Romans 7
1 Brothers and sisters, (I'm speaking here to people who know the law), don't you see that the law has authority over someone only while they're alive?
Ndugu zangu (sasa ninasema na wale wanaoijua sheria), je, hamjui ya kwamba sheria ina mamlaka tu juu ya mtu wakati akiwa hai?
2 For example, a married woman is bound by the law to her husband while he's alive, but if he dies, she's released from this legal obligation to him.
Kwa mfano, mwanamke aliyeolewa amefungwa kwa mumewe wakati akiwa hai, lakini yule mume akifa, yule mwanamke amefunguliwa kutoka sheria ya ndoa.
3 So if she lives with another man while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery. However, if her husband dies and then she marries another man, she wouldn't be guilty of adultery.
Hivyo basi, kama huyo mwanamke ataolewa na mwanaume mwingine wakati mumewe akiwa bado yuko hai, ataitwa mzinzi. Lakini kama mumewe akifa, mwanamke huyo hafungwi tena na sheria ya ndoa, naye akiolewa na mtu mwingine haitwi mzinzi.
4 In the same way, my friends, you've become dead to the law through the body of Christ, and so now you belong to someone else—Christ, who was raised from the dead so that we could live a productive life for God.
Vivyo hivyo, ndugu zangu, ninyi mmeifia sheria kwa njia ya mwili wa Kristo, ili mweze kuwa mali ya mwingine, yeye ambaye alifufuliwa kutoka kwa wafu, ili tupate kuzaa matunda kwa Mungu.
5 While we were controlled by old nature, our sinful desires (as revealed by the law) were at work within us and resulted in death.
Kwa maana tulipokuwa tunatawaliwa na asili ya dhambi, tamaa za dhambi zilizochochewa na sheria zilikuwa zikitenda kazi katika miili yetu, hivyo tulizaa matunda ya mauti.
6 But now we've been set free from the law, and have died to what kept us in chains, so that we can serve in the newness of the spirit and not the old letter of the law.
Lakini sasa, kwa kufia kile kilichokuwa kimetufunga kwanza, tumewekwa huru kutokana na sheria ili tutumike katika njia mpya ya Roho, wala si katika njia ya zamani ya sheria iliyoandikwa.
7 So what do we conclude? That the law is sin? Of course not! I wouldn't have known what sin was unless the law defined it. I wouldn't have realized that wanting to have other people's things for myself was wrong without the law that says, “Don't desire for yourself what belongs to someone else.”
Tuseme nini basi? Kwamba sheria ni dhambi? La, hasha! Lakini, isingekuwa kwa sababu ya sheria, nisingalijua dhambi. Nisingalijua kutamani ni nini kama sheria haikusema, “Usitamani.”
8 But through this commandment sin found a way to stir up in me all kinds of selfish desires—for without law, sin is dead.
Lakini dhambi kwa kupata nafasi katika amri, hii ikazaa ndani yangu kila aina ya tamaa. Kwa maana pasipo sheria, dhambi imekufa.
9 I used to live without realizing what the law really meant, but when I understood the implications of that commandment, then sin came back to life, and I died.
Wakati fulani nilikuwa hai pasipo sheria, lakini amri ilipokuja, dhambi ikawa hai, nami nikafa.
10 I discovered that the very commandment that was meant to bring life brought death instead,
Nikaona kwamba ile amri iliyokusudiwa kuleta uzima, ilileta mauti.
11 because sin found a way through the commandment to deceive me, and used the commandment to kill me!
Kwa maana dhambi kwa kupata nafasi katika amri, ilinidanganya, na kupitia katika hiyo amri, ikaniua.
12 However, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, right, and good.
Hivyo basi, sheria yenyewe ni takatifu, na amri ni takatifu na ya haki, tena ni njema.
13 Now would something that is good kill me? Of course not! But sin shows itself to be sin by using good to cause my death. So by means of the commandment, it's revealed how evil sin really is.
Je, kile kilicho chema basi kilikuwa mauti kwangu? La, hasha! Lakini ili dhambi itambuliwe kuwa ni dhambi, ilileta mauti ndani yangu kupitia kile kilichokuwa chema, ili kwa njia ya amri dhambi izidi kuwa mbaya kupita kiasi.
14 We realize that the law is spiritual; but I'm all-too-human, a slave to sin.
Kwa maana tunajua kwamba sheria ni ya kiroho, lakini mimi ni wa kimwili nikiwa nimeuzwa kwenye utumwa wa dhambi.
15 I really don't understand what I'm doing. I do the things I don't want to do, and what I hate doing, that's what I do!
Sielewi nitendalo, kwa maana lile ninalotaka kulitenda, silitendi, lakini ninatenda lile ninalolichukia.
16 But if I'm saying that I do what I don't want to, this shows that I admit the law is good and right.
Basi kama ninatenda lile nisilotaka kutenda, ni kwamba ninakubali kuwa sheria ni njema.
17 So it's no longer me who does this, but sin living in me—
Lakini, kwa kweli si mimi tena nitendaye lile nisilotaka bali ni ile dhambi ikaayo ndani yangu.
18 for I know that there's nothing good in me as far as my sinful human nature is concerned. Even though I want to do good, I'm just not able to do it.
Kwa maana ninafahamu kwamba hakuna jema lolote likaalo ndani yangu, yaani, katika asili yangu ya dhambi. Kwa kuwa nina shauku ya kutenda lililo jema, lakini siwezi kulitenda.
19 The good I want to do, I don't do; while the evil I don't want to do, that's what I end up doing!
Sitendi lile jema nitakalo kutenda, bali lile baya nisilolitaka, ndilo nitendalo.
20 However, if I'm doing what I don't want to, then it's no longer me doing it, but sin living in me.
Basi kama ninatenda lile nisilotaka kutenda, si mimi tena nifanyaye hivyo, bali ni ile dhambi ikaayo ndani yangu.
21 This is the principle I've discovered: if I want to do what's good, evil is always there too.
Hivyo naiona sheria ikitenda kazi. Ninapotaka kutenda jema, jambo baya liko papo hapo.
22 My inner self is delighted with God's law,
Kwa maana katika utu wangu wa ndani naifurahia sheria ya Mungu.
23 but I see a different law at work within me that is at war with the law my mind has decided to follow, making me a prisoner of the law of sin that is within me.
Lakini ninaona kuna sheria nyingine inayotenda kazi katika viungo vya mwili wangu inayopigana vita dhidi ya ile sheria ya akili yangu. Sheria hii inanifanya mateka wa ile sheria ya dhambi inayofanya kazi katika viungo vya mwili wangu.
24 I'm totally miserable! Who will rescue me from this body that's causing my death? Thank God—for he does this through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Ole wangu mimi maskini! Ni nani atakayeniokoa na mwili huu wa mauti?
25 Here's the situation: while I myself choose with my mind to obey God's law, my human nature obeys the law of sin.
Ashukuriwe Mungu kwa njia ya Yesu Kristo Bwana wetu! Hivyo basi, mimi mwenyewe kwa akili zangu ni mtumwa wa sheria ya Mungu, lakini katika asili ya dhambi ni mtumwa wa sheria ya dhambi.
