The English-Kalanga Bilingual Language Learning Bible
Old Testament
Read each verse in English beside its African Kalanga equivalent.
Genesis 2English
Kutangisa 2African Kalanga
- African Kalanga
Ndizo kubumbiwa kwe kudzimu ne shango ne zwithu zose zwimu zwili kukapedziwa.
- English2
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
African KalangaNgono mu zhuba le butendeka Ndzimu ukaligila nshingo wawo wawakabe ushinga, ngono ukanyaluluka mu zhuba le butendeka mu nshingo wose wawakabe washinga.
- English3
And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
African KalangaNdzimu ukakombolela zhuba le butendeka ukaliyengemadza, ngoti Ndzimu wakanyaluluka mu lili mu nshingo wose we kubumba wawakathama.
- English4
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens–
African KalangaEdzi ndidzo thawu ngekwe kudzimu ne shango pazwakabumbiwa. Mu zhuba Yahwe Ndzimu labakabumba shango ne kudzimu,
- English5
and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground,
African Kalangakwakabe kusina zwakamela mu shango. Kwakabe kusina ndodwa ne ntinyana wakamela ngoti Yahwe Ndzimu bakabe basathu bakanisa vula mu shango. Kwakabe kusathu kukabe ne nthu unolima,
- African Kalanga
koga fulele yakabe imilika ikadilidzila pasi kose.
- English7
the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
African KalangaYahwe Ndzimu bakabumba nthu nge whuluba ye mavu, ngono bakafemela meya ye bupenyu mu zwimilo zwizwe, ndizo kabe nthu unotjila.
- English8
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.
African KalangaYahwe Ndzimu bakabiga nnda mu Edeni ku bhezhuba, bakabe belonga nthu wabakabumba muuli.
- English9
And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground–trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
African KalangaNgono Yahwe Ndzimu bakathama kuti miti yose mibuya ngolingwa, kakale yakalulwamila jiwa imele pasi. Pakati kwe nnda kwakabe kuna nti we bupenyu ne nti we luzibo gwe bubuya ne mbipo.
- English10
A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.
African KalangaGwizi gwakabe guwunga gudwa mu Edeni gudilidzila nnda, kudwa ipapo gwakabe gupalalana gube njizi dzili nna.
- English11
The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.
African KalangaZina le gwe kutanga ndi Pishoni, gwakabe guwunga gupoteleka shango yose ye Havila kuna golide.
- African Kalanga
Golide ye shango iyeyo yakanaka, motsha unoyi bedeliumi ne mabgwe akanaka anoyi onikisi, zowang'wabo ikoko.
- African Kalanga
Zina le gwizi gwe bubili ndi Gihoni, igo gopoteleka shango yose ye Khushi.
- English14
The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
African KalangaZina le gwizi gwe butatu koyi Tigirisi, ogu gowungila ku bhezhuba kwe Asiriya. Gwizi gwe bunna ndi Yufuratesi.
- English15
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
African KalangaYahwe Ndzimu bakatola nthu bakanlonga mu nnda we Edeni kulima muuli ne kuutjengeta.
- African Kalanga
Ngono Yahwe Ndzimu bakadwa nthu bakati, “Ungaja ntjelo we nti mmwe ne mmwe mu nnda wakasununguka,
- English17
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
African Kalangakoga usitongoja ntjelo we nti we luzibo gwe bubuya ne mbipo, ngoti zhuba launouja, nge malebeswa unowofa.”
- English18
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
African KalangaYahwe Ndzimu bakabe beti, “Akuzonaka kuti nthu agale ega, ndowonthamila mbhatshi wakanlingisana.”
- English19
Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
African KalangaNdizo Yahwe Ndzimu bakathama phuka dzose dze shango ne nyuni dzose dze phepo nge vu. Bakadzizhisa ku nthu kubona kuti unowodzitumila mazina eitini, ngono zina limwe ne limwe nthu laakapa itjili tjimwe ne tjimwe lakabe ilo zina latjo.
- English20
So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
African KalangaNdizo nthu kapa zwithuwo zose mazina ne nyuni dzose dzinowuluka mu phepo ne phuka dzose dze shango, koga nthu iye kukawanika kusina mbhatshi wakanlingisana.
- English21
So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.
African KalangaYahwe Ndzimu bakathama kuti nlume abhakhwe nge whope whulu, ngono kati atjakaizela, bakabe bedusa gumwe lubadu mu mbadu dze nlume, bebe bezwina pagwadwa nge nyama.
- English22
Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
African KalangaIpapo Yahwe Ndzimu bakabe bebumba nkadzi nge lubadu gwabadusa mu nlume, bebe benzhisa ku nlume.
- English23
The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman, ‘ for she was taken out of man.”
African KalangaNlume kabe eti, “Eli i fupa le mafupa angu, ne nyama ye nyama yangu. Unowodang'wa kuyi, ‘Nkadzi’ ngoti wadusiwa mu nlume.”
- English24
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
African KalangaNgekwa ikoku, nlume unowosiya tate babe na mmeyabe kabhatana ne nkadzi uwe, ngono banowobe tjithu tjing'ompela.
- African Kalanga
Nlume ne nkadzi uwe bakabe basakaambala bose, koga basina shoni.
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.