Jake 4
1 Koswana mpe bitumba kati na bino ewutaka wapi? Boni, ewutaka te na baposa mabe na bino, oyo ebundaka kati na banzoto na bino?
Now I will tell you why you are fighting among yourselves and quarreling with each other [RHQ]. It is [RHQ] because each of you wants to do evil things [PRS]. You keep on wanting to do things that are not [what God wants you to do].
2 Bozali kolula biloko, kasi bozali kozwa yango te; bokomi kino koboma bato. Botondi na zuwa, kasi bozali kolonga te kozwa oyo bozali koluka; bokomi koswana mpe kobunda bitumba. Bozwaka te biloko oyo bozalaka na yango posa, pamba te bosengaka yango epai ya Nzambe te.
There are things that you [very much] desire to have, but you do not get [those things, so] you [want to] kill [HYP] [those who hinder you from getting them]. You desire what [other people have], but you are unable to get [what you desire, so] you quarrel and fight [with one another] [HYP]. You do not have [what you desire] because you do not ask [God for it].
3 Kasi soki bosengaka epai ya Nzambe mpe bozwaka te, ezali mpo ete bosengaka na makanisi mabe, na makanisi ya kosepelisa kaka baposa na bino moko.
[And even when] you do ask [him], he does not give you [what you ask for] because you are asking for the wrong reason. [You are asking for things] in order that you may use them just to (enjoy yourselves/make yourselves happy).
4 Bato na ekobo! Boyebi te ete kolinga mokili ezali koyina Nzambe? Moto oyo alingi kozala moninga ya mokili amikomisi monguna ya Nzambe.
[Like] a woman who is unfaithful to her husband, you [are being unfaithful to God and not obeying him any more] [MET]. Those who are behaving as evil people do [MTY] (OR, Those who love [the evil pleasures of] this world) are hostile toward God. Perhaps you do not realize that [RHQ]. So those who decide to act as evil people do [MTY] become enemies of God.
5 Mpe lisusu, bokanisi ete ezali na pamba nde Makomi elobi: « Nzambe azalaka na zuwa makasi mpo na Molimo oyo atia kati na biso? »
(Surely you remember that [God told us in] the Scriptures that he eagerly desires that his Spirit, who lives in us, will help us to love [God] only!/Do you think that it is for no reason that [God told us in] the Scriptures that he strongly desires that his Spirit, who lives in us, will help us to love [God] only?) [RHQ] God has a reason for desiring that.
6 Nzokande, Nzambe atalisaka biso ngolu oyo eleki, pamba te Makomi eloba: « Nzambe atelemelaka bato ya lolendo, kasi atalisaka ngolu na Ye epai ya bato oyo bamikitisaka. »
[It is because] he is kind [to us and he] wants very much to help us. That is why (someone said/[King Solomon] wrote) [in the Scriptures], “God opposes those who are proud, but he helps those who are humble.”
7 Bomikitisa liboso ya Nzambe. Botelemela Satana, mpe akokima mosika na bino.
So submit yourselves to God. (Resist the devil/Refuse to do what the devil wants), and [as a result] he will run away from you.
8 Bopusana pene ya Nzambe, mpe Ye akoya pene na bino. Bino bato ya masumu, bosukola maboko na bino; bino bato ya mitema mibale, bopetola mitema na bino!
Come near [spiritually] to God, and [as a result] he will come near to you. You who are sinners, stop doing what is wrong, and do only what is good [SYN, MET]. You who cannot decide [whether you will] ([commit yourselves to God/obey God completely]), stop thinking wrong thoughts, and think only pure thoughts [MTY].
9 Botala pasi na bino, bosala matanga mpe bolela. Tika ete koseka na bino ebongwana kolela, mpe esengo na bino ekoma mawa!
Be sorrowful and weep/mourn [DOU] [because of the wrong things that you have done]. Do not laugh [DOU], ([enjoying only what you selfishly/enjoying only what you yourselves]) [desire]. Instead, be sad [because you have done what is wrong].
10 Bomikitisa liboso ya Nkolo, mpe Nkolo akotombola bino.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and [as a result] he will honor you.
11 Bandeko na ngai, botonganaka te bino na bino. Moto oyo atongaka mpe asambisaka ndeko na ye asambwisaka mibeko mpe abukaka yango. Nzokande, soki ozali kosambwisa mibeko, elakisi ete ozali kotosa yango te, kasi ozali nde mosambisi na yango.
My fellow believers, stop saying evil things about one another, [because] those who say something evil about a fellow believer and [are therefore] condemning [one who is like] a brother [to them] are really speaking against the law [that God gave us to obey]. [In this law, God commanded] [MTY] [us to love others], and those who say evil things about fellow believers, [it is as though] they are saying that we do not have to do what [God] commanded. If you [(sg)] say that you do not have to do what God commanded, you [(sg)] are not obeying God’s law. Instead, you [(sg)] are claiming that you [have the authority] to condemn [others].
12 Pamba te Ye oyo apesa mibeko azali kaka Ye moko Mosambisi, Ye nde azali na makoki ya kobikisa mpe ya kobebisa. Bongo yo, ozali nani mpo ete osambisa moninga na yo?
[But in fact], there is only one who [has the authority to] tell [people] what is right to do and to condemn [them, and that is God]. He alone is able to save [people] or to destroy people. [So], (you [(sg)] certainly have no right to decide how God should punish other people./who are you to decide how God should punish other people?) [RHQ]
13 Boyoka sik’oyo, bino bato oyo bolobaka: « Lelo to lobi, tokokende na engumba songolo, tokovanda kuna mobu mobimba mpe tokosala mombongo oyo ekobotela biso mbongo ebele. »
[Some of you] are [arrogantly] saying, “Today or tomorrow we will go to a certain city. We will spend a year there and we will buy and sell things and earn a lot of money.” Now, you listen to me!
14 Boni, boyebi makambo oyo ekoya lobi? Bomoi na bino nde nini? Ezali kaka te lokola londende oyo emonanaka mpo na mwa tango moke mpe, na sima, elimwe?
[You should not talk like that, because] you do not know what will happen tomorrow, and you do not know [how long] you will live! Your life [is short] [MET], [like] a mist that appears for a short time and then disappears.
15 Tala ndenge bosengeli koloba: « Soki Nkolo alingi, tokozala na bomoi mpe tokosala likambo songolo to pakala. »
Instead of [what you are saying], you should say, “If the Lord wills/desires, we will live and do this or that.”
16 Kasi bino, bozali nde komikumisa na monene ya mabongisi na bino! Boyeba malamu ete lolendo ya ndenge wana ezali mabe.
But what you are doing is boasting about all the things that you arrogantly [plan to do]. Your boasting like that is evil.
17 Moto oyo ayebi kosala bolamu, kasi asali yango te, asali masumu.
So if anyone knows the right thing that he should do, [but] he does not do it, he is sinning.
