Leviticus 25
1 Yahweh said to Moses/me on Sinai Mountain,
Bwana akamwambia Mose katika Mlima Sinai,
2 “Tell the Israelis [that I, Yahweh, say this]: When you enter the land that I am about to give you, every seventh year you must honor me by [not planting any seeds. You will be] allowing the ground to rest.
“Sema na Waisraeli uwaambie: ‘Mtakapoingia katika nchi ninayowapa ninyi, nchi yenyewe ni lazima ishike Sabato kwa ajili ya Bwana.
3 For six years you are to plant seeds in your fields and prune your grapevines and harvest the crops.
Kwa miaka sita mtapanda mazao katika mashamba yenu, nanyi kwa miaka sita mtaikata mizabibu yenu matawi na kuvuna mazao yake.
4 But the seventh/next year you must [dedicate] to me, and allow your fields to rest. Do not plant seeds in your fields or prune your grapevines [during that year].
Lakini mwaka wa saba nchi lazima iwe na Sabato ya mapumziko, Sabato kwa Bwana. Msipande mbegu katika mashamba yenu, wala msikate mizabibu yenu matawi.
5 Do not reap [the grain] that grows in your fields without having been planted, or harvest the grapes that grow [without the vines being pruned]; you must allow the land to rest for that one year.
Msivune na kuweka akiba kinachoota chenyewe, wala kuvuna na kusindika zabibu ambayo hamkuhudumia mashamba yake. Nchi lazima iwe na mwaka wa mapumziko.
6 But you are permitted to eat whatever crops grow by themselves during that year without having been planted. You and your male and female servants, and workers whom you have hired, and people who are living among you temporarily are permitted to eat it.
Chochote nchi itoacho katika mwaka wa Sabato kitakuwa chakula chenu wenyewe, watumishi wenu wa kiume na wa kike, mfanyakazi aliyeajiriwa, na mkazi wa muda anayeishi miongoni mwenu,
7 Also, [during that year] your livestock and the wild animals in your land are permitted to eat it.’
vilevile malisho ya mifugo yenu na wanyama pori katika nchi yenu. Chochote nchi itakachozalisha kinaweza kuliwa.
8 ‘Also, after every 49 years has ended, you must do this: (On the tenth day of the seventh month/At the end of September) [of the next/50th year], blow trumpets throughout the country, to declare that it will be a day on which you request that I forgive you for the sins that you have committed.
“‘Hesabu Sabato saba za miaka, yaani miaka saba mara saba, ili Sabato saba za miaka utakuwa muda wa miaka arobaini na tisa.
Ndipo tarumbeta itapigwa kila mahali katika siku ya kumi ya mwezi wa saba. Katika Siku ya Upatanisho, piga tarumbeta katika nchi yako yote.
10 Set apart that year, and proclaim that throughout the country, it will be a year of restoring the land and freeing people: All the people [who sold their property] will receive back the property that they previously owned, and slaves must be (freed/allowed to return to [their property and] their families).
Mwaka wa hamsini mtauweka wakfu na kutangaza uhuru katika nchi kwa wakazi wake wote. Itakuwa ni yubile kwenu; kila mmoja wenu atairudia mali ya jamaa yake, na kila mmoja kurudi kwenye ukoo wake.
11 That year will be a Year of Celebration; [during that year] do not plant anything, and do not harvest [in the usual way] the grain/wheat that grows without having been planted, or the grapes that grow without the vines being pruned.
Mwaka wa hamsini utakuwa yubile kwenu, msipande wala msivune kile kiotacho chenyewe, au kuvuna zabibu zisizohudumiwa.
12 It will be a Year of Celebration, so eat [only] what grows in the fields (by itself/without any work being done to produce anything).
Kwa kuwa ni yubile, nayo itakuwa takatifu kwenu; mtakula tu kile kilichotoka moja kwa moja mashambani.
13 ‘In that Year of Celebration, everyone must return to their own property.
“‘Katika huu Mwaka wa Yubile, kila mmoja atarudi kwenye mali yake mwenyewe.
14 ‘If you sell some of your land to a fellow Israeli or if you buy some land from one of them, you must treat that person fairly:
“‘Ikiwa utauza ardhi kwa mmoja wa wazawa wa nchi yako, au ukinunua ardhi kutoka kwake, mmoja asimpunje mwingine.
15 If you buy land, the price that you will pay will depend on the number of years there will be until the next Year of Celebration. If someone sells land to you, he will charge a price that is determined by the number of years until the next Year of Celebration.
Utanunua ardhi kwa mzawa wa nchi yako kwa misingi ya hesabu ya miaka baada ya Yubile. Naye ataiuza kwako kwa misingi ya hesabu ya miaka iliyobaki kwa kuvuna mavuno.
16 If there will be many years before the next Year of Celebration, the price will be higher; if there will be only a few years until the next Year of Celebration, the price will be lower. [You could say that] what he is really selling you is the number of crops [which you can harvest before the next Year of Celebration].
Miaka inapokuwa mingi, utaongeza bei, nayo miaka ikiwa michache, utapunguza bei, kwa sababu kile anachokuuzia kwa hakika ni hesabu ya mazao.
17 Do not cheat each other; instead, revere me. I, Yahweh your God, [am the one who am commanding this].
Mmoja asimpunje mwingine, bali utamcha Mungu wako. Mimi ndimi Bwana Mungu wako.
18 ‘Obey all my laws [DOU] carefully. If you do that, you will continue to live safely in your country [DOU].
“‘Fuateni amri zangu, mwe waangalifu kutii amri zangu, nanyi mtaishi salama katika nchi.
19 And crops will grow well on the land, and you will have plenty to eat.
Kisha nchi itazaa matunda yake, nanyi mtakula na kushiba na kuishi humo kwa salama.
20 But you may ask, “If we do not plant or harvest our crops during the seventh year, what will we have to eat?”
Mwaweza kuuliza, “Tutakula nini katika mwaka wa saba ikiwa hatutapanda wala kuvuna mazao yetu?”
21 [My answer is that] I will bless you very much during the sixth/previous year, with the result that during that year there will be enough crops to provide food for you for three years!
Nitawapelekeeni baraka ya pekee katika mwaka wa sita, kwamba nchi itazalisha mazao ya kutosha kwa miaka mitatu.
22 Then, after you plant seed during the eighth/next year [and wait for the crops to grow], you will eat the food grown in the sixth year, and continue to eat it until more food is harvested in the ninth year!
Mnapopanda mwaka wa nane, mtakula mavuno ya miaka iliyopita. Pia mtaendelea kuyala mazao hayo hadi mvune mavuno ya mwaka wa tisa.
23 ‘You must not sell any of your land to belong to someone else permanently, because the land [is not yours, it]; is really mine, and you are only living on it temporarily and (farming/taking care of) it for me.
“‘Kamwe ardhi isiuzwe kwa mkataba wa kudumu, kwa sababu nchi ni mali yangu, nanyi ni wageni na wapangaji wangu.
24 Throughout the country that you will possess, you must remember that if someone sells some of his land to you, he is permitted to buy it back from you [if he wants to].
Katika nchi yote mtakayoshika kuwa milki yenu, ni lazima mtoe ukombozi wa ardhi.
25 ‘So, if one of your fellow Israelis becomes poor and sells some of his property [to obtain some money], the person who is most closely related to him is permitted to come and buy that land for him.
“‘Ikiwa mmoja wa wazawa wa nchi yako amekuwa maskini na akauza baadhi ya mali yake, ndugu yake wa karibu atakuja na kukomboa kile ndugu yako alichokiuza.
26 However, if a man has no one to buy the land for him, and he himself prospers again and saves enough money to buy that land back,
Iwapo mtu huyo hana jamaa wa karibu wa kukomboa mali hiyo kwa ajili yake, lakini yeye mwenyewe akafanikiwa na kupata mali itoshayo kuikomboa,
27 he must calculate how many years there will be until the next Year of Celebration. Then he must pay to the man who bought the land the money that he would have earned by continuing to grow crops on that land for those years.
ataamua tena thamani yake kwa miaka tangu alipoiuza, na kurudisha kiasi kilichobaki cha thamani kwa mtu ambaye alikuwa amemuuzia mali hiyo, naye ataweza kuirudia mali yake.
28 But if the original owner does not have any money to buy the land that he sold, it will continue to belong to the man who bought it, until the next Year of Celebration. In that year it must be returned to its original owner, and he will be able to live on it again.
Lakini kama hatapata njia ya kumlipa mnunuzi, ile mali aliyouza itabaki kumilikiwa na mnunuzi mpaka Mwaka wa Yubile. Mali hiyo itarudishwa mwaka wa Yubile, naye ataweza kuirudia mali yake.
29 ‘If someone who lives in a city that has a wall around it sells a house there, during the next year he will be permitted to buy it from the man who bought it.
“‘Ikiwa mtu atauza nyumba iliyo ndani ya mji uliozungukwa kwa ukuta, yeye anayo haki ya kuikomboa mwaka mzima baada ya mauzo ya hiyo nyumba. Wakati huo anaweza kuikomboa.
30 If he does not buy it during that year, it will belong permanently to the man who bought it and to his descendants. It must not be returned to the original owner in the Year of Celebration.
Ikiwa haikukombolewa kabla ya mwaka mmoja kamili kupita, nyumba iliyo ndani ya mji uliozungukwa kwa ukuta itakuwa mali ya kudumu ya mnunuzi na wazao wake. Haitarudishwa mwaka wa Yubile.
31 But houses that are in villages that do not have walls around them are considered to be as though they are in a field. So if someone sells one of those houses, he is permitted to buy it back at any time. And [if he does not buy it], it must be returned to him in the Year of Celebration.
Lakini nyumba zilizo vijijini bila ya kuwa na kuta zilizozizunguka zitahesabiwa kama mashamba. Zinaweza kukombolewa, nazo zirudishwe katika mwaka wa Yubile.
32 ‘If any descendants of Levi sell their houses in the towns in which they live, they are permitted to buy them back at any time.
“‘Walawi siku zote wana haki ya kukomboa nyumba zao katika miji ya Walawi wanayoimiliki.
33 And because the houses in their towns are on land that [was given to them by] other Israelis, that land will become theirs again in the Year of Celebration [if they do not buy it back before then].
Kwa hiyo mali ya Mlawi inaweza kukombolewa, yaani nyumba iliyouzwa katika mji wowote wanaoushikilia itarudishwa mwaka wa Yubile, kwa sababu nyumba zilizo katika miji ya Walawi ni mali yao miongoni mwa Waisraeli.
34 But the pastureland near their towns must not be sold. It must belong to the original owners permanently/forever.
Lakini nchi ya malisho iliyo mali ya miji yao kamwe isiuzwe, ni milki yao ya kudumu.
35 ‘If one of your fellow Israelis becomes poor and is unable to buy what he needs [IDM], others of you must help him like you would help a foreigner who is living among you [DOU] temporarily.
“‘Ikiwa mmoja wa wazawa wa nchi yako amekuwa maskini, naye akashindwa kujitegemeza mwenyewe katikati yako, msaidie kama vile ambavyo ungelimsaidia mgeni au kama mkazi wa muda, ili aweze kuendelea kuishi katikati yako.
36 [If you lend money to him], do not charge any kind of interest [DOU]. Instead, [show by what you do that you] revere me, your God, and help that man, in order that he will be able to continue to live among you.
Usichukue riba wala faida yoyote kutoka kwake, bali utamwogopa Mungu wako, ili mzawa wa nchi yako aweze kuendelea kuishi katikati yako.
37 If you lend him money, do not charge interest; and if you sell food to him, [charge him only what you paid for it]; do not get a profit from it.
Usimkopeshe fedha ili alipe na riba, wala usimuuzie chakula kwa faida.
38 [Do not forget that] I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God and to give you the land of Canaan, [and I did not charge you for doing that].
Mimi ndimi Bwana Mungu wako, niliyekuleta kutoka nchi ya Misri nikupe nchi ya Kanaani, nami niwe Mungu wako.
39 ‘If one of your fellow Israelis becomes poor and sells himself to you, do not force him to work like a slave.
“‘Ikiwa mmoja wa wazawa wa nchi yako amekuwa maskini katikati yako, naye akajiuza kwako, usimfanye atumike kama mtumwa.
40 Treat him like you treat workers that you hire or like someone who is living on your land temporarily. But he must work for you [only] until the Year of Celebration.
Atatendewa kama mfanyakazi aliyeajiriwa, au kama mkazi wa muda katikati yako, naye atatumika mpaka Mwaka wa Yubile.
41 During that year, you must free him, and he will go back to his family and to the property that his ancestors owned.
Ndipo yeye na watoto wake wataachiwa, naye atarudi kwa watu wa ukoo wake, na kwenye mali ya baba zake.
42 [It is as though] you Israelis are my slaves/servants, whom I [freed from being slaves] in Egypt. So none of you should be sold to become slaves.
Kwa sababu Waisraeli ni watumishi wangu niliowaleta kutoka nchi ya Misri, kamwe wasiuzwe kama watumwa.
43 And do not treat the Israelis whom you buy cruelly; instead, revere me, your God.
Usiwatawale kwa ukatili, lakini utamcha Mungu wako.
44 ‘If you want to have slaves, you are permitted to buy them from nearby countries.
“‘Watumwa wako wa kiume na wa kike watatoka katika mataifa yanayokuzunguka; kutoka kwao waweza kununua watumwa.
45 You are also permitted to buy some of the foreigners who are living among you, and members of their clans that were born in your country. Then you will own them.
Pia waweza kununua baadhi ya wakazi wa muda wanaoishi katikati yako, na jamaa ya koo zao waliozaliwa katika nchi yako, nao watakuwa mali yako.
46 They will be your slaves for the remaining years of your life, and after you die, it is permitted for your children to own them. But you must not act in brutal ways toward your fellow Israelis.
Hao waweza kuwarithisha watoto wako kuwa urithi wao, na wanaweza kuwafanya watumwa maisha yao yote, lakini usiwatawale ndugu zako Waisraeli kwa ukatili.
47 ‘If a foreigner who is living among you [DOU] becomes rich, and if one of your fellow Israelis becomes poor and sells himself to that foreigner or to a member of his clan/family,
“‘Ikiwa mgeni au mkazi wa muda katikati yako atakuwa tajiri, na mmoja wa wazawa wa nchi yako akawa maskini, naye akajiuza kwa yule mgeni anayeishi katikati yako, au kwa mmoja wa jamaa wa koo za wageni,
48 it is permitted for someone to pay for him to be freed. It is permitted for one of his relatives to pay for him to be released:
anayo haki ya kukombolewa baada ya kujiuza. Mmoja wa jamaa zake aweza kumkomboa:
49 An uncle or a cousin or another relative in his clan may pay for him to be released. Or, if he prospers [and gets enough money], he is permitted to pay for his own release.
Mjomba wake, au binamu yake, au yeyote aliye ndugu wa damu katika ukoo wake aweza kumkomboa. Au ikiwa atafanikiwa, anaweza kujikomboa mwenyewe.
50 The man who wants to pay for his own release must count the number of years until the next Year of Celebration. The price he pays to the man who bought him will depend on the pay that would be given to a hired worker for that number of years.
Yeye na huyo aliyemnunua watahesabu muda kuanzia mwaka aliojiuza hadi Mwaka wa Yubile. Mahali pa kuanzia bei ya kuachiwa kwake itakadiriwa kwa ujira unaolipwa mfanyakazi aliyeajiriwa kwa idadi ya hiyo miaka.
51 If there are a lot of years that remain until the Year of Celebration, he must pay for his release a larger amount of the money.
Ikiwa imebaki miaka mingi, ni lazima atalipia ukombozi wake fungu kubwa la bei iliyolipwa kumnunua yeye.
52 If there are only a few years that remain until the Year of Celebration, he must pay a smaller amount to be released.
Ikiwa miaka iliyobaki ni michache kufikia Mwaka wa Yubile, atafanya hesabu yake, naye atalipa malipo yanayostahili kwa ajili ya ukombozi wake.
53 During the years that he is working for the man who bought him, the man who bought him must treat him like he would treat a hired worker, and all of you must make sure that his owner does not treat him cruelly.
Atatendewa kama mtu wa kuajiriwa mwaka hadi mwaka; lazima uone kwamba yule aliyemnunua hamtawali kwa ukatili.
54 ‘And even if a fellow Israeli who has sold himself to a rich man is not able to pay for himself to be freed by any of these ways, he and his children must be freed in the Year of Celebration,
“‘Hata ikiwa hakukombolewa kwa njia mojawapo ya hizi, yeye na watoto wake wataachiwa katika Mwaka wa Yubile,
55 because [it is as though] you Israelis are my slaves/servants, whom I, Yahweh your God, freed from [being slaves in] Egypt.’”
kwa maana Waisraeli ni mali yangu kama watumishi. Wao ni watumishi wangu, niliowatoa kutoka nchi ya Misri. Mimi ndimi Bwana Mungu wako.
