na aamati naakadhona, ihe oto ke ya kanitha, oshoka otaa ka kwatwa po oonkwatwa miita. 42 Omiti dhoye adhihe niilikolwa yevi lyoye otayi ka lika po kuupuka.
43 “Aakwiilongo mboka ya kala mevi lyoye, otaye ke ku gwililila po ye ku vule, ngoye noto ka kanitha oonkondo. 44 Otaa ka kala ye na iimaliwa ye ku pe oongunga, ihe ngoye ito ka kala u na sha u ya pe oongunga. Pehulilo otaa ka ninga aapangeli yoye.
45 “Omathingano ngaka agehe otage ku adha, e taga kala ge ku na, sigo wa hanagulwa po thiluthilu, oshoka ino vulika kOmuwa Kalunga koye nokudhiginina omautho niipango ayihe e yi ku pe. 46 Omathingano ngoka otaga ka ninga endhindhiliko sigo aluhe kutya ngoye noluvalo lwoye omwa pangulwa kuKalunga. 47 Omuwa okwe ku yambeke pamikalo adhihe, ihe ino mu longela nenyanyu nonomwenyo gwa tundulukwa. 48 Onkee ano oto ka longela aatondi mboka Omuwa te ku tumine, ye ku kondjithe. Oto ka kala wa sa ondjala nenota nou li omudhuu — u li moluhepo lwiinima ayihe. Omuwa ote ke ku hepeka nayi, sigo wa hanagulwa po thiluthilu. 49 Omuwa ote ke ku tukulila oshigwana tashi zi kokule kooha dhevi, shi ye shi ku kondjithe, oshigwana shoka elaka lyasho kuu li shi. Otashi ke ku fegula po sha fa ekodhi. 50 Otaa ka kala aananyanya, itaa ningile mo molwaakulupe noitaa si ohenda aagundjuka. 51 Otaa ka lya po oongombe dhoye niilikolwa yomevi lyoye, nangoye oto ka sa po kondjala. Itaye ku thigile po nando omuma yimwe yiilya, eta lyomaviinu, uugadhi wooholivi, ongombe nenge onzi; nangoye oto ka sa po. 52 Otaa ka ponokela oshilando kehe moshilongo shoka Omuwa Kalunga koye te shi ku pe sigo omadhingililokuma omaleeleka ngoka wi itula, otaga ka kumunwa po.
53 “Uuna aatondi yoye taa kondeke iilando yoye, oto ka pumbwa iikulya, oto kala muuwehame nomeiyekelelo, sigo to li po aamwoye, onyama aamwoye aamati naakadhona mboka Omuwa Kalunga koye e ku pe. 54 Nokuli omulumentu omvalekele nomulelwa ondembula ke na ohenda namumwayina, omukadhi omuholike nenge oyana mboka ya hupu ko; 55 ite ya pe nando okantumba konyama yoyana ndjoka ye mwene ta li muuwehame nomeiyekelelo molwompumbwe yiikulya, sho u li wa kondekwa kaatondi. 56 Omukiintu omvalekele nomulelwa ondembula, ngoka moluuyamba inee enda kolupadhi nando olumwe, ke na ohenda nomulume omuholike nenge omwana omumati nomukadhona. 57 Ite ya pe okahanona e ka vala, nontungwa yako tayi zi moshivalelo she, oshoka muuwehame nomeiyekelelo omolwompumbwe yiikulya ye mwene ote yi li po meholamo, sho u li wa kondekwa kaatondi.
58 “Ngele ito dhiginine shili oompango ndhika adhihe nomalongo ga nyolwa membo ndika, nongele ito simaneke edhina lyOmuwa Kalunga koye ekumithi netilithi, 59 ote ku tumine ngoye noluvalo lwoye omauwehame gaa shi kupangwa, omalega omatilithi nomikithi omiwinayi dhomambwengelela. 60 Ote ku undulile ishewe omikithi omitilithi ndhoka we dhi mwene muEgipiti noito ka hwepopala we. 61 Ote ke ku undulila omavu nomalega ngeyaka gi ili nogi ili inaaga tumbulwa membo ndika lyoompango nomalongo gaKalunga, ongoye noto ka hanagulwa po. 62 Nonando u indjipale u thike poonyothi dhokegulu, yamweyamwe yomune ayeke taa ka hupa ko, oshoka ino vulika kOmuwa Kalunga koye. 63 Omuwa ngaashi a li a nyanyukilwa elago lyoye nokwiindjipala kwoye, osho wo ta ka nyanyukilwa moku ku yona po noku ku hanagula po. Oto ka nakulwa mo mevi ndyoka to ke li lala.
64 “Omuwa ote ke ku halakanithila mokati kiigwana ayihe okuza kooha dhevi sigo okoonkwawo, naankoka oto ka longela iikalunga ya hongwa miiti nomomamanya, iikalunga mbyoka ngoye mwene nenge oohokulu inaaye yi longela nale. 65 Ito ka mona ombili akuhe, kape na ehala to ka tya olyoye. Omuwa ote ke ku tula uumbanda, etyololoko neziyalalo. 66 Okukala kwoye aluhe otaku kala moshiponga. Uusiku nomutenya oto ka kala nomwenyo tagu nuka mo noto ka kala muumbanda weso wa pitilila. 67 Ongula oto ka tya: ‘Ando okwa li ongulohi,’ nongulohi oto ka tya: ‘Ando okwa li ongula.’ Osho u li u na ehaluko lya tya ngeyi momutima nomahaluhalu ga tya ngeyi momeho goye. 68 Omuwa ote ke ku shunithila kuEgipiti mooskepa, nando ye mwene a tile: ‘Ito ka shuna we kuEgipiti.’ Oko hoka to ki ilanditha po kaatondi yoye u ninge omupika, ihe kaku na ngoka ta hala oku ku landa po.”
