< Amosi 8 >
1 Hili ndilo alilonionyesha Bwana Mwenyezi katika maono: kikapu cha matunda yaliyoiva.
Thus did Jehovah shew unto me; and behold, a basket of summer-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, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer-fruit. And Jehovah said unto me, The end is come upon my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more.
3 Bwana Mwenyezi asema, “Katika siku ile, nyimbo katika Hekalu zitageuka kuwa maombolezo. Miili mingi, mingi sana: itatupwa kila mahali! Kimya!”
And the songs of the palace shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah. The dead bodies shall be many; in every place they shall be cast forth. Silence!
4 Lisikieni hili, ninyi ambao mnawagandamiza wahitaji, na kuwaonea maskini wa nchi,
Hear this, ye that pant after the needy, even to cause to fail the poor of the land,
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,
saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat? making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances for deceit:
6 mkiwanunua maskini kwa fedha, na wahitaji kwa jozi ya viatu, na mkiuza hata takataka za ngano pamoja na ngano.
that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; and that we may sell the refuse of the wheat.
7 Bwana ameapa kwake mwenyewe, aliye Kiburi cha Yakobo: “Kamwe sitasahau chochote ambacho wamefanya.
Jehovah hath sworn by the glory of Jacob, Certainly I will never forget any of 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.
Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? And it shall wholly rise up like the Nile; and it shall surge and sink down, as 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 shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the land in the clear day.
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 songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only [son], and the end thereof as 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, days come, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I will send a famine in the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah.
12 Wanaume watayumbayumba kutoka bahari hadi bahari na kutangatanga kutoka kaskazini mpaka mashariki, wakitafuta neno la Bwana, lakini hawatalipata.
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.
13 “Katika siku ile “wasichana wazuri na vijana wanaume wenye nguvu watazimia kwa sababu ya kiu.
In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for 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 that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, [As] thy god, O Dan, liveth! and, [As] the way of Beer-sheba liveth! even they shall fall, and never rise up again.