< Yobu 15 >
1 Pamenepo Elifazi wa ku Temani anayankha kuti,
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
2 “Kodi munthu wanzeru angayankhe ndi mawu achabechabe otere, kapena angakhutitse mimba yake ndi mphepo yotentha yochokera kummawa?
“Should a wise man answer with vain knowledge, and fill himself with the east wind?
3 Kodi angathe kutsutsa ndi mawu opanda pake, kapena kuyankhula mawu opanda phindu?
Should he reason with unprofitable talk, or with speeches with which he can do no good?
4 Koma iwe ukuchepetsa zoopa Mulungu ndipo ukutchinga zodzikhuthulira kwa Mulungu.
Yes, you do away with fear, and hinder devotion before God.
5 Tchimo lako ndiye likuyankhulitsa pakamwa pakopo; ndipo watengera mayankhulidwe a atambwali.
For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
6 Pakamwa pakopo ndiye pakukutsutsa osati pakamwa panga; milomo yakoyo ikukutsutsa.
Your own mouth condemns you, and not I. Yes, your own lips testify against you.
7 “Kodi ndiwe munthu woyamba kubadwa? Kodi unalengedwa mapiri asanalengedwe?
“Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought out before the hills?
8 Kodi unali mʼgulu la alangizi a Mulungu? Kodi ukudziyesa wanzeru ndiwe wekha?
Have you heard the secret counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 Kodi iwe umadziwa chiyani chimene ife sitichidziwa? Kodi iwe uli ndi chidziwitso chanji chimene ife tilibe?
What do you know that we don’t know? What do you understand which is not in us?
10 Anthu a imvi ndi okalamba ali mbali yathu, anthu amvulazakale kupambana abambo ako.
With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men, much older than your father.
11 Kodi mawu otonthoza mtima ochokera kwa Mulungu sakukukwanira, mawu oyankhula mofatsawa kwa iwe?
Are the consolations of God too small for you, even the word that is gentle toward you?
12 Chifukwa chiyani ukupsa mtima, ndipo chifukwa chiyani ukutuzula maso ako,
Why does your heart carry you away? Why do your eyes flash,
13 moti ukupsera mtima Mulungu ndi kuyankhula mawu otero pakamwa pako?
that you turn your spirit against God, and let such words go out of your mouth?
14 “Kodi munthu nʼchiyani kuti nʼkukhala woyera mtima kapena wobadwa mwa amayi nʼchiyani kuti nʼkukhala wolungama mtima?
What is man, that he should be clean? What is he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 Ngati Mulungu sakhulupirira ngakhale angelo ake, ngakhale zakumwamba sizoyera pamaso pake,
Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones. Yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight;
16 nanga kuli bwanji munthu amene ndi wonyansa ndi wa njira zokhotakhota, amene kuchita zoyipa kuli ngati kumwa madzi.
how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water!
17 “Mvetsera kwa ine ndipo ndidzakufotokozera; ndilole ndikuwuze zimene ndaziona,
“I will show you, listen to me; that which I have seen I will declare
18 zimene anandiphunzitsa anthu anzeru, sanandibisire kalikonse kamene anamva kuchokera kwa makolo awo.
(which wise men have told by their fathers, and have not hidden it;
19 (Ndi kwa iwowa kumene dziko lino linaperekedwa pamene panalibe mlendo wokhala pakati pawo).
to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them):
20 Munthu woyipa amavutika ndi masautso masiku onse a moyo wake, munthu wankhanza adzavutika zaka zake zonse.
the wicked man writhes in pain all his days, even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.
21 Amamva mawu owopsa mʼmakutu mwake, pamene zonse zikuoneka ngati zili bwino, anthu achifwamba amamuthira nkhondo.
A sound of terrors is in his ears. In prosperity the destroyer will come on him.
22 Iye sakhulupirira kuti angathe kupulumuka ku mdima wa imfa; iyeyo ndi woyenera kuphedwa.
He doesn’t believe that he will return out of darkness. He is waited for by the sword.
23 Amangoyendayenda pali ponse kunka nafuna chakudya; amadziwa kuti tsiku la mdima lili pafupi.
He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24 Masautso ndi nthumanzi zimamuchititsa mantha kwambiri; zimamugonjetsa iye monga imachitira mfumu yokonzekera kukathira nkhondo,
Distress and anguish make him afraid. They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
25 chifukwa iye amatambasula dzanja lake kuyambana ndi Mulungu ndipo amadzitama yekha polimbana ndi Wamphamvuzonse.
Because he has stretched out his hand against God, and behaves himself proudly against the Almighty,
26 Amapita mwa mwano kukalimbana naye atanyamula chishango chochindikala ndi cholimba.
he runs at him with a stiff neck, with the thick shields of his bucklers,
27 “Ngakhale nkhope yake ndi yonenepa ndipo mʼchiwuno mwake muli mnofu wambiri,
because he has covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat on his thighs.
28 munthuyo adzakhala mʼmizinda yowonongeka ndi mʼnyumba zosayenera kukhalamo anthu, nyumba zimene zikugwa ndi kuwonongeka.
He has lived in desolate cities, in houses which no one inhabited, which were ready to become heaps.
29 Iye sadzalemeranso ndipo chuma chake sichidzakhalitsa, ngakhale minda yake sidzabala zipatso pa dziko lapansi.
He will not be rich, neither will his substance continue, neither will their possessions be extended on the earth.
30 Iyeyo sadzapulumuka mu mdimamo; lawi lamoto lidzawumitsa nthambi zake, ndipo mpweya wochokera mʼkamwa mwa Mulungu udzamusesa.
He will not depart out of darkness. The flame will dry up his branches. He will go away by the breath of God’s mouth.
31 Asadzinyenge yekha podalira zinthu zachabechabe, pakuti pa mapeto pake sadzaphulapo kanthu.
Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his reward.
32 Iye adzalandira malipiro ake nthawi yake isanakwane, ndipo nthambi zake sizidzaphukanso.
It will be accomplished before his time. His branch will not be green.
33 Iye adzakhala ngati mtengo wamphesa wopululidwa zipatso zake zisanapse, adzakhala ngati mtengo wa olivi umene wayoyola maluwa ake.
He will shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and will cast off his flower as the olive tree.
34 Pakuti anthu osapembedza Mulungu adzakhala osabala ndipo moto udzapsereza nyumba za onse okonda ziphuphu.
For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35 Iwo amalingalira zaupandu ndipo amachita zoyipa; mtima wawo umakonzekera zachinyengo.”
They conceive mischief and produce iniquity. Their heart prepares deceit.”