< Deuteronomy 17 >
1 You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox or a sheep in which is a defect or anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh your God.
Msimtolee Bwana Mungu wenu dhabihu ya maksai au kondoo ambaye ana dosari yoyote au hitilafu ndani yake, kwa kuwa hilo litakuwa chukizo kwake.
2 If there is found among you, within any of your gates which Yahweh your God gives you, a man or woman who does that which is evil in Yahweh your God’s sight in transgressing his covenant,
Ikiwa mwanaume au mwanamke anayeishi kati ya mojawapo ya miji akupayo Bwana, anakutwa anafanya uovu mbele za Bwana Mungu wenu, kwa kuvunja Agano lake,
3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the stars of the sky, which I have not commanded,
naye amekwenda kinyume na agizo langu kuabudu miungu mingine na kuisujudia, kama vile jua, mwezi au nyota za angani,
4 and you are told, and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire diligently. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in Israel,
hili likiwa limeletwa mbele yenu, ni lazima kulichunguza kikamilifu. Ikiwa ni kweli na kuwa limehakikishwa kwamba hili ni chukizo lililofanyika katika Israeli,
5 then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to your gates, even that same man or woman; and you shall stone them to death with stones.
mchukueni huyo mwanaume au mwanamke ambaye amelifanya tendo hili ovu kwenye lango la mji wenu na kumpiga mawe mtu huyo mpaka afe.
6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
Kwa ushuhuda wa mashahidi wawili au watatu mtu huyo atauawa, bali hakuna mtu atakayeuawa kwa ushuhuda wa shahidi mmoja tu.
7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
Ni lazima kwanza mikono ya mashahidi itangulie kumuua huyo mtu, kisha mikono ya watu wote. Ni lazima mwondoe uovu miongoni mwenu.
8 If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise, and go up to the place which Yahweh your God chooses.
Kama mashauri yanaletwa katika mahakama zenu ambayo ni magumu zaidi kwenu kuyaamua, ikiwa ni umwagaji wa damu, madai au mashambulio, yapelekeni mahali ambapo Bwana Mungu wenu atapachagua.
9 You shall come to the priests who are Levites and to the judge who shall be in those days. You shall inquire, and they shall give you the verdict.
Nendeni kwa makuhani, ambao ni Walawi, na kwa mwamuzi ambaye atakuwa kazini wakati huo. Ulizeni kwao nao watawapa maamuzi.
10 You shall do according to the decisions of the verdict which they shall give you from that place which Yahweh chooses. You shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you.
Ni lazima mtende sawasawa na maamuzi watakayowapa mahali Bwana atakapopachagua. Kuweni waangalifu kufanya kila kitu watakachowaongoza kufanya.
11 According to the decisions of the law which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn away from the sentence which they announce to you, to the right hand, nor to the left.
Fanyeni sawasawa na sheria wanayowafundisha na maamuzi wanayowapa. Msigeuke mkono wa kuume au kushoto kuacha kufanya yale wanayowaambia.
12 The man who does presumptuously in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before Yahweh your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die. You shall put away the evil from Israel.
Mwanaume atakayeonyesha dharau kwa mwamuzi au kwa kuhani ambaye amewekwa kumtumikia Bwana Mungu wenu lazima auawe. Lazima mwondoe uovu katika Israeli.
13 All the people shall hear and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
Watu wote watasikia na kuogopa, nao hawatakuwa wenye kudharau tena.
14 When you have come to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,”
Wakati utakapoingia katika nchi anayowapa Bwana Mungu wenu kuimiliki na kukaa humo, nanyi mkasema, “Na tumweke mfalme juu yetu kama mataifa yanayotuzunguka,”
15 you shall surely set him whom Yahweh your God chooses as king over yourselves. You shall set as king over you one from among your brothers. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
kuweni na uhakika wa kumweka mfalme juu yenu ambaye Bwana Mungu wenu atamchagua. Ni lazima atoke miongoni mwa ndugu zenu wenyewe. Msimweke mgeni juu yenu ambaye si ndugu wa Kiisraeli.
16 Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because Yahweh has said to you, “You shall not go back that way again.”
Hata hivyo, kamwe mfalme asijipatie hesabu kubwa ya farasi kwa ajili yake mwenyewe, au kuwafanya watu warudi Misri ili kupata farasi zaidi, kwa maana Bwana amekuambia, “Hamtairudia njia ile tena.”
17 He shall not multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away. He shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
Kamwe asioe wake wengi, la sivyo moyo wake utapotoka. Kamwe asijilimbikizie kiasi kikubwa cha fedha na dhahabu.
18 It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write himself a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the Levitical priests.
Atakapokuwa amekalia kiti cha ufalme wake, ajiandikie kwenye kitabu nakala ya sheria kwa ajili yake mwenyewe kutoka zile sheria za makuhani ambao ni Walawi.
19 It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them;
Atakuwa na nakala hiyo, naye ataisoma siku zote za maisha yake ili kwamba ajifunze kumheshimu Bwana Mungu wake na kufuata kwa uangalifu maneno yote ya sheria hii na amri hizi,
20 that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn away from the commandment to the right hand, or to the left, to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the middle of Israel.
naye asijifikirie kuwa ni bora kuliko ndugu zake na kuipotosha sheria. Ndipo yeye na wazao wake watatawala katika ufalme wake kwa muda mrefu katika Israeli.