2 Peter 3
1 This letter which I am now writing to you, dear friends, is my second letter. In both my letters I seek to revive in your honest minds the memory of certain things,
Wapenzi wangu, hii ni barua ya pili ninayowaandikia. Katika barua hizo mbili nimejaribu kufufua fikira safi akilini mwenu kwa kuwakumbusheni mambo haya.
2 so that you may recall the words spoken long ago by the holy Prophets, and the commandments of our Lord and Saviour given you through your Apostles.
Napenda mkumbuke maneno yaliyosemwa na manabii watakatifu, na ile amri ya Bwana na Mwokozi mliyopewa na mitume wenu.
3 But, above all, remember that, in the last days, men will come who make a mock at everything--men governed only by their own passions,
Awali ya yote jueni kwamba siku za mwisho watakuja watu ambao mienendo yao inatawaliwa na tamaa zao mbaya. Watawadhihaki ninyi
4 and, asking, "What has become of His promised Return? For from the time our forefathers fell asleep all things continue as they have been ever since the creation of the world."
na kusema: “Aliahidi kwamba atakuja! Je, sasa yuko wapi? Mambo ni yaleyale tangu babu zetu walipokufa; hali ya vitu ni ileile kama ilivyokuwa mwanzo wa ulimwengu!”
5 For they are wilfully blind to the fact that there were heavens which existed of old, and an earth, the latter arising out of water and extending continuously through water, by the command of God;
Watu hao, kwa makusudi, husahau kwamba zamani Mungu alinena, nazo mbingu na nchi zikaumbwa. Dunia iliumbwa kutoka katika maji na kwa maji;
6 and that, by means of these, the then existing race of men was overwhelmed with water and perished.
na kwa maji hayo, yaani yale maji ya gharika kuu, dunia ya wakati ule iliangamizwa.
7 But the present heavens and the present earth are, by the command of the same God, kept stored up, reserved for fire in preparation for a day of judgement and of destruction for the ungodly.
Lakini mbingu na nchi za sasa zahifadhiwa kwa neno la Mungu kwa ajili ya kuharibiwa kwa moto. Zimewekwa kwa ajili ya Siku ile ambapo watu wasiomcha Mungu watahukumiwa na kuangamizwa.
8 But there is one thing, dear friends, which you must not forget. With the Lord one day resembles a thousand years and a thousand years resemble one day.
Lakini, wapenzi wangu, msisahau kitu kimoja! Mbele ya Bwana, hakuna tofauti kati ya siku moja na miaka elfu; kwake yote ni mamoja.
9 The Lord is not slow in fulfilling His promise, in the sense in which some men speak of slowness. But He bears patiently with you, His desire being that no one should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Bwana hakawii kutimiza yale aliyoahidi kama watu wengine wanavyofikiri kuwa atakawia. Yeye ana saburi kwa ajili yenu, maana hapendi hata mmoja wenu apotee, bali huwavuta wote wapate kutubu.
10 The day of the Lord will come like a thief--it will be a day on which the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise, the elements be destroyed in the fierce heat, and the earth and all the works of man be utterly burnt up.
Siku ya Bwana itakuja kama mwizi. Siku hiyo, mbingu zitatoweka kwa kishindo kikuu; vitu vyake vya asili vitateketezwa kwa moto, nayo dunia itatoweka pamoja na kila kitu kilichomo ndani yake.
11 Since all these things are thus pre-destined to dissolution, what sort of men ought you to be found to be in all holy living and godly conduct,
Maadamu kila kitu kitaharibiwa namna hiyo, je, ninyi mnapaswa kuwa watu wa namna gani? Mnapaswa kuishi kitakatifu na kumcha Mungu,
12 eagerly looking forward to the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens, all ablaze, will be destroyed, and the elements will melt in the fierce heat?
mkiingojea Siku ile ya Mungu na kuifanya ije upesi—Siku ambayo mbingu zitateketezwa kwa moto na kuharibiwa, na vitu vyake vya asili vitayeyushwa kwa joto.
13 But in accordance with His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness will dwell.
Lakini sisi, kufuatana na ahadi yake, twangojea mbingu mpya na dunia mpya ambayo imejaa uadilifu.
14 Therefore, dear friends, since you have these expectations, earnestly seek to be found in His presence, free from blemish or reproach, in peace.
Kwa hiyo wapenzi wangu, mkiwa mnangojea Siku ile, fanyeni bidii kuwa safi kabisa bila hatia mbele ya Mungu, na kuwa na amani naye.
15 And always regard the patient forbearance of our Lord as salvation, as our dear brother Paul also has written to you in virtue of the wisdom granted to him.
Mnapaswa kuuona uvumilivu wa Bwana kuwa ni nafasi anayowapeni mpate kuokolewa, kama Paulo ndugu yetu mpenzi alivyowaandikia akitumia hekima aliyopewa na Mungu.
16 That is what he says in all his letters, when speaking in them of these things. In those letters there are some statements hard to understand, which ill-taught and unprincipled people pervert, just as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own ruin.
Hayo ndiyo asemayo katika barua zake zote anapozungumzia suala hilo. Yapo mambo kadhaa katika barua zake yaliyo magumu kuyaelewa, mambo ambayo watu wajinga, wasio na msimamo, huyapotosha kama wanavyopotosha sehemu nyingine za Maandiko Matakatifu. Hivyo wanasababisha maangamizi yao wenyewe.
17 You, therefore, dear friends, having been warned beforehand, must continually be on your guard so as not to be led astray by the false teaching of immoral men nor fall from your own stedfastness.
Lakini ninyi, wapenzi wangu, mmekwisha jua jambo hili. Basi, muwe na tahadhari msije mkapotoshwa na makosa ya waasi, mkaanguka kutoka katika msimamo wenu imara.
18 But be always growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be all glory, both now and to the day of Eternity! (aiōn g165)
Lakini endeleeni kukua katika neema na katika kumjua Bwana wetu na Mwokozi Yesu Kristo. Utukufu uwe kwake, sasa na hata milele! Amina. (aiōn g165)
The World is Destroyed by Water
