Isaya 17
1 Neno kuhusu Dameski: “Tazama, Dameski haitakuwa tena mji bali itakuwa lundo la magofu.
The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
2 Miji ya Aroeri itaachwa na itaachiwa mifugo ambayo italala huko, bila yeyote wa kuyaogopesha.
The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks; and they shall lie down and there shall be none to make them afraid.
3 Mji wenye ngome utatoweka kutoka Efraimu, nao uweza wa ufalme kutoka Dameski; mabaki ya Aramu yatakuwa kama utukufu wa Waisraeli,” asema Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote.
The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith Jehovah of hosts.
4 “Katika siku ile utukufu wa Yakobo utafifia, unono wa mwili wake utadhoofika.
And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall become lean.
5 Itakuwa kama mvunaji akusanyavyo nafaka na kuvuna nafaka kwa mikono yake, kama wakati mtu aokotapo masazo ya masuke katika Bonde la Warefai.
And it shall be as when the reaper gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; yea, it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.
6 Hata hivyo baadhi ya masazo yatabaki, kama vile mti wa mzeituni unavyopigwa, kukiachwa zeituni mbili au tatu juu ya matawi kileleni, nne au tano katika matawi yazaayo sana,” asema Bwana, Mungu wa Israeli.
And a gleaning shall be left in it, as at the shaking of an olive-tree: two, three berries above, in the tree-top; four, five in its fruitful boughs, saith Jehovah, the God of Israel.
7 Katika siku ile watu watamwangalia Muumba wao, na kuelekeza macho yao kwa yule Aliye Mtakatifu wa Israeli.
In that day shall man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have regard to the Holy One of Israel.
8 Hawataziangalia tena madhabahu, kazi za mikono yao, nao hawataheshimu nguzo za Ashera, na madhabahu za kufukizia uvumba zilizofanywa kwa mikono yao.
And he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, nor have regard to what his fingers have made, neither the Asherahs nor the sun-images.
9 Katika siku ile miji yao iliyo imara, ambayo waliihama kwa sababu ya Waisraeli, itakuwa kama mahali palipoachwa pa vichaka na magugu. Nayo yote itakuwa ukiwa.
In that day shall his strong cities be as the forsaken tract in the woodland, and the mountain-top which they forsook before the children of Israel; and there shall be desolation.
10 Mmemsahau Mungu Mwokozi wenu, hamkumkumbuka Mwamba aliye ngome yenu. Kwa hiyo, hata ingawa mlipandikiza mimea iliyo mizuri sana na kuotesha mizabibu ya kigeni,
For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength; therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plantations, and shalt set them with foreign slips:
11 hata kama siku ile unapoipandikiza, unaifanya iote na asubuhi ile ile unayoipanda, unaifanya ichipue, hata hivyo mavuno yatakuwa kama si kitu katika siku ile ya ugonjwa na maumivu yasiyoponyeka.
in the day of thy planting wilt thou make [them] to grow, and on the morrow wilt thou make thy seed to flourish; [but] the harvest will flee in the day of taking possession, and the sorrow will be incurable.
12 Lo! Ghadhabu ya mataifa mengi, wanaghadhibika kama bahari iliyochafuka! Lo! Makelele ya mataifa wanavuma kama ngurumo za maji mengi!
Ha! a tumult of many peoples! they make a noise as the noise of the seas; — and the rushing of nations! they rush as the rushing of mighty waters.
13 Ingawa mataifa yanavuma kama ngurumo za maji yanayofanya mawimbi, wakati anapoyakemea yanakimbia mbali, yanafukuzwa mbele ya upepo kama makapi juu ya milima, kama jani livingirishwapo na dhoruba.
The nations rush as the rushing of many waters; but he will rebuke them, and they shall flee far away, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a whirling [of dust] before the whirlwind:
14 Wakati wa jioni, hofu ya ghafula! Kabla ya asubuhi, wametoweka! Hili ndilo fungu la wale wanaotupora, fungu la wale wanaotunyangʼanya mali zetu.
behold, at eventide, trouble; before the morning they are not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
