ǃAob ge Egipteǁîna tsuxub ǃnâ ra hāǂam
1 ǃKhūtse, sa ǀgoraǃgâdi ge a kai tsî mîǃgāǃgāhes ǃaroma a ǃgom, ǁnā-amagan ge nē xūn xa ge ǁkhāǁkhāhe tama hâ i khoena ge ǁnāǁgôa. 2 Xorexūsa khoen ge sa ǃanu ǁaesan ǁîn ǀgaib ǃnâ ūhâ ti ge ǂâi hâ i, xawen ge ǁîna ǁîn di omdi ǂûdi ǃnâ ǃkhōsaben ase ǁnā gaxu, ǃkhae tsuxub ǃnâ ge ǁgoe i. ǁÎn ge ǁîn di ǂhunuma omdi ǃnâ sa ǀamo sâuba xu ǂganamǂuihe hâse ge ǁgoe i. 3 ǁÎn ge ǁîn di ǂganǃgâsa ǁoren ǀkhan ǃkhae ǂgāmâisab, ǀuruxasib dib ǃgâb ai sâusa ti ge ǂâi hâ i, xawen ge ǃaoǃaosa īn, sâoǃnâ kai ran xa ge sauruǀgaruǀgaruhe. 4 ǃKhae ǁhôadi hîan ǁgoeǃnâdi tsîn ge ǁîna, ǃaoba ge ǁkhaeba ǁoa i. ǁÎn ge ui-uisa ǀōgu xa ge xāǂgāhe hâ i tsîn ge ǀnore īsina ā ra khami ī aidi ǀkha ǁîn aiǃâ hā ge mâ. 5 ǀAe-i xare-i ge ǁîna ǃnâba mās ǀgaiba ge ūhâ tama hâ i tsî ǀgamirodi tsîn ge ǃnâba nē ǃaoǃaosa ǃkhaeb ǃnâ ge hā-ū ǁoa i. 6 ǁNāpab ge ǃhuriǃhurisa ǀaeb khoe-i xa khauhe tamab ǀguiba ǁîn ai gere ǃnâ tsîn ge ǁîn di ǃaob ǃnâ ǁîn gere mûnanai xūn xab ama ǃhūbaiba a tsū ti ge ǂâi hâ i. 7 ǁÎn ǃgaidī-aon di sîsengu ge ge taotaohe tsî ǁîn di gā-aisib koasenūn gereb ge ge ǁauxū kai. 8 ǁÎn ge ǀaesengu tsî ǃaogu tsînan ǀae hâ khoena xu ǃhaeǂui ǁkhā ti ge mîmâi, xawen ge nēsi ǁî-aitsama gâsib tsî ǃaroma-e ūhâ tama ǃaogu ǀkha ǀaesen hâ. 9 ǃAoǃaosa xū-i ǁîna nî ǃhuriǃhuri i ǀkhai tin ga ǂâi, xawen ge ǀhui ra ǀaon tsî ǀgurun tsî xamarin ǁîna ra ǁnāǂamn xa gere ǃaoǃaohe. 10 Tsîn ge ǁnāti ǃaob xa ǀkhū, mûde ǁkhowa-amsa ǃao, tsî xawe ǁkhāti ǁîde ǂganam ǁoase ge ǁō.
11 ǂKhaba khoen ge hugaǀgui a ǃaoǃnâ tsî aitsama ra ǀgoraǃgâsen. ǁÎn di ǀhapixa ǂgaoǂans xan ge hoaǁae ǃaorosa xūn ǁîn ǀkha nî ī ǃkhais di ǃaob ǀkha gere hâ. 12 ǃAob ge hugaǀgui khoen hîa ǁîn di mâsiba ǂhanu ǀgaub ǃnâ mûsa ra ǂkhān xa ra ǃaromahe. 13 ǂGomǃgâsens ǃnâts ga tôasisa, ots ge ǀūsib ra hā-ū ǃaob ǃnâ ra māǁnâsen.
14 ǃKhaenab ge ǁŌhân Hâǃkhaib, ǁîb tsîn a ǀgaioǃnâba xub ge hā, xui-ao ǀgai-e nē khoen ǂama ge ūhâ tama hâ i. Xawen ge ǁîna ǁō hâ khoen khami ra ǁom. 15 ǁÎn ge ǃaoǃaosa īsigu xa ǁgarihe tsî gon ǁoase ge ǁgoe, ǃnāpetamase nē xūn di ǃaob xa hāǂamhe tsî. 16 Khoen ge ǃnapetamase ǁnā tsî ǁîn di ǂhunuma ǃaob di khedegu xa ge ǃgaeǁguihe hâ i. 17 ǂGari-aogu, gūǃûi-aogu tsî sîsenaogu ǃgaroǃhūb ǃnâ ge hâ igu ge ǁkhā ǃgomsib, ǃnora xu ǁoa gu ab xa ǃkhōhe tsî ǃkhaenab ǃnâ ǁkhā mûheǁoasa khedeb xa ge ǃgaeǁguihe hâ i. 18-19 ǁÎn ge ǂoab di ǀōb, ǀhomaniron haidi ǃnâ ra ǁnaen, dâu ra ǁgammi di ǀōb, ǁnā ra ǃgareǀuidi di ǀōb, mûhe tama ǃkhoema ra xūn di ǀōb, ǁaixa ǀgurun tsî xamarin di ǃgorob tamas ka io ǃhomgu di ǀganab xa gere ǃaoǃaohe. 20 ǀOasa ǃnâb tsēs dib ǃnâb ge hoaraga khoesiba ǂhanihe tamase sîsenxasigu ǀkha gere aiǃgû. 21 ǁNā khoen ǀguin ge tsuxub ǃkhaenas, ǂguro hōǃâs ǁōb ǃkhaenab dis hîa ge ǁîna ǃâu hâ is xa ǃgū-aihe hâ i. ǁÎ-aitsaman ge ǃnao-aisen ǃgommi ge ǃkhaenas ǃgâ-ai ge ǃgom i.
Terror Strikes the Egyptians at Night
1 O Lord, your acts of judgment are marvelous and hard to explain; that is why people who had not been taught about them went astray. 2 When lawless people imagined that they had your holy nation in their power, they were themselves imprisoned in a long night of darkness. They lay in their own houses, shut off from your eternal care. 3 They thought that their sins had been secret and unnoticed, shielded from view by a dark curtain of forgetfulness, but now they were horribly afraid, confused, and terrified by ghostly forms. 4 Not even the dark corners where they lay could protect them from fear. They were surrounded by horrible noises; grim ghosts with gloomy faces appeared before their eyes. 5 No fire had power to give them light, and the brilliant stars could do nothing to relieve that deathly darkness. 6 There was only a dreadful fire, lit by no human hand, that shone on them, and in their terror they believed that the real world was even worse than the things they imagined. 7 The illusions produced by their magic tricks were put to shame, and all the wisdom they had boasted of came to nothing. 8 They had claimed they could drive away all the fears and illnesses of sick minds, but now they themselves were sick with silly, groundless fears. 9 Even though nothing dangerous had actually happened, they were terrified by hissing snakes and animals advancing on them. 10 And so they died, shaking with fear, afraid even to open their eyes, yet unable to keep them shut.
11 Wickedness is cowardly in itself and stands self-condemned. Someone with a guilty conscience will always imagine things to be worse than they really are. 12 Fear is nothing but the failure to use the help that reason gives. 13 When you lack the confidence to rely on reason, you give in to the fears caused by ignorance.
14 All night long those people slept the same restless sleep, even though the night held no power over them, since it came from the powerless depths of the world of the dead. 15 They were chased by hideous forms and lay paralyzed as they surrendered themselves to the sudden, unexpected fear that came over them. 16 People would suddenly collapse and lie locked in the chains of their own fear. 17 Farmers, shepherds, and laborers out in the countryside were captured by the same inevitable fate and bound in the darkness by the same invisible chain. 18-19 They were panic-stricken by the sighing of the wind or by the singing of birds in the trees or by the roar of rushing water or by the rumble of falling rock or by the sound of unseen creatures running about or by the savage roaring of wild animals or by the echoes from the mountains. 20 In the full light of day, the rest of the world went about its business undisturbed. 21 Only those people were covered by this heavy night, a foretaste of the darkness of death that was waiting for them. They were a burden to themselves that was even heavier than the darkness.
