The English-Kalanga Bilingual Language Learning Bible
Old Testament
Read each verse in English beside its African Kalanga equivalent.
2 Kings 7English
2 Bomambo 7African Kalanga
- English1
Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”
African KalangaNgono Elisha kati, “Iwha dama la Yahwe, tjinoleba Yahwe ndi etji, mangwana nge tjibaka itjetji tjilizanyo tje bgwisa gwe tjiwunga gowobe gutengesiwa ne shekele ing'ompela, ne zwilizanyo zwibili zwe bhali zowotengwa nge shekele ku nkoba we Samariya.”
- English2
The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”
African KalangaNgono ntungamili unonayidziwa luboko ndi mambo kadwa nlume we Ndzimu kati, “Bona, nenguba Yahwe bangazhula mafesitere e kudzimu, apa ikoku kungashingikala kene?” Ngono Elisha kadabila eti, “Unowokubona nge mesho awo, koga autowokuja.”
- English3
Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die?
African KalangaKwakabe kuna balume bali banna begwala mapele ku nkoba we nzi nkulu, ngono bakalangana beti, “Nekutini tingagala ipapa kuswikila tifa kene?
- English4
If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’-the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”
African KalangaHa titi, ‘Towobgwilila mu nzi nkulu’, kuna bhamba mu nzi nkulu towofila mukati, ngono apa tigala ipapa towofa zwedu. Ndizo ngwenu ngatiyendeni ku bukotokelo gwe Basiriya. Ha bangatitjidza towotjila, ha bangatibulaya towofa.”
- English5
At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, not a man was there,
African KalangaNdizo bakamilika kutjakabhata bakayenda ku bukotokelo gwe Basiriya, koga bakati beswika ku ndzibo we bukotokelo gwe Basiriya, bona, kwakabe kusina nthu mukati.
- English6
for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!”
African KalangaNgobe Yahwe bakabe bathama kuti ngwa ye Baasiriya iwhe nsindo we koloyi dze ngwa newe mbizi ne nsindo we ngwa whulu, kwabakadzina baka budzana beti, “Bona, mambo we Iziraela wati shakila bomambo be Bahiti na bomambo be Egipiti kuti bazhe batinginilile.”
- English7
So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.
African KalangaNdizo bakamilika bakatizha kutjakabhata ngono bakasiya mishasha yabo ne mbizi ne madonki abo. Bakasiya bukotokelo gwabo gwakajalo bezwitjidza.
- English8
The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp and entered one of the tents. They ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.
African KalangaNgono balume banogwala mapele bakati batjiswika ku ndzibo we bukotokelo bakangina mu nshasha, ngono bakaja bakang'wa, bakasenga siliva ne golide ne zwiambalo ngono bakayenda bakanozwisumbika. Bakashanduka bakangina mu nshasha mmwe ngono bakasenga zwithu muuli bakanozwisumbika.
- English9
Then they said to each other, “We’re not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”
African KalangaIpapo bakalebesana beti, “Atitothama zubuyanana. Zhuba ileli ndele ndebo mbuya, ngono apa tingazwinyalaligwa tikamilila kuti zhuba libhude, lobgwa shamu kowotiwila, ngono ngwenu ngatiyendeni tinozibisa be ng'umba ye bumambo.”
- English10
So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, “We went into the Aramean camp and not a man was there–not a sound of anyone–only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were.”
African KalangaNdizo bakayenda bakanodana balindi be nkoba we nzi nkulu bakababudza beti, “Tayenda ku bukotokelo gwe Basiriya ngono tawana kusina ne nthu unoboneka kene unowhika koga kwabe kuna mbizi dzakasungiligwa ne madonki akasungiligwa, ngono ne mishasha yasiyiwa yakajalo.”
- African Kalanga
Balindi bakaandamisa ndebo ngono kukanozibisiwa neku ng'umba ya mambo.
- English12
The king got up in the night and said to his officers, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide in the countryside, thinking, ‘They will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city.’”
African KalangaNgono mambo bakamuka kuli busiku bakadwa balanda babo bakati, “Ndowomubudza kuti Baasiriya batilukila gwanga tjini. Banoziba kuti tobulawa nge zhala, ndizo wali babhuda mu bukotokelo banobgwata ku shango bekumbulila beti, ‘Ha bangabhuda mu nzi nkulu towobatapa betjila tikangina mu nzi nkulu.’ ”
- English13
One of his officers answered, “Have some men take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their plight will be like that of all the Israelites left here–yes, they will only be like all these Israelites who are doomed. So let us send them to find out what happened.”
African KalangaNgono mmwe we balanda babe kati, “Imani bamwe balume batole mbizi dzili shanu munadzasala, bona, banonga bunji gose gwe Baiziraela bakasala ipapo, bona, banonga bunji gwe Baiziraela bakalobesiwa, ngatitumileni bathu banoshola.”
- English14
So they selected two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army. He commanded the drivers, “Go and find out what has happened.”
African KalangaNdizo bakashalula koloyi dze ngwa mbili, ngono mambo kabatuma kutobela ngwa ye Basiriya eti, “Yendani munoshola.”
- English15
They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole road strewn with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their headlong flight. So the messengers returned and reported to the king.
African KalangaBakabatobela bakadzina bakanoswika ku Jorodani, ngono mu zila kwakabe kulizhele zwiambalo ne zwija zwakabezwilashiwa nge Basiriya mu kutizha kwabo. Ndizo batumwa bakashanduka bakanobudza mambo.
- English16
Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, as the Lord had said.
African KalangaNgono bathu bakabhuda bakanotapa bukotokelo gwe Basiriya, ndizo tjilizanyo tje bgwisa gwe tjiwunga tjikatengesiwa nge shekele, ne zwilizanyo zwibili zwe bhali zwikatengisiwa nge shekele, kuyendidzana nge dama la Yahwe.
- English17
Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house.
African KalangaIpapo ntungamili wakabe mambo enaila luboko gugwe, kwakabe kuli iye wakalingilila nkoba we nzi nkulu, ngono bathu bakantshamba nge makumbo mu nkoba ngono kafa sekwa kaleba nlume we Ndzimu mu tjibaka tja mambo bakabe bedelukila ku ng'umba yabo.
- English18
It happened as the man of God had said to the king: “About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”
African KalangaKwakashingikala koga sekwa kaleba nlume we Ndzimu eti, “Zwilizanyo zwibili zwe bhali zowotengesiwa nge shekele, ne tjilizanyo tje bgwisa gwe tjiwunga tjowotengesiwa nge shekele mu tjibaka itjetji mangwana pa nkoba we Samariya,”
- English19
The officer had said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” The man of God had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!”
African Kalangakoga ntungamili wakabe adwa nlume we Ndzimu eti, “Bona, nenguba Yahwe bangazhula mafesitere e kudzimu, apa ikoku kungashingikala kene?” Ngono nlume we Ndzimu wakabe anshandula eti, “Unowokubona nge mesho awo koga autowoja tjimwe.”
- English20
And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.
African KalangaNgono nge malebeswa nditjo tjakanshingikalila, bathu bakantshamba tshamba mu nkoba ngono kafa.
Source: The English-Kalanga Bilingual Language Learning Bible, Ndzimu-unami Emmanuel Moyo, 2026. This online edition was extracted and reformatted from the PDF edition. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.