< Isaya 37 >
1 Mfalme Hezekia aliposikia haya, akararua nguo zake na kuvaa nguo ya gunia, naye akaenda katika Hekalu la Bwana.
And it comes to pass, at King Hezekiah’s hearing, that he tears his garments, and covers himself with sackcloth, and enters the house of YHWH,
2 Akawatuma Eliakimu msimamizi wa nyumba ya mfalme, Shebna mwandishi, na viongozi wa makuhani, wote wakiwa wamevaa nguo za magunia, waende kwa nabii Isaya mwana wa Amozi.
and sends Eliakim, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and [the] elderly of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, to Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet,
3 Wakamwambia, “Hili ndilo asemalo Hezekia: Siku hii ni siku ya dhiki, ya kukaripiwa na ya aibu, kama wakati watoto wanapofikia karibu kuzaliwa na kumbe hakuna nguvu ya kuwazaa.
and they say to him, “Thus said Hezekiah: A day of distress, and rebuke, and despising, [is] this day; for sons have come to the birth, and there is not power to bear.
4 Yamkini Bwana, Mungu wako atayasikia maneno ya jemadari wa jeshi, ambaye bwana wake, mfalme wa Ashuru, amemtuma kumdhihaki Mungu aliye hai, tena kwamba atamkemea kwa maneno ambayo Bwana, Mungu wako ameyasikia. Kwa hiyo omba kwa ajili ya mabaki ambao bado wako.”
It may be your God YHWH hears the words of Rabshakeh with which the king of Asshur his lord has sent him to reproach the living God, and has decided concerning the words that your God YHWH has heard, and you have lifted up prayer for the remnant that is found.”
5 Maafisa wa Mfalme Hezekia walipofika kwa Isaya,
And the servants of King Hezekiah come to Isaiah,
6 Isaya akawaambia, “Mwambieni bwana wenu, ‘Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana: Usiogope kwa hayo uliyoyasikia, yale maneno ambayo watumishi wa mfalme wa Ashuru wamenitukana nayo.
and Isaiah says to them, “Thus you say to your lord, Thus said YHWH: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Asshur have reviled Me.
7 Sikiliza! Nitatia roho fulani ndani yake ili kwamba atakaposikia taarifa fulani, atarudi nchi yake mwenyewe, nami huko nitafanya auawe kwa upanga.’”
Behold, I am giving a spirit in him, and he has heard a report, and has turned back to his land, and I have caused him to fall by the sword in his land.”
8 Jemadari wa jeshi aliposikia kwamba mfalme wa Ashuru ameondoka Lakishi, alirudi, akamkuta mfalme akipigana na Libna.
And Rabshakeh turns back and finds the king of Asshur fighting against Libnah, for he has heard that he has journeyed from Lachish.
9 Basi Senakeribu akapata taarifa kwamba Tirhaka, Mkushi mfalme wa Misri, alikuwa anaenda kupigana naye. Aliposikia jambo hili akatuma wajumbe kwa Hezekia na neno hili:
And he hears concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, saying, “He has come out to fight with you”; and he hears, and sends messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 “Mwambieni Hezekia mfalme wa Yuda: Usikubali huyo Mungu unayemtumainia akudanganye wakati anaposema, ‘Yerusalemu haitatiwa mkononi mwa mfalme wa Ashuru.’
“Thus you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Do not let your God in whom you are trusting lift you up, saying, Jerusalem is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur.
11 Hakika umesikia yale ambayo wafalme wa Ashuru wametenda kwa nchi zote, wakiwaangamiza kabisa. Je, wewe utaokolewa?
Behold, you have heard that which the kings of Asshur have done to all the lands—to devote them—and you are delivered!
12 Je, miungu ya mataifa ambayo yaliangamizwa na baba zangu iliweza kuwaokoa? Yaani miungu ya Gozani, Harani, Resefu, na ya watu wa Edeni waliokuwa Telasari?
Did the gods of the nations deliver them whom my fathers destroyed—Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, who [are] in Telassar?
13 Yuko wapi mfalme wa Hamathi, mfalme wa Arpadi, mfalme wa mji wa Sefarvaimu, au wa Hena au wa Iva?”
Where [is] the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”
14 Hezekia akapokea barua kutoka kwa wale wajumbe naye akaisoma. Kisha akapanda katika Hekalu la Bwana, akaikunjua mbele za Bwana.
And Hezekiah takes the letters out of the hand of the messengers, and reads them, and Hezekiah goes up to the house of YHWH, and Hezekiah spreads it before YHWH.
15 Naye Hezekia akamwomba Bwana akisema:
And Hezekiah prays to YHWH, saying,
16 “Ee Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote, Mungu wa Israeli, uketiye juu ya kiti cha enzi kati ya makerubi, wewe peke yako ndiwe Mungu juu ya falme zote za dunia. Wewe umeumba mbingu na nchi.
“YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, inhabiting the cherubim, You [are] God Himself—You alone—to all kingdoms of the earth, You have made the heavens and the earth.
17 Tega sikio, Ee Bwana, usikie; fungua macho yako, Ee Bwana, uone; sikiliza maneno yote ambayo Senakeribu ametuma kumtukana Mungu aliye hai.
Incline, O YHWH, Your ear, and hear; open, O YHWH, Your eyes and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to reproach the living God.
18 “Ni kweli, Ee Bwana, kwamba wafalme wa Ashuru wameyaangamiza mataifa haya yote pamoja na nchi zao.
Truly, O YHWH, kings of Asshur have laid waste all the lands and their land,
19 Wameitupa miungu yao kwenye moto na kuiangamiza, kwa kuwa haikuwa miungu, bali miti na mawe tu, iliyotengenezwa kwa mikono ya wanadamu.
so as to put their gods into fire—for they [are] no gods, but work of the hands of man, wood and stone—and they destroy them.
20 Sasa basi, Ee Bwana Mungu wetu, tuokoe kutoka mkononi mwake, ili kwamba falme zote duniani zipate kujua kwamba wewe peke yako, Ee Bwana, ndiwe Mungu.”
And now, our God YHWH, save us from his hand, and all kingdoms of the earth know that You [are] YHWH, You alone.”
21 Kisha Isaya mwana wa Amozi akapeleka ujumbe kwa Hezekia, akasema: “Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana, Mungu wa Israeli: Kwa sababu umeniomba kuhusu Senakeribu mfalme wa Ashuru,
And Isaiah son of Amoz sends to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: That which you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Asshur—
22 hili ndilo neno ambalo Bwana amelisema dhidi yake: “Bikira binti Sayuni anakudharau na kukudhihaki. Binti Yerusalemu anatikisa kichwa chake unapokimbia.
this [is] the word that YHWH spoke concerning him: Trampled on you, laughed at you, Has the virgin daughter of Zion, The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken the head behind you.
23 Ni nani uliyemtukana na kumkufuru? Ni nani uliyeinua sauti yako dhidi yake, na kumwinulia macho yako kwa kiburi? Ni dhidi ya yule Aliye Mtakatifu wa Israeli!
Whom have you reproached and reviled? And against whom—lifted up the voice? Indeed, you lift up your eyes on high Against the Holy One of Israel.
24 Kupitia kwa wajumbe wako umelundika matukano juu ya Bwana. Nawe umesema, ‘Kwa magari yangu mengi ya vita, nimepanda juu ya vilele vya milima, vilele vya juu sana katika Lebanoni. Nami nimeiangusha mierezi yake mirefu, misunobari yake iliyo bora sana. Nimefikia sehemu zake zilizoinuka juu sana, misitu yake iliyo mizuri sana.
By the hand of your servants You have reviled the Lord, and say: In the multitude of my chariots I have come up to a high place of hills, The sides of Lebanon, And I cut down the height of its cedars, The choice of its firs, And I enter the high place of its extremity, The forest of its Carmel.
25 Nimechimba visima katika nchi za kigeni na kunywa maji yake. Kwa nyayo za miguu yangu nimekausha vijito vyote vya Misri.’
I have dug and drunk waters, And I dry up with the sole of my steps All floods of a bulwark.
26 “Je, hujasikia? Zamani sana niliamuru hili. Siku za kale nilipanga hili; sasa nimelifanya litokee, kwamba umegeuza miji yenye ngome kuwa malundo ya mawe.
Have you not heard from afar [that] I did it, From days of old—that I formed it? Now I have brought it in, And it is to make desolate, Ruinous heaps—fortified cities,
27 Watu wa miji hiyo wameishiwa nguvu, wanavunjika mioyo na kuaibishwa. Wao ni kama mimea katika shamba, kama machipukizi mororo ya kijani, kama majani yachipuayo juu ya paa la nyumba, ambayo hukauka kabla ya kukua.
And their inhabitants are feeble-handed, They were broken down, and are dried up. They have been the herb of the field, And the greenness of the tender grass, Grass of the roofs, And blasted grain, before it has risen up.
28 “Lakini ninajua mahali ukaapo, kutoka kwako na kuingia kwako, na jinsi unavyoghadhibika dhidi yangu.
And your sitting down, and your going out, And your coming in, I have known, And your anger toward Me.
29 Kwa sababu unaghadhibika na ufidhuli dhidi yangu, na kwa sababu ufidhuli wako umefika masikioni mwangu, nitaweka ndoana yangu puani mwako na hatamu yangu kinywani mwako, nami nitakufanya urudi kwa njia ile uliyoijia.
Because of your anger toward Me, And your noise—it came up into My ears, I have put My hook in your nose, And My bridle in your lips, And I have caused you to turn back In the way in which you came.
30 “Hii ndiyo itakuwa ishara kwako, ee Hezekia: “Mwaka huu utakula kile kiotacho chenyewe, na mwaka wa pili utakula kutoka machipukizi yake. Lakini katika mwaka wa tatu panda na uvune, panda mashamba ya mizabibu na ule matunda yake.
And this [is] the sign to you, Self-sown grain [is] food of the year, And in the second year the spontaneous growth, And in the third year, sow and reap, And plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
31 Mara nyingine tena mabaki ya nyumba ya Yuda wataeneza mizizi chini na kuzaa matunda juu.
And it has continued—The escaped of the house of Judah that has been left—To take root beneath, And it has made fruit upward.
32 Kwa kuwa kutoka Yerusalemu watakuja mabaki, na kutoka Mlima Sayuni kundi la walionusurika. Wivu wa Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote, ndio utatimiza jambo hili.
For a remnant goes forth from Jerusalem, And an escape from Mount Zion, The zeal of YHWH of Hosts does this.
33 “Kwa hiyo hili ndilo asemalo Bwana kuhusu mfalme wa Ashuru: “Hataingia katika mji huu wala hatapiga mshale hapa. Hatakuja mbele yake na ngao wala kupanga majeshi kuuzingira.
Therefore, thus said YHWH, Concerning the king of Asshur: He does not come into this city, Nor does he shoot an arrow there, Nor does he come before it [with] shield, Nor does he pour out a mound against it.
34 Kwa njia ile aliyoijia ndiyo atakayorudi; hataingia katika mji huu,” asema Bwana.
In the way that he came, in it he turns back, And to this city he does not come in, A declaration of YHWH,
35 “Nitaulinda mji huu na kuuokoa, kwa ajili yangu mwenyewe, na kwa ajili ya Daudi mtumishi wangu!”
And I have covered over this city, To save it, for My own sake, And for the sake of My servant David.”
36 Ndipo malaika wa Bwana akaenda, akawaua wanajeshi 185,000 katika kambi ya Waashuru. Wenzao walipoamka asubuhi yake, walikuta maiti kila mahali!
And a messenger of YHWH goes out, and strikes in the camp of Asshur one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and [men] rise early in the morning, and behold, all of them [are] dead corpses.
37 Basi Senakeribu mfalme wa Ashuru akavunja kambi na kuondoka. Akarudi Ninawi na kukaa huko.
And he journeys, and goes, and Sennacherib king of Asshur turns back, and dwells in Nineveh.
38 Siku moja, alipokuwa akiabudu katika hekalu la mungu wake Nisroki, wanawe Adrameleki na Shareza wakamuua kwa upanga, nao wakakimbilia nchi ya Ararati. Naye Esar-Hadoni mwanawe akawa mfalme badala yake.
And it comes to pass, he is bowing himself in the house of his god Nisroch, and his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer have struck him with the sword, and they have escaped to the land of Ararat, and his son Esar-Haddon reigns in his stead.