Mwanzo 28
1 Basi Isaki akamwita Yakobo, akambariki na akamwamuru, akisema, “Usioe mwanamke wa Kikanaani.
And Isaac calls to Jacob, and blesses him, and commands him, and says to him, “You must not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;
2 Nenda mara moja mpaka Padan-Aramu, kwenye nyumba ya Bethueli baba wa mama yako. Uchukue mke kati ya binti za Labani ambaye ni ndugu wa mama yako.
rise, go to Padan-Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of your mother’s brother Laban;
3 Mungu Mwenyezi na akubariki uwe na uzao uongezeke idadi yako upate kuwa jamii kubwa ya watu.
and God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and you have become an assembly of peoples;
4 Na akupe wewe na uzao wako baraka aliyopewa Abrahamu, upate kumiliki nchi unayoishi sasa kama mgeni, nchi ambayo Mungu alimpa Abrahamu.”
and He gives to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you, to cause you to possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.”
5 Kisha Isaki akamuaga Yakobo, naye akaenda Padan-Aramu, kwa Labani mwana wa Bethueli Mwaramu, ndugu wa Rebeka, aliyekuwa mama wa Yakobo na Esau.
And Isaac sends Jacob away, and he goes to Padan-Aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, brother of Rebekah, mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Sasa Esau akajua kuwa Isaki amembariki Yakobo na kumtuma kwenda Padan-Aramu ili achukue mke huko na kwamba alipombariki alimwamuru akisema, “Usioe mke katika binti za Wakanaani,”
And Esau sees that Isaac has blessed Jacob, and has sent him to Padan-Aram to take to himself from there a wife—in his blessing him that he lays a charge on him, saying, You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan—
7 tena kwamba Yakobo amewatii baba yake na mama yake naye amekwenda Padan-Aramu.
that Jacob listens to his father and to his mother, and goes to Padan-Aram—
8 Esau akatambua jinsi ambavyo baba yake Isaki anavyowachukia binti za Wakanaani.
and Esau sees that the daughters of Canaan are evil in the eyes of his father Isaac,
9 Ndipo Esau akaenda kwa Ishmaeli, akamwoa Mahalati, ndugu wa Nebayothi na binti wa Ishmaeli mwana wa Abrahamu, kuongezea wale wake wengine aliokuwa nao.
and Esau goes to Ishmael, and takes Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, sister of Nebajoth, to his wives, to himself, for a wife.
10 Yakobo akatoka Beer-Sheba kwenda Harani.
And Jacob goes out from Beer-Sheba, and goes toward Haran,
11 Alipofika mahali fulani, akalala hapo kwa sababu jua lilikuwa limetua. Akachukua jiwe moja la mahali pale, akaliweka chini ya kichwa chake akajinyoosha akalala usingizi.
and he touches at a [certain] place, and lodges there, for the sun has gone in, and he takes of the stones of the place, and makes [them] his pillows, and lies down in that place.
12 Akaota ndoto ambayo aliona ngazi imesimamishwa juu ya ardhi, ncha yake ikiwa imefika mbinguni na malaika wa Mungu wakawa wakipanda na kushuka juu yake.
And he dreams, and behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and its head is touching the heavens; and behold, messengers of God are going up and coming down by it;
13 Juu yake alisimama Bwana, akasema, “Mimi ni Bwana, Mungu wa baba yako Abrahamu na Mungu wa Isaki. Nchi ambayo umelala juu yake, nitakupa wewe na uzao wako.
and behold, YHWH is standing on it, and He says, “I [am] YHWH, God of your father Abraham, and God of Isaac; the land on which you are lying, to you I give it, and to your seed;
14 Uzao wako utakuwa kama mavumbi ya nchi, nawe utaenea upande wa magharibi na mashariki, kaskazini na kusini. Kupitia wewe na uzao wako mataifa yote ya duniani yatabarikiwa.
and your seed has been as the dust of the land, and you have broken forth westward, and eastward, and northward, and southward, and all families of the ground have been blessed in you and in your seed.
15 Niko pamoja nawe nami nitakulinda kila uendako na nitakurudisha katika nchi hii. Sitakuacha mpaka nitakapofanya hayo niliyokuahidi.”
And behold, I [am] with you, and have kept you wherever you go, and have caused you to return to this ground; for I do not leave you until I have surely done that which I have spoken to you.”
16 Yakobo alipoamka kutoka usingizini, akawaza, “Hakika Bwana yuko mahali hapa, wala mimi sikujua.”
And Jacob awakens out of his sleep and says, “Surely YHWH is in this place, and I did not know”;
17 Kwa hiyo akaogopa, akasema, “Mahali hapa panatisha kama nini! Bila shaka hapa ndipo nyumba ya Mungu ilipo, hili ni lango la mbinguni.”
and he fears and says, “How fearful [is] this place; this is nothing but a house of God, and this a gate of the heavens.”
18 Asubuhi yake na mapema, Yakobo akalichukua lile jiwe aliloliweka chini ya kichwa chake, akalisimamisha kama nguzo na kumimina mafuta juu yake.
And Jacob rises early in the morning, and takes the stone which he has made his pillows, and makes it a standing pillar, and pours oil on its top,
19 Mahali pale akapaita Betheli, ingawa mji ule hapo kwanza uliitwa Luzu.
and he calls the name of that place Bethel, [house of God, ] and yet, Luz [is] the name of the city at the first.
20 Kisha Yakobo akaweka nadhiri, akisema, “Kama Mungu akiwa pamoja nami na kunilinda katika safari niendayo, akinipa chakula nile na nguo nivae
And Jacob vows a vow, saying, “Seeing God is with me, and has kept me in this way which I am going, and has given to me bread to eat, and a garment to put on—
21 na nirudi salama nyumbani kwa baba yangu, hapo ndipo Bwana atakuwa Mungu wangu,
when I have turned back in peace to the house of my father, and YHWH has become my God,
22 nalo jiwe hili nililolisimamisha kama nguzo litakuwa nyumba ya Mungu na katika yote utakayonipa nitakutolea wewe sehemu ya kumi.”
then this stone which I have made a standing pillar is a house of God, and all that You give to me—tithing I tithe to You.”
