Isaiah 41
1 Keep silence before me, islands; and let the peoples renew [their] strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us draw near together to judgment.
“Nyamazeni kimya mbele zangu, enyi visiwa! Mataifa na wafanye upya nguvu zao! Wao na wajitokeze, kisha waseme, tukutane pamoja mahali pa hukumu.
2 Who raised up from the east him whom righteousness calleth to its foot? He gave the nations before him, and caused him to have dominion over kings; he gave them as dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow.
“Ni nani aliyemchochea mmoja kutoka mashariki, akimwita katika haki kwa utumishi wake? Huyatia mataifa mikononi mwake, na kuwatiisha wafalme mbele zake. Huwafanya kuwa mavumbi kwa upanga wake, huwafanya makapi yapeperushwayo na upepo kwa upinde wake.
3 He pursued them, he passed on in safety, by a way he had never come with his feet.
Huwafuatia na kuendelea salama, katika njia ambayo miguu yake haijawahi kupita.
4 Who hath wrought and done [it], calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first; and with the last, I [am] HE.
Ni nani aliyefanya jambo hili na kulitimiliza, akiita vizazi tangu mwanzo? Mimi, Bwana, ni wa kwanza nami nitakuwa pamoja na wa mwisho: mimi Bwana ndiye.”
5 The isles saw [it], and feared; the ends of the earth trembled: they drew near, and came.
Visiwa vimeliona na kuogopa, miisho ya dunia inatetemeka. Wanakaribia na kuja mbele,
6 They helped every one his neighbour, and [each] said to his brother, Take courage.
kila mmoja humsaidia mwingine na kusema kwa ndugu yake, “Uwe hodari!”
7 And the artizan encouraged the founder, he that smootheth [with] the hammer him that smiteth on the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fasteneth it with nails, that it be not moved.
Fundi humtia moyo sonara, yeye alainishaye kwa nyundo humhimiza yeye agongeaye kwenye fuawe, Humwambia yeye aunganishaye, “Ni kazi njema.” Naye huikaza sanamu kwa misumari ili isitikisike.
8 But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend
“Lakini wewe, ee Israeli, mtumishi wangu, Yakobo, niliyemchagua, ninyi wazao wa Abrahamu rafiki yangu,
9 — thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from the extremities thereof, and to whom I said, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not rejected thee,
nilikuchukua toka miisho ya dunia, nilikuita kutoka pembe zake za mbali. Nilisema, ‘Wewe ni mtumishi wangu’; nimekuchagua, wala sikukukataa.
10 — Fear not, for I [am] with thee; be not dismayed, for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Hivyo usiogope, kwa maana niko pamoja nawe; usifadhaike, kwa maana mimi ni Mungu wako. Nitakutia nguvu na kukusaidia; nitakutegemeza kwa mkono wa kuume wa haki yangu.
11 Lo, all that are incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they that strive with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish.
“Wote walioona hasira dhidi yako hakika wataaibika na kutahayarika, wale wakupingao watakuwa kama vile si kitu, na kuangamia.
12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them — them that contend with thee; they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
Ingawa utawatafuta adui zako, hutawaona. Wale wanaopigana vita dhidi yako watakuwa kama vile si kitu kabisa.
13 For I, Jehovah, thy God, hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Kwa maana Mimi ndimi Bwana, Mungu wako, nikushikaye mkono wako wa kuume na kukuambia, Usiwe na hofu, nitakusaidia.
14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith Jehovah, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Usiogope, ee Yakobo uliye mdudu, ee Israeli uliye mdogo, kwa kuwa Mimi mwenyewe nitakusaidia,” asema Bwana, Mkombozi wako, yeye Aliye Mtakatifu wa Israeli.
15 Behold, I have made of thee a new sharp threshing instrument having double teeth: thou shalt thresh and beat small the mountains, and shalt make the hills as chaff;
“Tazama, nitakufanya chombo cha kupuria, kipya na chenye makali, chenye meno mengi. Utaipura milima na kuiponda na kuvifanya vilima kuwa kama makapi.
16 thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
Utaipepeta, nao upepo utaichukua, dhoruba itaipeperushia mbali. Bali wewe utajifurahisha katika Bwana na katika utukufu wa yeye Aliye Mtakatifu wa Israeli.
17 The afflicted and the needy seek water, and there is none; their tongue faileth for thirst: I, Jehovah, will answer them, [I], the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
“Maskini na wahitaji wanatafuta maji, lakini hayapo, ndimi zao zimekauka kwa kiu. Lakini Mimi Bwana nitawajibu, Mimi, Mungu wa Israeli, sitawaacha.
18 I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into water-springs.
Nitaifanya mito itiririke juu ya vilima vilivyo kame, nazo chemchemi ndani ya mabonde. Nitaligeuza jangwa liwe mabwawa ya maji, nayo ardhi iliyokauka kuwa chemchemi za maji.
19 I will give in the wilderness the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and oleaster; I will set in the desert the cypress, pine, and box-tree together;
Katika jangwa nitaotesha mwerezi, mshita, mhadasi na mzeituni. Nitaweka misunobari, mivinje na misanduku pamoja huko nyikani,
20 that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
ili kwamba watu wapate kuona na kujua, wapate kufikiri na kuelewa, kwamba mkono wa Bwana umetenda hili, kwamba yeye Aliye Mtakatifu wa Israeli ndiye alilifanya.”
21 Produce your cause, saith Jehovah; bring forward your arguments, saith the King of Jacob.
Bwana asema, “Leta shauri lako. Toa hoja yako,” asema Mfalme wa Yakobo.
22 Let them bring them forward, and declare to us what shall happen: shew the former things, what they are, that we may give attention to them, and know the end of them; — or let us hear things to come:
“Leteni sanamu zenu zituambie ni nini kitakachotokea. Tuambieni mambo ya zamani yalikuwa nini, ili tupate kuyatafakari na kujua matokeo yake ya mwisho. Au tutangazieni mambo yatakayokuja,
23 declare the things that are to happen hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods; yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be astonished, and behold it together.
tuambieni ni nini kitakachotokea baadaye, ili tupate kujua kuwa ninyi ni miungu. Fanyeni jambo lolote zuri au baya, ili tupate kutishika na kujazwa na hofu.
24 Behold, ye are less than nothing, and your work is of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you. ...
Lakini ninyi ni zaidi ya bure kabisa, na kazi zenu hazifai kitu kabisa; yeye awachaguaye ni chukizo sana.
25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come, — from the rising of the sun, he who will call upon my name; and he shall come upon princes as on mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay.
“Nimemchochea mtu mmoja kutoka kaskazini, naye yuaja, mmoja toka mawio ya jua aliitaye Jina langu. Huwakanyaga watawala kana kwamba ni matope, kama mfinyanzi akanyagavyo udongo wa kufinyangia.
26 Who hath declared [it] from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, [It is] right? Indeed, there is none that declareth; no, none that sheweth; no, none that heareth your words.
Ni nani aliyenena hili tokea mwanzoni, ili tupate kujua, au kabla, ili tuweze kusema, ‘Alikuwa sawa’? Hakuna aliyenena hili, hakuna aliyetangulia kusema hili, hakuna yeyote aliyesikia maneno kutoka kwenu.
27 The first, [I said] to Zion, Behold, behold them! and to Jerusalem, I will give one that bringeth glad tidings.
Nilikuwa wa kwanza kumwambia Sayuni, ‘Tazama, wako hapa!’ Nilimpa Yerusalemu mjumbe wa habari njema.
28 And I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, — and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
Ninatazama, lakini hakuna yeyote: hakuna yeyote miongoni mwao awezaye kutoa shauri, hakuna yeyote wa kutoa jibu wakati ninapowauliza.
29 Behold, they are all vanity, their works are nought, their molten images are wind and emptiness.
Tazama, wote ni ubatili! Matendo yao ni bure; vinyago vyao ni upepo mtupu na machafuko.
