1 Mâ aiǂhanu-e i ǁnâi Jodeǁî-e ūhâ? Tare-es ǃgaohesa* ra harebe? 2 ǂGui ǀgaugu ǃnâ ra harebe. ǂGurosan ge Jodeǁîna Elob di mîs ǀkha ge ǂgomǃgâhe hâ i. 3 ǀNî Jodeǁîn ga ǂgomoǃnâo, Elob ǂgoms tsîna nēs ǃnâ ǁauǁauhe tide? 4 Tātsē! Mâ khoe-i hoa-i ga ǂhumi, xaweb ge Eloba amab ǀguiba ūhâ. Xoas ra mî khami:
“Sats ga sa mîdi ǃnâ ǂhanu-ai,
ots ge ǀgoraǃgâhets ka, o nî danao kai.”
5 Xawe sada di tsūdīgu ga Elob di ǂhanu-aisiba ǃnāsase a ǃgāsa kaio, tare-e da kha nî mî? Elob a ǂhanuoǃnâ ti da kha nî mî ǁîb di ǁaibab ga sada ai ǀkhī-ūo? (Khoesi ǀgaub ǃnâ ta ra ǃhoa.) 6 ǁNāsas tā ī! Elob ga ama tama io, mâtib ǁîba ǃhūbaiba ǀgoraǃgâ ǁkhā?
7 Xawe ti ǂhumib ga Elob di amaba ǃnāsase a ǃgāsa kai tsî kai ǂkhaisiba mâ bio, tare-i ǃaroma ta noxopa ǁore-aose ra ǀgoraǃgâhe? 8 Tare-i ǃaroma da ǁnâi “A da ǂkhababa dī, îb ǃgâiba ǁîba xu ǀkhī” ti mî tama hâ? Nēsan ge ǀnî khoena ǃkhāǃkhā rase ra mî kai da, xawen ge ǁîna ǂhanu-aise ǀgoraǃgâsa ge ǃkhōǃoa.
Khoe-i xare-i ge ǂhanu-ai tama hâ
9 Sada Jodeǁîda, Jodeǁî taman* xa a ǂam khoe? Tātsē, ǀnai da ge ge ǃgāsa kai Jodeǁîn tsî Jodeǁî taman tsîn hoan ǁoreb ǀgaib ǃnâ hâsa. 10 Xoamâihe hâ khami:
“ǀGui ǂhanu-ai-i tsîn ge a ǀkhai,
ǀgui-i xawe-i hâ tama;
11 ǀgui ǁnâuǃāxa-i tsîn ge a ǀkhai;
Eloba ra ôa-i xare-i ge hâ tama hâ.
12 Hoan ge Eloba xu ge dabasen,
hoan ge ge harebeoǃnâ;
ǃgâidī ra-i xare-i ge a ǀkhai,
ǀgui-i xawe-i ge hâ tama hâ.
13 ǁÎn di dommi ge a ǁkhowa-amsa ǀhoba,
ǁîn di namdi ǀkhan ra gāxaǃnâsiba ǃhoa,
ǀaob ǃgā-i ge ǁîn di amǁgaugu ǃnaka hâ;
14 ǁÎn di ams ge ǀâxareb tsî au-ausens tsîra xa ǀoa hâ.
15 ǁÎn di ǂaidi ge a ǃhae ǀaoǂnâxūs ǃaroma,
16 hîkākās tsî tsūǀkhāb tsîra ge ǁîn di daogu ǃnâ hâ,
17 tsîn ge ǂkhîb di daoba a ǀū,
18 eloǃaoǃgâxasi-i xare-i ge ǁîn mûǁae a ǀkhai.”
19 ǂAn da a ǃkhais ge ǁnān ǂHanub ǃnaka hân, ǁîb di ǁgaragu ǃnaka ra hâsa. Khoe-i xare-i ge xū-e mîsa mā-amhe tide tsîb ge hoaraga ǃhūbaiba Elob aiǃâ ǁkharahesa anu hâ. 20 ǁNā-amaga i ge mâ khoe-i ǂHanuba ra ǁnâuǀnam-i hoa-e Elob mûǁae a ǂhanu-ai kaihe ǁoa, ǂHanuba xus ǁoreba ǂansa ra hā xui-ao.
ǂGomsa xu ǂhanu-ai kaihes
21 Xawe nēsisa Elob ǁîb ǀkha khoena ra ǂhanu-ai kai ǀgaub ge ge ǂhaiǂhaihe tsî ǁnās ge ǂHanub ǀkha dīxū-e ūhâ tama hâ. Moseb ǂhanub* tsî kēbo-aogu ge ǁnās xa ra ǃkhō-am. 22 Elob ge ǁîb ǂûb ǀkha ǂgoms ǃnâ-u, Jesub Xristub ǃnâ hoa ǂgomsabena ra ǂhanu-ai kai, ǀgora-e ūhâ tamase. 23 Hoan ge ǁore tsîn Elob di ǂkhaisiba tôasi hâ xui-aon 24 ge ǁause ǀkhomma xu ra ǂhanu-ai kaihe, Xristub Jesub ǃnâ hâ oresa xu. 25 Elob ge ǁîba ǁguibase ǁōb âb ǃnâ-u ǂkhîbagus ǁguibasa, ǁnān ǂgomsa ūhâna nî danbase ge ǁguiba. ǁÎb di taniǀnamxasib ǀkhab ge aibekam surib di ǁorena ǀariǂui, xui-aos ge ǁnāti ī ǁguibasa ge ǂhâbasa i, ǁîb di ǂhanu-aisiba ǁgauǂuis ǃaroma. 26 Tsî i ge ǁkhāti nē ǁaeb ǃaroma ge ǂhâbasa i ǁîb di ǂhanu-aisib tsî ǁîb a ǂhanu-ai ǃkhaisa ǁgauǂui tsî ǁîb a ǁnā, mâ-i hoa-i hîa Jesub ǃnâ ra ǂgom-e ra ǂhanu-ai kaiba ǃkhaisa ra ǁgau.
27 ǁNā-amaga koasensa mâpa hâ? ǁAraǂuihe hâ. Mâ ǂhanub xa? Sîsengu diba? Hî-î, xawe ǂgoms di ǂhanub ǃnâ-u. 28 O da ge ra ǂgom khoe-i ǂgomsa xu ra ǂhanu-ai kaihe ǃkhaisa, xawes ge nēsa ǂHanuba ǃkhōǀgaipes ǀkha dīxū-e ūhâ tama hâ. 29 Eloba kha Jodeǁîn dis ǀguisa i? Jodeǁî taman dis tsînab hî tama? Ā, ǁîb ge Jodeǁî taman dis tsîna i, 30 ǀgui Elob ǀguib hâ, ǃgaohe hâna ǂgoms ǃnâ tsî ǃgaohe tamana ǂgoms ǃnâ-u ra ǂhanu-ai kaiba xui-ao. 31 Nē ǂgoms ǀkha da kha ǁnâi ǂHanuba ra ǁauxūdī? Tātsē, xawe da ge ǂHanuba ra ǂnubikhâi.
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.
