2 Wafalme 19
1 Mfalme Hezekia aliposikia haya, akararua nguo zake na kuvaa nguo ya gunia, naye akaenda katika Hekalu la Bwana.
When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the LORD’s house.
2 Akawatuma Eliakimu msimamizi wa nyumba ya mfalme, Shebna mwandishi, na viongozi wa makuhani, wote wakiwa wamevaa nguo za magunia, waende kwa nabii Isaya mwana wa Amozi.
He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 Wakamwambia, “Hili ndilo asemalo Hezekia: Siku hii ni siku ya dhiki, ya kukaripiwa na ya aibu, kama wakati watoto wanapofikia karibu kuzaliwa na kumbe hakuna nguvu ya kuwazaa.
They said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘Today is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.
4 Yamkini Bwana, Mungu wako atayasikia maneno ya jemadari wa jeshi, ambaye bwana wake, mfalme wa Ashuru, amemtuma kumdhihaki Mungu aliye hai, tena kwamba atamkemea kwa maneno ambayo Bwana, Mungu wako ameyasikia. Kwa hiyo omba kwa ajili ya mabaki ambao bado wako.”
It may be the LORD your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’”
5 Maafisa wa Mfalme Hezekia walipofika kwa Isaya,
So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 Isaya akawaambia, “Mwambieni bwana wenu, ‘Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana: Usiogope kwa hayo uliyoyasikia, yale maneno ambayo watumishi wa mfalme wa Ashuru wamenitukana nayo.
Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘The LORD says, “Do not be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Sikiliza! Nitatia roho fulani ndani yake ili atakaposikia taarifa fulani, atarudi nchi yake mwenyewe, nami huko nitafanya auawe kwa upanga.’”
Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”’”
8 Jemadari wa jeshi aliposikia kwamba mfalme wa Ashuru ameondoka Lakishi, alirudi, akamkuta mfalme akipigana na Libna.
So Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish.
9 Basi Senakeribu akapata taarifa kwamba Tirhaka, Mkushi mfalme wa Misri, alikuwa anaenda kupigana naye. Basi akatuma tena wajumbe kwa Hezekia na neno hili:
When he heard it said of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Behold, he has come out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,
10 “Mwambieni Hezekia mfalme wa Yuda: Usikubali huyo Mungu unayemtumainia akudanganye wakati anaposema, ‘Yerusalemu haitatiwa mkononi mwa mfalme wa Ashuru.’
“Tell Hezekiah king of Judah this: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Hakika umesikia yale ambayo wafalme wa Ashuru wametenda kwa nchi zote, wakiwaangamiza kabisa. Je, wewe utaokolewa?
Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Will you be delivered?
12 Je, miungu ya mataifa ambayo yaliangamizwa na baba zangu iliweza kuwaokoa, hiyo miungu ya Gozani, Harani, Resefu, na ya watu wa Edeni waliokuwa Telasari?
Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?
13 Yuko wapi mfalme wa Hamathi, mfalme wa Arpadi, mfalme wa mji wa Sefarvaimu, au wa Hena au wa Iva?”
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?’”
14 Hezekia akapokea barua kutoka kwa wale wajumbe, naye akaisoma. Kisha akapanda katika Hekalu la Bwana, akaikunjua mbele za Bwana.
Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the LORD’s house, and spread it before the LORD.
15 Naye Hezekia akamwomba Bwana akisema: “Ee Bwana, Mungu wa Israeli, uketiye juu ya kiti cha enzi kati ya makerubi, wewe peke yako ndiwe Mungu juu ya falme zote za dunia. Wewe umeumba mbingu na nchi.
Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, “LORD, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
16 Tega sikio, Ee Bwana, usikie; fungua macho yako, Ee Bwana, uone; sikiliza maneno ambayo Senakeribu ametuma kumtukana Mungu aliye hai.
Incline your ear, LORD, and hear. Open your eyes, LORD, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to defy the living God.
17 “Ni kweli, Ee Bwana, kwamba wafalme wa Ashuru wameyaangamiza mataifa haya na nchi zao.
Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands,
18 Wameitupa miungu yao kwenye moto na kuiangamiza, kwa kuwa haikuwa miungu, bali miti na mawe tu iliyotengenezwa kwa mikono ya wanadamu.
and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them.
19 Sasa basi, Ee Bwana Mungu wetu, tuokoe kutoka mkononi mwake, ili falme zote duniani zipate kujua kwamba wewe peke yako, Ee Bwana, ndiwe Mungu.”
Now therefore, LORD our God, save us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are God alone.”
20 Kisha Isaya mwana wa Amozi akapeleka ujumbe kwa Hezekia, akasema: “Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana, Mungu wa Israeli: Nimesikia maombi yako kuhusu Senakeribu mfalme wa Ashuru.
Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says ‘You have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, and I have heard you.
21 Hili ndilo neno ambalo Bwana amelisema dhidi yake: “‘Bikira Binti Sayuni anakudharau na kukudhihaki. Binti Yerusalemu anatikisa kichwa chake unapokimbia.
This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
22 Ni nani uliyemtukana na kumkufuru? Ni nani uliyeinua sauti yako dhidi yake, na kumwinulia macho yako kwa kiburi? Ni dhidi ya yule Aliye Mtakatifu wa Israeli!
Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 Kupitia kwa wajumbe wako umelundika matukano juu ya Bwana. Nawe umesema, “Kwa magari yangu mengi ya vita, nimepanda juu ya vilele vya milima, vilele vya juu sana katika Lebanoni. Nami nimeiangusha mierezi yake mirefu, misunobari yake iliyo bora sana. Nimefikia sehemu zake zilizo mbali sana, misitu yake iliyo mizuri sana.
By your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field.
24 Nimechimba visima katika nchi za kigeni na kunywa maji yake. Kwa nyayo za miguu yangu nimekausha vijito vyote vya Misri.”
I have dug and drunk strange waters, and I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt with the sole of my feet.”
25 “‘Je, hujasikia? Zamani sana niliamuru hili. Siku za kale nilipanga hili; sasa nimelifanya litokee, kwamba umegeuza miji yenye ngome kuwa malundo ya mawe.
Have not you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
26 Watu wa miji hiyo wameishiwa nguvu, wanavunjika mioyo na kuaibishwa. Wao ni kama mimea katika shamba, kama machipukizi mororo ya kijani, kama majani yachipuayo juu ya paa la nyumba, ambayo hukauka kabla ya kukua.
Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops and like grain blasted before it has grown up.
27 “‘Lakini ninajua mahali ukaapo, kutoka kwako na kuingia kwako, na jinsi unavyoghadhibika dhidi yangu.
But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.
28 Kwa sababu unaghadhibika dhidi yangu, na ufidhuli wako umefika masikioni mwangu, nitaweka ndoana yangu puani mwako na hatamu yangu kinywani mwako, nami nitakufanya urudi kwa njia ile uliyoijia.’
Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.’
29 “Hii ndiyo itakuwa ishara kwako, ee Hezekia: “Mwaka huu utakula kile kiotacho chenyewe, na mwaka wa pili utakula kutoka machipukizi yake. Lakini katika mwaka wa tatu, panda na uvune, panda mashamba ya mizabibu na ule matunda yake.
“This will be the sign to you: This year, you will eat that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from that; and in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
30 Mara nyingine tena mabaki ya nyumba ya Yuda wataeneza mizizi chini na kuzaa matunda juu.
The remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
31 Kwa kuwa kutoka Yerusalemu watakuja mabaki, na kutoka Mlima Sayuni kundi la walionusurika. Wivu wa Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote ndio utatimiza jambo hili.
For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. The LORD’s zeal will perform this.
32 “Kwa hiyo hili ndilo asemalo Bwana kuhusu mfalme wa Ashuru: “Hataingia katika mji huu wala hatapiga mshale hapa. Hatakuja mbele yake akiwa na ngao, wala kupanga majeshi kuuzingira.
“Therefore the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there. He will not come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.
33 Kwa njia ile aliyoijia, ndiyo atakayorudi; hataingia katika mji huu, asema Bwana.
He will return the same way that he came, and he will not come to this city,’ says the LORD.
34 Nitaulinda mji huu na kuuokoa, kwa ajili yangu mwenyewe, na kwa ajili ya Daudi mtumishi wangu.”
‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.’”
35 Usiku ule, malaika wa Bwana akaenda, akawaua wanajeshi 185,000 katika kambi ya Waashuru. Wenzao walipoamka asubuhi yake, walikuta maiti kila mahali!
That night, the LORD’s angel went out and struck one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
36 Basi Senakeribu mfalme wa Ashuru akavunja kambi na kuondoka. Akarudi Ninawi na kukaa huko.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, went home, and lived at Nineveh.
37 Siku moja, alipokuwa akiabudu katika hekalu la mungu wake Nisroki, wanawe Adrameleki na Shareza wakamuua kwa upanga, nao wakakimbilia nchi ya Ararati. Naye Esar-Hadoni mwanawe akawa mfalme badala yake.
As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.
