Omuyengeli gwaKalunga puBokim
1 Omuyengeli gwOmuwa okwa zi kuGilgal u uka kuBokim e ta ti kAaisraeli: “Onde mu tembudha muEgipiti nonde mu eta mEvi lyeuvaneko nde li uvanekele oohokulu. Onda tile: ‘Ngame itandi etha okuhangana nane. 2 One kamu na okuhangana nando naantu ya kala mevi ndika. Omayambelo gawo ga mbonyagulii po.’ Ihe inamu ninga shoka nde mu lombwele. Omwa ningi naanaa shoka inaashi pitikwa. 3 Onkee tii mu lombwele ngashingeyi kutya kandi na mpoka ne tidha po we aantu mbaka mondjila yeni. Oyo aatondi yeni, niikalunga yawo otayi ningi epundukitho lyeni.” 4 Omuyengeli sho a popi ndhika, oshigwana ashihe shaIsrael osha tameke okulila. 5 Onkee ehala ndyoka lyi ithanwa Bokim. Oko nkoka ya yambele Omuwa omayambo.
Eso lyaJosua
6 Josua nokwe etha Aaisraeli, ya ye shaa ngoka nondjila ye, nomuntu kehe okwa ka lala oshitopolwa she shomevi. 7 Manga Josua a li e na omwenyo, aantu oya longele Omuwa, nokonima yeso lye oya tsikile ngaaka molwaawiliki mboka ya li ya mono iilongankondo yOmuwa e yi ningile Israel. 8 Omupiya gwOmuwa Josua yaNun okwa mana oondjenda muukokele womimvo ethele nomulongo. 9 Okwa fumvikwa mepya lye puTimnat Sera mevi lyokoondundu dhaEfraim kuumbangalantu wondundu Gaash. 10 Epipi lye alihe olya mana oondjenda, nepipi lya landula olya dhimbwa Omuwa naashoka a ningile Israel.
Israel te etha elongelokalunga
11 Oshigwana shaIsrael osha yono kOmuwa nosha tameke okulongela ooBaal. 12 Oye etha elongelokalunga okulongela Kalunga koohekulu, Kalunga ngoka e ya tembudha muEgipiti, noya tameke okulongela iikalunga, iimenka yaantu yopuushiinda wawo. Oye yi inyongamene nosho ngeyi ya geyitha Omuwa. 13 Oye etha okulongela Omuwa noya longele ooBaal nooAstarte. 14 Omuwa nokwa pindjile Aaisraeli nokwe etha aaponokeli, ye ya matukile noku ya yuga. Okwe etha aatondi ayehe ye ya kunduka, ye ya gwililile po. Aaisraeli noinaa vula we okwiipopila. 15 Ethimbo kehe ya yi molugodhi, Omuwa okwe ya gamuka, ngaashi naanaa a tile. Oya li ya lulilwa.
16 Onkee ano Omuwa okwe ya penduthile aawiliki mboka ye ya mangulula maaponokeli. 17 Ihe Aaisraeli inaa vulika kaawiliki yawo. Israel okwa li kee na uudhiginini wokudhiginina Omuwa nokwa longele iikalunga yilwe. Oohekulu oya li ya vulika kiipango yOmuwa, ihe epipi epe olye shi etha po. 18 Uuna Omuwa a gandja kuIsrael omuwiliki, Omuwa okwa li a hala oku mu kwatha nokumangulula aantu miikaha yaatondi yawo. Oya kala nawa, manga omuwiliki e na omwenyo. Omuwa okwa li a hala oku ya sila ohenda, oshoka oya kugu muupyu womahepeko nowomalwa gawo. 19 Uuna omuwiliki a si, aantu oya shuna kuukulu wawo noyi inyateke ye vule oohekulu. Oya li ya hala okusimaneka nokulongela iikalunga noya tindi okweetha oondjila dhawo oombwinayi. 20 Ndele Omuwa okwa li a geele Israel e ta ti: “Aantu mbaka oya yono ehangano ndyoka nda lombwele oohekulu, ye li dhiginine. Sho inaa vulika kungame, 21 itandi tidha po nande oshigwana shimwe shomwaambyoka ya hupile ko, sho Josua a si. 22 Otandi yi longitha okuulukila Aaisraeli, ngele ya hala okulandula oondjila dhandje, ngaashi oohekulu ya ningi, nenge aawe.” 23 Osho Omuwa a pitikile iigwana mbika, yi hupe ko. Ine yi gandja miikaha yaJosua noine yi tidhitha mo mbala konima yeso lye.
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.
