< Amosi 8 >
1 Hili ndilo alilonionyesha Bwana Mwenyezi katika maono: kikapu cha matunda yaliyoiva.
These things the Lord has revealed to me. And behold, a hook to draw down fruit.
2 Akaniuliza, “Amosi, unaona nini?” Nikajibu, “Kikapu chenye matunda yaliyoiva.” Ndipo Bwana akaniambia, “Wakati umewadia kwa watu wangu Israeli; sitawahurumia zaidi.”
And he said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A hook to draw down fruit.” And the Lord said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel. I will no longer pass through them.”
3 Bwana Mwenyezi asema, “Katika siku ile, nyimbo katika Hekalu zitageuka kuwa maombolezo. Miili mingi, mingi sana: itatupwa kila mahali! Kimya!”
And the hinges of the temple will creak in that day, says the Lord God. Many will die. Silence will be thrown away in all places.
4 Lisikieni hili, ninyi ambao mnawagandamiza wahitaji, na kuwaonea maskini wa nchi,
Hear this, you who crush the poor and who make those in need of land to do without.
5 mkisema, “Ni lini Mwezi Mwandamo utakapopita ili tupate kuuza nafaka, na Sabato itakwisha lini ili tuweze kuuza ngano?” Mkipunguza vipimo, na kuongeza bei, na kudanganya kwa mizani zisizo sawa,
You say, “When will the first day of the month be over, so we can sell our wares, and the Sabbath, so we can open the grain: in order that we may decrease the measure, and increase the price, and substitute deceitful scales,
6 mkiwanunua maskini kwa fedha, na wahitaji kwa jozi ya viatu, na mkiuza hata takataka za ngano pamoja na ngano.
in order that we may possess the destitute with money, and the poor for a pair of shoes, and may sell even the refuse of the grain?”
7 Bwana ameapa kwake mwenyewe, aliye Kiburi cha Yakobo: “Kamwe sitasahau chochote ambacho wamefanya.
The Lord has sworn by the arrogance of Jacob: I will not forget, even to the end, all their works.
8 “Je, nchi haitatetemeka kwa ajili ya hili, nao wote waishio ndani mwake hawataomboleza? Nchi yote itainuka kama Naili; itapanda na kushuka kama mto wa Misri.
Will not the earth shudder over this, and all its inhabitants mourn, and all rise up like a river, and be cast out, and flow away like the river of Egypt?
9 “Katika siku ile,” asema Bwana Mwenyezi, “Nitalifanya jua litue alasiri na kuifanya dunia iwe giza wakati wa mchana mwangavu.
And it will be in that day, says the Lord God, that the sun will decline at midday, and I will cause the earth to become dark on the day of light.
10 Nitageuza sikukuu zenu za kidini kuwa maombolezo, na kuimba kwenu kote kuwe kilio. Nitawafanya ninyi nyote mvae nguo ya gunia na kunyoa nywele zenu. Nitaufanya wakati ule uwe kama wa kuombolezea mwana wa pekee, na mwisho wake kama siku ya uchungu.
And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your hymns into lamentation. And I will put sackcloth over every one of your backs, and baldness on every head. And I will begin it like the mourning for an only-begotten son, and complete it like a bitter day.
11 “Siku zinakuja,” asema Bwana Mwenyezi, “wakati nitakapotuma njaa katika nchi yote: si njaa ya chakula wala kiu ya maji, lakini njaa ya kusikia maneno ya Bwana.
Behold, the days pass, says the Lord, and I will send a famine on the earth: not a famine of bread, nor of thirst for water, but for hearing the word of the Lord.
12 Wanaume watayumbayumba kutoka bahari hadi bahari na kutangatanga kutoka kaskazini mpaka mashariki, wakitafuta neno la Bwana, lakini hawatalipata.
And they will move even from sea to sea, and from the North all the way to the East. They will wander around seeking the word of the Lord, and they will not find it.
13 “Katika siku ile “wasichana wazuri na vijana wanaume wenye nguvu watazimia kwa sababu ya kiu.
In that day, beautiful virgins, and young men, will fail because of thirst.
14 Wale waapao kwa aibu ya Samaria, au kusema, ‘Hakika kama miungu yenu iishivyo, ee Dani,’ au ‘Hakika kama mungu wa Beer-Sheba aishivyo’: wataanguka, wala hawatasimama tena.”
They swear by the offense of Samaria, and they say, “As your God lives, Dan,” and “The way of Beer-sheba lives.” And they will fall, and they will not rise up any more.