Isaiah 17
1 A message about Damascus. Look, Damascus will cease to exist as city. Instead it will become a pile of ruins.
Neno kuhusu Dameski: “Tazama, Dameski haitakuwa tena mji bali itakuwa lundo la magofu.
2 The towns of Aroer will be abandoned. Flocks will live in the streets and rest there, because there won't be anyone to chase them away.
Miji ya Aroeri itaachwa na itaachiwa mifugo ambayo italala huko, bila yeyote wa kuyaogopesha.
3 The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, Damascus will no longer be a kingdom, and those that are left of the Arameans will be like the lost glory of Israel, declares the Lord Almighty.
Mji wenye ngome utatoweka kutoka Efraimu, nao uweza wa ufalme kutoka Dameski; mabaki ya Aramu yatakuwa kama utukufu wa Waisraeli,” asema Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote.
4 At that time the glory of Jacob will fade away; he will lose his strength.
“Katika siku ile utukufu wa Yakobo utafifia, unono wa mwili wake utadhoofika.
5 It will look as empty as fields after reapers have harvested the grain, gathering up the grain in their arms. It will be like when people pick the heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
Itakuwa kama mvunaji akusanyavyo nafaka na kuvuna nafaka kwa mikono yake, kama wakati mtu aokotapo masazo ya masuke katika Bonde la Warefai.
6 Yet there will be some left behind, like an olive tree that has been shaken—two or three ripe olives are left at the top of the tree, four or five on its lower branches, declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
Hata hivyo baadhi ya masazo yatabaki, kama vile mti wa mzeituni unavyopigwa, kukiachwa zeituni mbili au tatu juu ya matawi kileleni, nne au tano katika matawi yazaayo sana,” asema Bwana, Mungu wa Israeli.
7 At that time people will pay attention to their Creator and look to the Holy One of Israel.
Katika siku ile watu watamwangalia Muumba wao, na kuelekeza macho yao kwa yule Aliye Mtakatifu wa Israeli.
8 They won't believe in the altars they built and the idols they made; they will not look to the Asherah poles or the altars of incense.
Hawataziangalia tena madhabahu, kazi za mikono yao, nao hawataheshimu nguzo za Ashera, na madhabahu za kufukizia uvumba zilizofanywa kwa mikono yao.
9 At that time their fortified cities will be like places left to be taken over by bushes and trees, just as they were previously abandoned when the Israelites invaded. The country will become completely desolate.
Katika siku ile miji yao iliyo imara, ambayo waliihama kwa sababu ya Waisraeli, itakuwa kama mahali palipoachwa pa vichaka na magugu. Nayo yote itakuwa ukiwa.
10 You have forgotten the God who saves you; you have not remembered the Rock who protects you. So, even though you plant beautiful plants and grow exotic vines,
Mmemsahau Mungu Mwokozi wenu, hamkumkumbuka Mwamba aliye ngome yenu. Kwa hiyo, hata ingawa mlipandikiza mimea iliyo mizuri sana na kuotesha mizabibu ya kigeni,
11 even though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and have them blossom in the morning that you sow them, your harvest will heap of trouble on a day of grief and pain that cannot be cured.
hata kama siku ile unapoipandikiza, unaifanya iote na asubuhi ile ile unayoipanda, unaifanya ichipue, hata hivyo mavuno yatakuwa kama si kitu katika siku ile ya ugonjwa na maumivu yasiyoponyeka.
12 Disaster is coming to the many nations that growl, growling like the raging sea! Disaster is coming to the peoples who roar, roaring like thundering waters!
Lo! Ghadhabu ya mataifa mengi, wanaghadhibika kama bahari iliyochafuka! Lo! Makelele ya mataifa wanavuma kama ngurumo za maji mengi!
13 The nations roar like the roaring of crashing waves. But he confronts them, and they run far away, blown by the wind like chaff on the mountains, like tumbleweeds driven by a storm.
Ingawa mataifa yanavuma kama ngurumo za maji yanayofanya mawimbi, wakati anapoyakemea yanakimbia mbali, yanafukuzwa mbele ya upepo kama makapi juu ya milima, kama jani livingirishwapo na dhoruba.
14 Sudden terror comes in the evening! By morning, they're gone! This is what happens to those who loot us, the fate of those who plunder us.
Wakati wa jioni, hofu ya ghafula! Kabla ya asubuhi, wametoweka! Hili ndilo fungu la wale wanaotupora, fungu la wale wanaotunyangʼanya mali zetu.
