< 2 Wafalme 19 >

1 Mfalme Hezekia aliposikia haya, akararua nguo zake na kuvaa nguo ya gunia, naye akaenda katika Hekalu la Bwana.
On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.
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.
And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah 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.
to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but 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.”
Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”
5 Maafisa wa Mfalme Hezekia walipofika kwa Isaya,
So the servants of King Hezekiah went 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.
who replied, “Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words 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 so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”
8 Jemadari wa jeshi aliposikia kwamba mfalme wa Ashuru ameondoka Lakishi, alirudi, akamkuta mfalme akipigana na Libna.
When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Basi Senakeribu akapata taarifa kwamba Tirhaka, Mkushi mfalme wa Misri, alikuwa anaenda kupigana naye. Basi akatuma tena wajumbe kwa Hezekia na neno hili:
Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 “Mwambieni Hezekia mfalme wa Yuda: Usikubali huyo Mungu unayemtumainia akudanganye wakati anaposema, ‘Yerusalemu haitatiwa mkononi mwa mfalme wa Ashuru.’
“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered 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?
Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared?
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?
Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
13 Yuko wapi mfalme wa Hamathi, mfalme wa Arpadi, mfalme wa mji wa Sefarvaimu, au wa Hena au wa Iva?”
Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
14 Hezekia akapokea barua kutoka kwa wale wajumbe, naye akaisoma. Kisha akapanda katika Hekalu la Bwana, akaikunjua mbele za Bwana.
So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out 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.
And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the 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, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
17 “Ni kweli, Ee Bwana, kwamba wafalme wa Ashuru wameyaangamiza mataifa haya na nchi zao.
Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste these 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.
They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.
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.”
And now, O LORD our God, please save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”
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 son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.
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 against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind 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 taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? 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.
Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest outposts, the densest of its forests.
24 Nimechimba visima katika nchi za kigeni na kunywa maji yake. Kwa nyayo za miguu yangu nimekausha vijito vyote vya Misri.”
I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
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 you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.
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, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.
27 “‘Lakini ninajua mahali ukaapo, kutoka kwako na kuingia kwako, na jinsi unavyoghadhibika dhidi yangu.
But I know your sitting down, your going out and 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 your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way 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.
And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
30 Mara nyingine tena mabaki ya nyumba ya Yuda wataeneza mizizi chini na kuzaa matunda juu.
And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.
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 a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish 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.
So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow into it. He will not come before it with a shield or build up a siege ramp against it.
33 Kwa njia ile aliyoijia, ndiyo atakayorudi; hataingia katika mji huu, asema Bwana.
He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city,’
34 Nitaulinda mji huu na kuuokoa, kwa ajili yangu mwenyewe, na kwa ajili ya Daudi mtumishi wangu.”
‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
35 Usiku ule, malaika wa Bwana akaenda, akawaua wanajeshi 185,000 katika kambi ya Waashuru. Wenzao walipoamka asubuhi yake, walikuta maiti kila mahali!
And that very night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
36 Basi Senakeribu mfalme wa Ashuru akavunja kambi na kuondoka. Akarudi Ninawi na kukaa huko.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
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.
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.

< 2 Wafalme 19 >