Isaya 36
1 Katika mwaka wa kumi na nne wa utawala wa Mfalme Hezekia, Senakeribu mfalme wa Ashuru akaishambulia miji yote ya Yuda yenye ngome na kuiteka.
In the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attacked and conquered all the fortified towns of Judah.
2 Kisha mfalme wa Ashuru akamtuma jemadari wa jeshi pamoja na jeshi kubwa kutoka Lakishi hadi kwa Mfalme Hezekia huko Yerusalemu. Jemadari wa jeshi akasimama kwenye mfereji wa Bwawa la Juu, lililojengwa katika barabara iendayo kwenye Uwanja wa Dobi.
The king of Assyria sent his army general, along with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. He stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer's Field.
3 Eliakimu mwana wa Hilkia aliyekuwa msimamizi wa jumba la kifalme, Shebna aliyekuwa katibu, na Yoa mwana wa Asafu mwandishi wakamwendea.
Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went out to speak with him.
4 Jemadari wa jeshi akawaambia, “Mwambieni Hezekia, “‘Hili ndilo asemalo mfalme mkuu, mfalme wa Ashuru: Ni wapi unapoweka hili tumaini lako?
The Assyrian army general said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What are you trusting in that gives you such confidence?
5 Unasema mnayo mikakati na nguvu za kijeshi, lakini unasema maneno matupu tu. Je, wewe unamtegemea nani, hata ukaniasi mimi?
You say you have a strategy and are ready for war, but these are empty words. Who are you relying on, now that you have rebelled against me?
6 Tazama sasa, unaitegemea Misri, fimbo ile ya mwanzi uliopasuka, ambayo huuchoma na kuujeruhi mkono wa mtu akiiegemea! Hivyo ndivyo alivyo Farao mfalme wa Misri, kwa wote wanaomtegemea.
Now look! You're trusting in Egypt, a walking stick that's like a broken reed that will cut the hand of anyone leaning on it. That's what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is like to everyone who trusts in him.
7 Nawe kama ukiniambia, “Tunamtumainia Bwana Mungu wetu”: je, siyo yeye ambaye Hezekia aliondoa mahali pake pa juu pa kuabudia miungu na madhabahu zake, akiwaambia Yuda na Yerusalemu, “Ni lazima mwabudu mbele ya madhabahu haya”?
If you tell me, ‘We're trusting in the Lord our God,’ well didn't Hezekiah remove his high places and his altars, telling Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You have to worship at this altar in Jerusalem’?
8 “‘Njooni sasa, fanyeni mapatano na bwana wangu, mfalme wa Ashuru: Nitakupa farasi elfu mbili, kama unaweza kuwapandisha waendesha farasi juu yao!
Why don't you accept a challenge from my master, the king of Assyria? He says, I'll give you two thousand horses, if you can find enough riders for them!
9 Utawezaje kumzuia hata afisa mmoja aliye mdogo kati ya maafisa wa bwana wangu, ijapo unategemea Misri kwa magari ya vita na wapanda farasi?
How could you defeat even a single officer in charge of the weakest of my master's men when you're trusting in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
10 Zaidi ya hayo, je, nimekuja kushambulia na kuangamiza nchi hii bila Bwana? Bwana mwenyewe ndiye aliniambia niishambulie nchi hii na kuiangamiza.’”
More than that—would I have come to attack this place without the Lord's encouragement? It was the Lord himself who told me, ‘Go and attack this land and destroy it.’”
11 Ndipo Eliakimu, Shebna na Yoa wakamwambia yule jemadari wa jeshi, “Tafadhali zungumza na watumishi wako kwa lugha ya Kiaramu, kwa kuwa tunaifahamu. Usiseme nasi kwa Kiebrania watu walioko juu ya ukuta wakiwa wanasikia.”
Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah, said to the army general, “Please speak to us, your servants, in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew while the people on the wall are listening.”
12 Lakini yule jemadari wa jeshi akajibu, “Je, bwana wangu amenituma kutoa ujumbe huu kwa bwana wenu na kwenu tu? Je, hakunituma pia kwa watu walioketi ukutani, ambao, kama ninyi, itawabidi kula mavi yao na kunywa mikojo yao wenyewe?”
But the army general replied, “Did my master only send me to say these things to your master and to you, and not to the people sitting on the wall? They too, just like you, are going to have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine!”
13 Kisha yule jemadari wa jeshi akasimama na kuita kwa lugha ya Kiebrania, akasema: “Sikieni maneno ya mfalme mkuu, mfalme wa Ashuru!
Then the army general shouted out in Hebrew, “Listen to this from the great king, the king of Assyria!
14 Hili ndilo asemalo mfalme: Msikubali Hezekia awadanganye. Hawezi kuwaokoa!
This is what the king says: Don't let Hezekiah trick you! He can't save you!
15 Msikubali Hezekia awashawishi kumtumaini Bwana kwa kuwaambia, ‘Hakika Bwana atatuokoa. Mji huu hautaangukia mikononi mwa mfalme wa Ashuru.’
Don't believe Hezekiah when he tells you to trust in the Lord, saying, ‘I'm certain the Lord will save us. This city will never fall into the hands of the king of Assyria.’
16 “Msimsikilize Hezekia. Hili ndilo mfalme wa Ashuru asemalo: Fanyeni amani nami na mje kwangu. Kisha kila mmoja wenu atakula kutoka kwa mzabibu wake na mtini wake mwenyewe, na kunywa maji kutoka kisima chake mwenyewe,
Don't listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king says: Make a peace treaty with me and surrender to me. That way everyone will eat from their own vine and their own fig tree, and drink water from their own well!
17 mpaka nije nikawapeleke katika nchi iliyo kama nchi yenu wenyewe, nchi ya nafaka na divai mpya, nchi ya mkate na ya mashamba ya mizabibu.
I will come and take you to a land that's like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18 “Msikubali Hezekia awapotoshe asemapo, ‘Bwana atatuokoa.’ Je, yuko mungu wa taifa lolote aliyewahi kuokoa nchi yake kutoka mkononi mwa mfalme wa Ashuru?
But don't let Hezekiah trick you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have any of the gods of any nation ever saved their land from the power of the king of Assyria?
19 Iko wapi miungu ya Hamathi na ya Arpadi? Iko wapi miungu ya Sefarvaimu? Je, imeokoa Samaria kutoka mkononi mwangu?
Where were the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where were the gods of Sepharvaim? Were they able to save Samaria from me?
20 Ni yupi miongoni mwa miungu yote ya nchi hizi ameweza kuokoa nchi yake mkononi mwangu? Inawezekanaje basi Bwana aiokoe Yerusalemu mkononi mwangu?”
Which one of all the gods of these countries has saved their land from me? How then could the Lord save Jerusalem from me?”
21 Lakini wale watu wakakaa kimya, wala hawakujibu lolote, kwa kuwa mfalme alikuwa amewaamuru, “Msimjibu lolote.”
But the people remained silent and didn't say anything, for Hezekiah had given the order, “Don't answer him.”
22 Kisha Eliakimu mwana wa Hilkia msimamizi wa jumba la kifalme, Shebna katibu, na Yoa mwana wa Asafu, mwandishi wakamwendea Hezekia, nguo zao zikiwa zimeraruliwa, na kumwambia yale jemadari wa jeshi aliyoyasema.
Then Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebna the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they told him what the Assyrian army general had said.
