2 Corinthians 3
1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or letters of recommendation from you?
Je, tumeanza kujisifia wenyewe tena? Hatuhitaji barua ya mapendekezo kwenu au kutoka kwenu, kama baadhi ya watu, je twahitaji?
2 You are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by all.
Ninyi wenyewe ni barua yetu ya mapendekezo, iliyoandikwa kwenye mioyo yetu, inayojulikana na kusomwa na watu wote.
3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets, but on tablets of human hearts.
Na mnaonesha kwamba ninyi ni barua kutoka kwa Kristo, iliyotolewa na sisi. Iliandikwa siyo kwa wino bali kwa Roho wa Mungu aliye hai. Haikuandikwa juu ya vibao vya mawe, bali juu ya vibao vya mioyo ya wanadamu.
4 Such is the confidence that we have in God through Christ.
Na huu ndiyo ujasiri tulio nao katika Mungu kupitia Kristo.
5 Not that we are competent in and of ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.
Hatujiamini wenyewe kwa kudai chochote kama kutoka kwetu. Badala yake, kujiamini kwetu kunatoka kwa Mungu.
6 He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Ni Mungu ambaye alitufanya tuweze kuwa watumishi wa agano jipya. Hili ni agano sio la barua bali ni la Roho. Kwa kuwa barua huua, lakini roho inatoa uhai.
7 Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its glory (a glory that was fading away),
Sasa kazi ya kifo iliyokuwa imechongwa katika herufi juu ya mawe ilikuja kwa namna ya utukufu kwamba watu wa Israeli hawakuangalia moja kwa moja kwenye uso wa Musa. Hii ni kwa sababu ya utukufu wa uso wake, utukufu ambao ulikuwa unafifia.
8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?
Je, kazi ya Roho haitakuwa na utukufu zaidi?
9 For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, the ministry of righteousness abounds in glory even more.
Kwa kuwa kama huduma ya hukumu ilikuwa na utukufu, ni mara ngapi zaidi huduma ya haki huzidi sana katika utukufu!
10 For what was once glorious now has no glory in comparison with the glory that surpasses it.
Ni kweli kwamba, kile kilichofanywa utukufu kwanza hakina utukufu tena katika heshima hii, kwa sababu ya utukufu unaouzidi.
11 And if what was fading away came with glory, what remains will be even more glorious.
Kwa kuwa kama kile ambacho kilikuwa kinapita kilikuwa na utukufu, ni kwa kiasi gani zaidi kile ambacho ni cha kudumu kitakuwa na utukufu!
12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we act with great boldness.
Kwa kuwa tunajiamini hiyo, tunaujasiri sana.
13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not gaze at the end of what was fading away.
Hatuko kama Musa, aliyeweka utaji juu ya uso wake, ili kwamba watu wa Israel wasiweze kuangalia moja kwa moja kwenye mwisho wa utukufu ambao ulikuwa unatoweka.
14 But their minds were hardened, for to this day the same veil remains unlifted when the old covenant is read. Only in Christ is this veil taken away.
Lakini fahamu zao zilikuwa zimefungwa. Hata mpaka siku hii utaji uleule bado unabaki juu ya usomaji wa agano la kale. Haijawekwa wazi, kwa sababu ni katika Kristo pekee inaondolewa mbali.
15 But to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts.
Lakini hata leo, wakati wowote Musa asomwapo, utaji hukaa juu ya mioyo yao.
16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Lakini mtu anapogeuka kwa Bwana, utaji unaondolewa.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Sasa Bwana ni Roho. Palipo na Roho wa Bwana, kuna uhuru.
18 And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Sasa sisi sote, pamoja na nyuso zisizo wekewa utaji, huona utukufu wa Bwana. Tunabadilishwa ndani ya muonekano uleule wa utukufu kutoka shahada moja ya utukufu kwenda nyingine, kama ilivyo kutoka kwa Bwana, ambaye ni Roho.
