2 Petro 3
1 Wapenzi, huu ndio waraka wangu wa pili ninaowaandikia. Katika nyaraka hizi mbili ninajaribu kuziamsha nia zenu safi kwa mawazo makamilifu.
This, dear friends, is my second letter to you. In both of them I have tried, by appealing to your remembrance, to arouse your better feelings.
2 Nataka ninyi mkumbuke maneno yaliyosemwa zamani na manabii watakatifu na ile amri ya Bwana na Mwokozi mliyopewa kupitia kwa mitume wenu.
I want you to recall what was foretold by the holy prophets, as well as the command of our Lord and Savior given to you through your apostles.
3 Kwanza kabisa, ni lazima mfahamu ya kwamba siku za mwisho watakuja watu wenye dhihaka, wakidhihaki na kuzifuata tamaa zao mbaya.
First be assured of this, that, as the age draws to an end, scoffers, led by their own passions,
4 Watasema, “Iko wapi ile ahadi ya kuja kwake? Tangu baba zetu walipofariki, kila kitu kinaendelea kama kilivyokuwa tangu mwanzo wa kuumbwa.”
will come and ask scoffingly – ‘Where is his promised coming? Ever since our ancestors passed to their rest, everything remains just as it was when the world was first created!’
5 Lakini wao kwa makusudi hupuuza ukweli huu, ya kwamba kwa neno la Mungu mbingu zilikuwepo tangu zamani, nayo dunia ilifanyizwa kutoka ndani ya maji na kwa maji.
For they willfully shut their eyes to the fact that long ago the heavens existed; and the earth, also – formed out of water and by the action of water, by the fiat of God;
6 Ulimwengu wa wakati ule uligharikishwa kwa hayo maji na kuangamizwa.
and that by the same means the world which then existed was destroyed in a deluge of water.
7 Lakini kwa neno lilo hilo, mbingu za sasa na dunia zimewekwa akiba kwa ajili ya moto, zikihifadhiwa hadi siku ile ya hukumu na ya kuangamizwa kwa watu wasiomcha Mungu.
But the present heavens and earth, by the same fiat, have been reserved for fire, and are being kept for the day of the judgment and destruction of the godless.
8 Lakini wapenzi, msisahau neno hili: kwamba kwa Bwana, siku moja ni kama miaka elfu, na miaka elfu ni kama siku moja.
But you, dear friends, must never shut your eyes to the fact that, to the Lord, one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 Bwana hakawii kuitimiza ahadi yake, kama watu wengine wanavyokudhani kukawia. Badala yake, yeye anawavumilia ninyi, maana hataki mtu yeyote aangamie, bali kila mtu afikilie toba.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness; but he is forbearing with you, as it is not his will that any of you should perish, but that all should be brought to repentance.
10 Lakini siku ya Bwana itakuja kama mwizi. Ndipo mbingu zitatoweka kwa kishindo kikuu; navyo vitu vya asili vitateketezwa kwa moto, nayo dunia na kila kitu kilichomo ndani yake kitaunguzwa.
The day of the Lord will come like a thief; and on that day the heavens will pass away with a crash, the elements will be burnt up and dissolved, and the earth and all that is in it will be disclosed.
11 Kwa kuwa vitu vyote vitaharibiwa namna hii, je, ninyi imewapasa kuwa watu wa namna gani? Inawapasa kuishi maisha matakatifu na ya kumcha Mungu,
Now, since all these things are in the process of dissolution, think what you yourselves ought to be – what holy and pious lives you ought to lead,
12 mkingojea na kuhimiza kuja kwa hiyo siku ya Mungu. Siku hiyo italeta mbingu kuchomwa moto na kutoweka, na vitu vya asili vitayeyuka kwa moto.
while you wait for the coming of the day of God and strive to make it come soon. At its coming the heavens will be dissolved in fire, and the elements melted by heat,
13 Lakini kufuatana na ahadi yake, sisi tunatazamia mbingu mpya na dunia mpya, ambayo haki hukaa ndani yake.
but we look for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will have its home, in fulfillment of the promise of God.
14 Kwa sababu hii, wapenzi, kwa kuwa mnatazamia mambo haya, fanyeni bidii ili awakute katika amani, bila mawaa wala dosari.
Therefore, dear friends, in expectation of these things, make every effort to be found by him spotless, blameless, and at peace.
15 Hesabuni uvumilivu wa Bwana kuwa ni wokovu, kama vile ndugu yetu mpenzi Paulo alivyowaandikia kwa hekima ile aliyopewa na Mungu.
Regard our Lord’s forbearance as your one hope of salvation. This is what our dear friend Paul wrote to you, with the wisdom that God gave him.
16 Huandika vivyo hivyo katika nyaraka zake zote, akizungumzia ndani yake mambo haya. Katika nyaraka zake kuna mambo mengine ambayo ni vigumu kuyaelewa, ambayo watu wajinga na wasio thabiti huyapotosha kwa maangamizi yao wenyewe, kama wapotoshavyo pia Maandiko mengine.
It is the same in all his letters, when he speaks in them about these subjects. There are some things in them difficult to understand, which untaught and weak people distort, just as they do all other writings, to their own ruin.
17 Basi, ninyi wapenzi, kwa kuwa mmekwisha kujua mambo haya, jilindeni msije mkachukuliwa na kosa la watu hao waasi na kuanguka kutoka kwenye uthabiti wenu.
You must, therefore, dear friends, now that you know this beforehand, be on your guard against being led away by the errors of reckless people, and so lapsing from your present steadfastness;
The Great Flood
