Amosi 8
1 Hili ndilo alilonionyesha Bwana Mwenyezi katika maono: kikapu cha matunda yaliyoiva.
The Lord God showed me this: 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.”
‘What do you see, Amos?’ he asked. I replied, ‘A basket of ripe summer fruit.’ Then the Lord said to me: The time is ripe for my people Israel, I will no longer overlook their crimes.
3 Bwana Mwenyezi asema, “Katika siku ile, nyimbo katika Hekalu zitageuka kuwa maombolezo. Miili mingi, mingi sana: itatupwa kila mahali! Kimya!”
The singing women in the palace will howl on that day, says the Lord: Corpses everywhere, thrown out in silence.
4 Lisikieni hili, ninyi ambao mnawagandamiza wahitaji, na kuwaonea maskini wa nchi,
Listen to this, you who trample on the needy, who oppress the poor of the earth,
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 feast of the new moon be over so that we may sell grain? And the sabbath ended so that we may offer wheat for sale? Reducing the measure and increasing the price, cheating with false scales,
6 mkiwanunua maskini kwa fedha, na wahitaji kwa jozi ya viatu, na mkiuza hata takataka za ngano pamoja na ngano.
mixing the sweepings in with the wheat. Then we can buy the poor for money, the needy for a pair of shoes.
7 Bwana ameapa kwake mwenyewe, aliye Kiburi cha Yakobo: “Kamwe sitasahau chochote ambacho wamefanya.
Now the Lord has taken an oath by the Pride of Jacob: I will never forget all their deeds!
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.
Because of this won’t the land quake, and all its inhabitants mourn? Won’t the whole of it rise like the Nile, churn and subside like the Nile in Egypt?
9 “Katika siku ile,” asema Bwana Mwenyezi, “Nitalifanya jua litue alasiri na kuifanya dunia iwe giza wakati wa mchana mwangavu.
On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun set at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
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.
I will turn your feasts into mourning, all your songs into dirges. I will cause you to dress in sackcloth, every head shaved. I will make you mourn like you have lost your only son, all that happens will end in bitterness.
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.
The day is coming, says the Lord God, when I will send hunger in the land. Not a famine of bread or thirst for water, but for hearing the message of the Lord.
12 Wanaume watayumbayumba kutoka bahari hadi bahari na kutangatanga kutoka kaskazini mpaka mashariki, wakitafuta neno la Bwana, lakini hawatalipata.
Then they will wander from sea to sea, from the north to the east, to seek a message from the Lord, but 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 girls and strong young men will faint from 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.”
Those who take oaths by the shameful idol of Samaria, who swear, “As surely as your God lives, O Dan!” and, “By the sacred way to Beer-sheba!” – they will fall and never rise again.
