Colossians 2
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have had for you, for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.
Napenda mjue jinsi ninavyofanya kazi kwa bidii kwa ajili yenu, kwa ajili ya watu wa Laodikea na kwa ajili ya wote ambao hawajapata kuniona kwa macho.
2 I work so that their hearts may be encouraged by being brought together in love and into all the riches of full assurance of understanding, into the knowledge of the secret truth of God, that is, Christ.
Nafanya hivi kusudi mioyo yao ifarijiwe na kuvutwa pamoja katika upendo, ili wajazwe uthabiti mwingi uletwao na elimu ya kweli. Hapo wataijua siri ya Mungu ambayo ni Kristo mwenyewe.
3 In him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
Ndani yake zimefichika hazina zote za hekima na elimu.
4 I say this so that no one may trick you with persuasive speech.
Basi, nawaambieni, msikubali kudanganywa na mtu yeyote kwa maneno ya uongo hata kama ni ya kuvutia sana.
5 Although I am not with you in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit. I rejoice to see your good order and the strength of your faith in Christ.
Maana, ingawa mimi niko mbali nanyi kwa mwili, lakini niko pamoja nanyi kwa roho, na ninafurahi kuona uthabiti kamili mnaosimama nao pamoja katika imani yenu kwa Kristo.
6 As you received Christ the Lord, walk in him.
Maadamu ninyi mmemkubali Kristo Yesu kuwa Bwana, basi, ishini katika muungano naye.
7 Be rooted in him, be built on him, be established in faith just as you were taught, and abound in thanksgiving.
Mnapaswa kuwa na mizizi ndani yake, kujijenga juu yake na kuwa imara katika imani yenu kama mlivyofundishwa. Muwe na shukrani tele.
8 See that no one captures you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, conforming to the elements of the world, and not conforming to Christ.
Angalieni basi, mtu asiwapotoshe kwa udanganyifu mtupu wa hekima ya kibinadamu, ambayo chanzo chake ni mafundisho ya mapokeo ya watu na ya pepo watawala, na wala si Kristo mwenyewe!
9 For in him all the fullness of God lives in bodily form.
Maana, ndani yake Kristo katika ubinadamu wake, umo ukamilifu wote wa Mungu,
10 You have been filled in him, who is the head over every power and authority.
nanyi mmepewa uzima kamili katika kuungana naye. Yeye yuko juu ya pepo watawala wote na wakuu wote.
11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not done by humans in the removal of the body of flesh, but in the circumcision of Christ.
Katika kuungana na Kristo ninyi mlitahiriwa, lakini si kwa tohara ifanywayo na watu, bali inayofanywa na Kristo mwenyewe, na ambayo inahusikana na kukombolewa kutoka katika utu wa dhambi.
12 You were buried with him in baptism, and in him you were raised up through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
Maana, mlipobatizwa mlizikwa pamoja na Kristo, na katika ubatizo, mlifufuliwa pia pamoja naye kwa imani yenu katika nguvu ya Mungu ambaye alimfufua Kristo kutoka wafu.
13 When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him and forgave us all of our trespasses.
Wakati mmoja nanyi mlikuwa mmekufa kwa sababu ya makosa yenu na kwa sababu ninyi mlikuwa watu wa mataifa mengine. Lakini Mungu amewapa ninyi uzima pamoja na Kristo. Mungu ametusamehe dhambi zetu zote;
14 He canceled the written record of debts that stood against us with its regulations. He took it away by nailing it to the cross.
alifutilia mbali ile hati ya deni iliyokuwa inatukabili na masharti yake, na kuifuta kabisa kwa kuipigilia msalabani.
15 He disarmed the powers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them, by being victorious over them by the cross.
Juu ya msalaba Kristo aliwapokonya nguvu zao hao pepo watawala na wakuu; aliwafanya kuwa kitu cha fedheha hadharani kwa kuwaburuta kama mateka katika msafara wa ushindi wake.
16 So then, let no one judge you in eating or in drinking, or about a feast day or a new moon, or about Sabbath days.
Kwa hiyo, basi, msikubali kupewa masharti na mtu yeyote kuhusu vyakula au vinywaji, siku za sherehe, sikukuu ya Mwezi mpya au Sabato.
17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance is Christ.
Mambo ya aina hiyo ni kivuli tu cha yale yatakayokuja; ukweli wenyewe ndiye Kristo.
18 Let no one who wants humility and the worship of angels judge you out of your prize. Such a person enters into the things he has seen and becomes puffed up by his fleshly thinking.
Msikubali kuhukumiwa na mtu yeyote anayejitakia kuwa wa maana kwa sababu ya maono ya pekee na ambaye anasisitiza juu ya unyenyekevu wa uongo na ibada kwa malaika. Mtu wa namna hiyo amepumbazika kwa fikira danganifu za kidunia
19 He does not hold on to the head. It is from the head that the whole body throughout its joints and ligaments is supplied and held together; it grows with the growth given by God.
na amejitenga na Kristo aliye kichwa cha huo mwili. Chini ya uongozi wa Kristo, mwili wote unalishwa na kuunganishwa pamoja kwa viungo na mishipa yake, nao hukua kama atakavyo Mungu.
20 If you died together with Christ to the elements of the world, why do you live as obligated to the world:
Ninyi mmekufa pamoja na Kristo na kukombolewa kutoka nguvu za pepo watawala wa ulimwengu. Kwa nini, basi, kuishi tena kama vile mngekuwa wa ulimwengu huu? Ya nini kuwekewa masharti:
21 “Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch”?
“Msishike hiki,” “Msionje kile,” “Msiguse kile!”
22 All these things will perish with use, according to the instructions and teachings of men.
Mambo hayo yote yanahusika na vitu vyenye kuharibika mara tu vinapotumiwa; hayo ni maagizo na mafundisho ya kibinadamu tu.
23 These rules have the wisdom of self-made religion and humility and severity of the body. But they have no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
Kweli, masharti hayo yaonekana kuwa ya hekima katika namna ya ibada ya kujitakia wenyewe, unyenyekevu wa uongo na kuutendea mwili kwa ukali; lakini kwa kweli, haifai chochote kuzuia tamaa za mwili.
