< 1 Corinthians 1 >
1 I, Paul, [am writing this letter]. Sosthenes, our fellow believer, is with [me as I write it]. [God] appointed me to be an apostle of Christ Jesus because that is what God desired.
Paulo, aliyeitwa na Kristo Yesu kuwa mtume kwa mapenzi ya Mungu, na Sosthene ndugu yetu,
2 [I am sending this letter] to all you who are God’s believers in Corinth [city]. You have been set apart [by God] {[God] has set you apart} for himself because (of your close relationship with/you belong to) Christ Jesus. God has appointed you to be his people and to live in a morally pure way, just like he has appointed all the people everywhere who belong to him to live in a morally pure way. You and they have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ [MTY]. He is their sovereign Lord as well as the sovereign Lord of all of us [(inc)] who have trusted in him.
kwa kanisa la Mungu lililoko Korintho, kwa wale ambao wamewekwa wakfu katika Yesu Kristo, ambao wameitwa kuwa watu watakatifu. Tunawaandikia pia wale wote wanaoliitia jina la Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo katika mahali pote, Bwana wao na wetu.
3 We [(exc)] desire that God, who is our [heavenly] Father, and Jesus Christ, who is our sovereign Lord, will continue to act kindly toward you and cause you to experience [inner] peace.
Neema na amani iwe kwenu kutoka kwa Mungu baba yetu na Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo.
4 I very often [HYP] thank God for you because he has acted toward you kindly, acting in ways that you do not deserve. He has done this because of your (having a close relationship with/being united to) Christ Jesus.
Siku zote namshukru Mungu wangu kwa ajili yenu, kwa sababu ya neema ya Mungu ambayo Kristo Yesu aliwapa.
5 That is, [God] has [HYP] helped you spiritually very much because of your (having a close relationship with/being united to) Christ. Specifically, God has very much [HYP] enabled you to speak messages [that his Spirit revealed to you], and he has very much enabled you to know many things [HYP] that his Spirit revealed to you.
Amewafanya kuwa matajiri katika kila njia, katika usemi na pamoja maarifa yote.
6 In that way, [he] confirmed to you that what we [(exc)] proclaimed about Christ is true.
Amewafanya matajiri, kama ushuhuda kuhusu Kristo ya kwamba amethibitishwa kuwa kweli miongoni mwenu.
7 As a result, while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to return, within your group you truly have [LIT] every ability that [God’s] Spirit gives [to believers].
Kwa hiyo hampungukiwi karama za kiroho, kama mlivyo na hamu ya kusubiri ufunuo wa Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo.
8 God will also cause you to steadfastly [trust Christ to the very end of your lives] [EUP]. The result will be that God will not consider you guilty [of any sin] when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth [MTY].
Atawaimarisha ninyi pia hadi mwisho, ili msilaumiwe siku ya Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo.
9 You can depend on God to do that. He is the one who chose you to become intimately associated with his Son, Jesus Christ, who is our Lord.
Mungu ni mwaminifu ambaye aliwaita ninyi katika ushirika wa mwana wake, Yesu Kristo Bwana wetu.
10 My fellow believers, by the authority of [MTY] our Lord Jesus Christ, I urgently appeal to all of you to agree with one another. What I mean is, stop dividing into groups. Instead, be united [MET] concerning what you understand [about spiritual matters], and be united in what you decide.
Sasa nawasihi kaka na dada zangu, kupitia jina la Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo, kwamba wote mkubali, na kwamba kusiwe na migawanyiko miongoni mwenu. Nawasihi kwamba muungane pamoja katika nia moja na katika kusudi moja.
11 My fellow believers, [I urge this] because some members of Chloe’s household have told me that you are quarreling among yourselves.
Kwani watu wa nyumba ya Kloe wamenitaarifu kuwa kuna mgawanyiko unaoendelea miongoni mwenu.
12 That is, some of you say, “Paul is the one to whom we [are loyal],” and others say, “Peter is the one to whom we [are loyal],” and still others say, “Christ is the one to whom we [are loyal].”
Nina maana hii: Kila mmoja wenu husema, “Mimi ni wa Paulo,” au “Mimi ni wa Apolo”, au “Mimi ni wa Kefa” au “Mimi ni wa Kristo”.
13 [It is ridiculous that] [RHQ] [you are quarreling and] dividing up [into groups instead of being loyal to] Christ alone. Christ certainly has not divided himself into parts and distributed those parts out [to groups of people who oppose each other]! [MET, RHQ] I, Paul, certainly did not die on the cross for you! [RHQ] When you were baptized {When someone baptized you}, you certainly did not promise that you were submitting to me! [RHQ]
Je! Kristo amegawanyika? Je! Paulo alisulubiwa kwa ajili yenu? Je! Mlibatizwa kwa jina la Paulo?
14 I thank [God] that Crispus and Gaius were the only ones from among you whom I baptized.
Namshukuru Mungu kuwa sikumbatiza yeyote, isipokuwa Krispo na Gayo.
15 As a result, no one [there in Corinth except those two] can say, “Paul baptized me so that I would become (his disciple/submissive to him).”
Hii ilikuwa kwamba hakuna yeyote angesema mlibatizwa kwa jina langu.
16 [Now I remember that] I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I do not remember baptizing anyone else [there].
(Pia niliwabatiza wa nyumba ya Stephania. Zaidi ya hapo, sijui kama nilimbatiza mtu mwingine yeyote).
17 Christ sent me not [primarily] to baptize people but to preach the good message about him. When I do that, he does not want me to use words that human philosophers [consider] wise [IRO]. I do not want the message about [what] he [accomplished when he was nailed to] the cross [MTY] to lose its power.
Kwa kuwa, Kristo hakunituma kubatiza bali kuhubiri injili. Hakunituma kuhubiri kwa maneno ya hekima ya kibinadamu, ili kwamba nguvu ya msalaba wa Kristo isiondolewe.
18 Those who are perishing spiritually [because they do not believe that message consider] that the message [about what Christ accomplished when he was nailed to the] cross [MTY] [is] foolish. But to us who are being saved {whom [God] is saving} [spiritually because we believe that message], it [demonstrates that] God acts powerfully [in order to save us].
Kwa kuwa ujumbe wa msalaba ni upuuzi kwa wale wanaokufa. Lakini kwa wale ambao Mungu anawaokoa, ni nguvu ya Mungu.
19 [It is like what God said that] a prophet wrote long ago, [By the things that I will do], I will show that the ideas of those who [think] [IRO] they are wise are completely useless. I will ignore the ideas that they think are [IRO] so smart.
Kwa kuwa imeandikwa, “Nitaiharibu hekima ya wenye busara. Nitauharibu ufahamu wa wenye akili.”
20 So, do you know [what God thinks] about what [RHQ] people who [IRO] consider themselves to be wise and scholars and philosophers say? [He does not pay attention to what they say, because] [RHQ] he has shown clearly that what unbelievers [think is] [IRO] wise is [not wise at all], but is really foolish. (aiōn )
Yuko wapi mtu mwenye busara? Yuko wapi mwenye elimu? Yuko wapi msemaji mshawishi wa dunia hii? Je, Mungu hakuigeuza hekima ya dunia hii kuwa ujinga? (aiōn )
21 God, acting very wisely, made it impossible for unbelievers to know God by doing what they thought was [IRO] wise. Instead, he was happy to save those who trust [in Christ] as the result of their hearing [the message that] was proclaimed to them, a message that others consider to be foolish.
Tangu dunia imekuwa katika hekima yake haikumjua Mungu, ilimpendeza Mungu katika ujinga wao wa kuhubiri ili kuokoa wale wanaoamini.
22 The Jews want [people to prove, by performing] miracles, [that their message is true]. The non-Jews want to hear only messages consisting of talk that they consider to be very wise.
Kwa Wayahudi huuliza ishara za miujiza na kwa Wayunani hutafuta hekima.
23 As for us, we proclaim [the message about what] Christ [accomplished for us when] he was nailed {[when they] nailed him} to the cross. That message offends Jews [because they do not think that the Messiah will die, and] non-Jews think it is [IRO] a foolish message.
Lakini tunamhubiri Kristo aliyesulubiwa, aliye kikwazo kwa Wayahudi na ni ujinga kwa Wayunani.
24 But to us whom God has chosen to belong to himself, both Jews and non-Jews, that message shows that God acted powerfully and wisely [by sending] Christ [to die] for us.
Lakini kwa wale ambao waliitwa na Mungu, Wayahudi na Wayunani, tunamhubiri Kristo kama nguvu na hekima ya Mungu.
25 [Unbelievers may think] [IRO] [that] God was [acting] foolishly [by doing that], but [the truth is that] he was acting more wisely than unbelievers who [just think that] [IRO] they are wise. And unbelievers may think that God was [acting] weakly [by sending his son to die], but he was acting more powerfully than unbelievers who [just think] [IRO] [that they] act powerfully.
Kwa kuwa ujinga wa Mungu una hekima kuliko ya wanadamu, na udhaifu wa Mungu una nguvu zaidi ya wanadamu.
26 My fellow believers, remember what [kind of people you] were when God chose you. [Not many of you] whom he chose are people whom [unbelievers considered to be] wise. Very few of you were considered to be important. Very few of you came from families with a high social standing.
Angalia wito wa Mungu juu yenu, kaka na dada zangu. Si wengi wenu mlikuwa na hekima katika viwango vya kibinadamu. Si wengi wenu mlikuwa na nguvu. Si wengi wenu mlizaliwa katika ukuu.
27 Instead, it was [usually] those whom [unbelievers considered to be] foolish whom God chose. He did that in order to shame/discredit those whom [unbelievers consider] [IRO] wise. It was [usually] those [whom unbelievers] considered [IRO] unimportant whom God chose, in order to shame/discredit those whom unbelievers consider important.
Lakini Mungu alichagua vitu vijinga vya dunia ili kuviaibisha vyenye hekima. Mungu alichagua kilicho dhaifu katika dunia kukiaibisha chenye nguvu.
28 It was usually those who are despised and considered {whom [unbelievers] despise and consider} worthless whom God chose, in order to make completely ineffective [what unbelievers consider to be important].
Mungu alichagua kile kilicho cha hali ya chini na kilichodharauliwa katika dunia. Alichagua hata vitu ambavyo havikuhesabiwa kuwa kitu, kwa kuvifanya si kitu vitu vilivyo na thamani.
29 [He did that] in order that no one could boast to God about being wise or important.
Alifanya hivi ili asiwepo yeyote aliye na sababu ya kujivuna mbele zake.
30 It is because of what God [has done] that you (have a close relationship with/belong to) Christ Jesus. God [put into effect] his wise [plan to save us] by what Christ did for us. As a result of what Christ did, God erases the record of our sins, sets us apart for himself, and frees us from our being guilty [for our sins].
Kwa sababu ya kile Mungu alichofanya, sasa mko ndani ya Kristo Yesu, ambaye amefanyika hekima kwa ajili yetu kutoka kwa Mungu. Alikuwa haki yetu, utakatifu na ukombozi.
31 So, it is the Lord whom we should boast about, [not about one spiritual leader being better than another]. We should do as ([a prophet/Jeremiah]) wrote [in the Scriptures that we should do]: Those who boast should boast [only] about what the Lord [has done].
Kama matokeo, kama andiko lisemavyo, “Anayejisifu, ajisifu katika Bwana.”