Acts 26
1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:
Hivyo, Agripa akamwambia Paulo, `Unaruhusiwa kujitetea. ' Ndipo Paulo akanyoosha mkono wake akajitetea hivi.
2 “I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, in that I am to make my defense before you this day concerning the things of which I am accused by the Jews,
“Najiona mwenye furaha, Mfalme Agripa, ili kufanya kesi yangu mbele yako leo dhidi ya mashtaka yote ya Wayahudi.
3 especially because you are expert in all the Jewish customs and issues; therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.
Hasa, kwa sababu wewe ni mtaalamu wa desturi za Wayahudi na maswali. Hivyo naomba unisikilize kwa uvumilivu.
4 Really, the Jews all know my way of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation in Jerusalem,
Kweli, Wayahudi wote wanajua jinsi nilivyoishi tangu ujana wangu katika taifa langu huko Yerusalemu.
5 since they have known me for a long time, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.
Wananijua tangu mwanzo na wanapaswa kukubali kwamba niliishi kama Mfarisayo, dhehebu lenye msimamo mkali kwenye dini yetu.
6 And now I stand here being judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers,
Sasa nimesimama hapa nihukumiwe kwa sababu mimi naliangalia ahadi ambayo Mungu aliifanya na baba zetu.
7 to which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. It is because of this hope that I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa.
Hii ni ahadi ambayo makabila yetu kumi na mbili yanatumaini kupokea kama wakimwabudu Mungu kwa bidii usiku na mchana. Ni kwa ajili ya tumaini hili, mfalme Agripa, kwamba Wayahudi wananishitaki.
8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
Kwa nini yeyote kati yenu anafikiri ni ajabu kwamba Mungu hufufua wafu?
9 “However, I myself thought that I had to perpetrate many things in opposition to the name of Jesus the Natsorean;
Wakati mmoja nilifikiria mwenyewe kwamba ningefanya mambo mengi dhidi ya jina la Yesu wa Nazareti.
10 I actually did this in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.
Nilifanya haya katika Yerusalemu; Niliwafunga waamini wengi gerezani, na nilikuwa na mamlaka kutoka kwa wakuu wa makuhani kufanya hivyo; na wakati wanauawa, nilipiga kura dhidi yao.
11 Yes, I punished them often in every synagogue, trying to force them to blaspheme; I was so excessively enraged against them that I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
Mara nyingi niliwaadhibu katika masinagogi yote na nilijaribu kuwafanya waikane imani yao. Nilikuwa na hasira sana juu yao na niliwafukuza hata katika miji ya ugenini.
12 “It was on one of those journeys, as I was going to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests,
Wakati nilipokuwa nikifanya haya, nilienda Dameski, nikiwa na mamlaka na maagizo kutoka kwa makuhani wakuu;
13 at midday, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, blazing around me and those traveling with me.
nilipokuwa njiani wakati wa mchana, Mfalme, niliona mwanga kutoka mbinguni uliokuwa mkali kuliko jua na uling'aa kutuzunguka mimi na watu waliokuwa wakisafiri pamoja nami.
14 Well we all fell to the ground and I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
Sisi sote tulipoanguka chini, nalisikia sauti ikizungumza na mimi ikisema katika lugha ya Kiebrania: `Sauli, Sauli! Kwa nini unanitesa? Ni vigumu kwako kuupiga teke mchokoo.
15 So I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And He said: ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
Ndipo nikasema, 'Wewe ni nani, Bwana?' Bwana akajibu, 'Mimi ni Yesu ambaye unanitesa.
16 Now get up and stand on your feet; because I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness both of the things you have seen and of the things I will reveal to you,
Sasa inuka usimame kwa miguu yako; sababu kwa kusudi hili mimi nimeonekana kwako, nimekuteua kuwa mtumishi na shahidi juu ya mambo ambayo unajua kuhusu mimi sasa na mambo nitakayokuonyesha baadaye;
17 delivering you from ‘the people’ and the ethnic nations, to which I am sending you:
na Nitakuokoa kutoka kwa watu na watu wa Mataifa ambapo ninakutuma,
18 to open their eyes, so as to bring them back from darkness into light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified, by faith into me.’
kufungua macho yao na kuwatoa gizani kwenda kwenye mwanga na kutoka kwenye nguvu za shetani wamgeukie Mungu; ili wapate kupokea kutoka kwa Mungu msamaha wa dhambi na urithi ambao nimewapa wale niliowatenga kwa imani iliyo kwangu.
19 Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision
Hivyo, mfalme Agripa, sikuweza kuasi maono ya mbinguni,
20 —first to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to all the region of Judea and to the ethnic nations, I still preach: ‘repent and turn back to God, doing works worthy of repentance.’
lakini, kwa wale walio katika Dameski kwanza, na kisha Yerusalemu na nchi yote ya Yudea, na pia kwa watu wa mataifa mengine, nilihubiri kwamba watubu na kumgeukia Mungu, wafanye matendo yanayostahili toba.
21 That is why the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
Kwa sababu hiyo Wayahudi walinikamata hekaluni, wakajaribu kuniua.
22 So then, having experienced the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying to both small and great, saying nothing beyond what both the prophets and Moses said would happen
Mungu amenisaidia mpaka sasa, hivyo nasimama na kushuhudia kwa watu wa kawaida na kwa wale wakubwa juu ya yale ambayo manabii na Musa walisema yatatokea na si vingine;
23 —that the Messiah would suffer; that as the first to rise from the dead He would proclaim light to both ‘the people’ and the ethnic nations.”
kwamba Kristo lazima atateseka na atakuwa wa kwanza kufufuka kutoka kwa wafu na kutangaza mwanga kwa Wayahudi na watu wa mataifa.
24 Well as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice: “Paul, you are crazy! Your great learning is driving you insane!”
Paulo alipomaliza kujitetea, Festo alisema kwa sauti kubwa, 'Paulo, wewe ni mwendawazimu! masomo yako yamekufanya uwe mwendawazimu.
25 So he said: “I am not crazy, most excellent Festus; rather I pronounce words of truth and reasonableness.
Lakini Paulo akasema, Mimi si mwendawazimu, mheshimiwa Festo; lakini kwa ujasiri nasema maneno ya ukweli mtupu.
26 For the king knows about these things, before whom I speak freely; for I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, since it was not done in a corner.
Kwa kuwa mfalme anajua kuhusu mambo haya; na hivyo, ninaongea kwa uhuru kwake, kwa maana nina hakika kwamba hakuna lolote lililofichwa kwake; kwa kuwa hili halijafanywa pembeni.
27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”
Je, unaamini manabii, Mfalme Agripa? Najua kwamba unaamini. '
28 So Agrippa said to Paul, “You will soon persuade me to become a Christian!”
Agripa akamwambia Paulo, 'Kwa muda mfupi unaweza kunishawishi mimi na kunifanya Mkristo?
29 So Paul said, “Whether sooner or later, I would to God that not only you but also all who are hearing me this day may become such as I am, except for these chains.”
Paulo akasema, '“Namwomba Mungu kwamba, kwa muda mfupi au mrefu, si wewe tu, bali pia wote wanaonisikia leo, wawe kama mimi, lakini bila hii minyororo ya gerezani.”
30 Upon his saying this, the king stood up, along with the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them;
Ndipo mfalme alisimama, na liwali, na Bernike pia, na wale waliokuwa wamekaa pamoja nao,
31 and when they had withdrawn they started talking among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.”
walipoondoka ukumbini, walizungumzia wao kwa wao na kusema, 'Mtu huyu hastahili kifo wala kifungo.'
32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free, if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Agripa akamwambia Festo, “Mtu huyu angeweza kuwekwa huru kama asingekata rufani kwa Kaisari.”
