Isaya 21
1 Neno kuhusu Jangwa kando ya Bahari: Kama upepo wa kisulisuli unaopita katika nchi hadi kusini, mshambuliaji anakuja kutoka jangwani, kutoka nchi inayotisha.
The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land.
2 Nimeonyeshwa maono ya kutisha: Msaliti anasaliti, mteka nyara anateka nyara. Elamu, shambulia! Umedi, izunguke kwa jeshi! Nitakomesha huzuni zote alizosababisha.
A grievous vision is declared to me. The treacherous man deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; attack! I have stopped all of Media’s sighing.
3 Katika hili mwili wangu umeteswa na maumivu, maumivu makali ya ghafula yamenishika, kama yale ya mwanamke mwenye utungu wa kuzaa. Nimeduwazwa na lile ninalolisikia, nimeshangazwa na lile ninaloliona.
Therefore my thighs are filled with anguish. Pains have seized me, like the pains of a woman in labour. I am in so much pain that I can’t hear. I am so dismayed that I can’t see.
4 Moyo wangu unababaika, woga unanifanya nitetemeke, gizagiza la jioni nililolitamani sana, limekuwa hofu kuu kwangu.
My heart flutters. Horror has frightened me. The twilight that I desired has been turned into trembling for me.
5 Wanaandaa meza, wanatandaza mazulia, wanakula, wanakunywa! Amkeni, enyi maafisa, zitieni ngao mafuta!
They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield!
6 Hili ndilo Bwana analoniambia: “Nenda, weka mlinzi, na atoe taarifa ya kile anachokiona.
For the Lord said to me, “Go, set a watchman. Let him declare what he sees.
7 Anapoona magari ya vita pamoja na kundi la farasi, wapanda punda au wapanda ngamia, na awe macho, awe macho kikamilifu.”
When he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with great attentiveness.”
8 Naye mlinzi alipaza sauti, “Mchana baada ya mchana, bwana wangu, ninasimama katika mnara wa ulinzi, kila usiku ninakaa mahali pangu nilipoamriwa.
He cried like a lion: “Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post.
9 Tazama, yuaja mtu anayepanda gari la vita pamoja na kundi la farasi. Naye anajibu: ‘Babeli umeanguka, umeanguka! Vinyago vyote vya miungu yake vimelala chini vikiwa vimevunjwa!’”
Behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs.” He answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground.
10 Ee watu wangu, mliopondwa kwenye sakafu ya kupuria, ninawaambia kile nilichokisikia kutoka kwa Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote, kutoka kwa Mungu wa Israeli.
You are my threshing, and the grain of my floor!” That which I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared to you.
11 Neno kuhusu Duma: Mtu fulani ananiita kutoka Seiri, “Mlinzi, usiku utaisha lini? Mlinzi, usiku utaisha lini?”
The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”
12 Mlinzi anajibu, “Asubuhi inakuja, lakini pia usiku. Kama ungeliuliza, basi uliza; bado na urudi tena.”
The watchman said, “The morning comes, and also the night. If you will enquire, enquire. Come back again.”
13 Neno kuhusu Arabia: Enyi misafara ya Wadedani, mnaopiga kambi katika vichaka vya Arabia,
The burden on Arabia. You will lodge in the thickets in Arabia, you caravans of Dedanites.
14 leteni maji kwa wenye kiu, ninyi mnaoishi Tema, leteni chakula kwa ajili ya wakimbizi.
They brought water to him who was thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Tema met the fugitives with their bread.
15 Wanaukimbia upanga, kutoka upanga uliochomolewa alani, kutoka upinde uliopindwa, na kutoka kwenye joto la vita.
For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle.
16 Hili ndilo Bwana analoniambia: “Katika muda wa mwaka mmoja, kama vile mtumishi aliyefungwa na mkataba angeihesabu, majivuno yote ya Kedari yatafikia mwisho.
For the Lord said to me, “Within a year, as a worker bound by contract would count it, all the glory of Kedar will fail,
17 Wanaume wavutao pinde walionusurika, mashujaa wa Kedari, watakuwa wachache.” Bwana, Mungu wa Israeli, amesema.
and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, will be few; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken it.”
