< Isaya 40 >
1 Wafarijini, wafarijini watu wangu, asema Mungu wenu.
Comfort all of you, comfort all of you my people, says your God.
2 Sema na Yerusalemu kwa upole, umtangazie kwamba kazi yake ngumu imekamilika, kwamba dhambi yake imefanyiwa fidia, kwamba amepokea kutoka mkononi mwa Bwana maradufu kwa ajili ya dhambi zake zote.
Speak all of you comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she has received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.
3 Sauti ya mtu aliaye: “Itengenezeni jangwani njia ya Bwana, nyoosheni njia kuu nyikani kwa ajili ya Mungu wetu.
The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare all of you the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Kila bonde litainuliwa, kila mlima na kilima kitashushwa; penye mabonde patanyooshwa, napo palipoparuza patasawazishwa.
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
5 Utukufu wa Bwana utafunuliwa, nao wanadamu wote watauona pamoja. Kwa maana kinywa cha Bwana kimenena.”
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.
6 Sauti husema, “Piga kelele.” Nami nikasema, “Nipige kelele gani?” “Wanadamu wote ni kama majani, nao utukufu wao wote ni kama maua ya kondeni.
The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7 Majani hunyauka na maua huanguka, kwa sababu pumzi ya Bwana huyapuliza. Hakika wanadamu ni majani.
The grass withers, the flower fades: because the spirit of the LORD blows upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 Majani hunyauka na maua huanguka, lakini neno la Mungu wetu ladumu milele.”
The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
9 Wewe uletaye habari njema Sayuni, panda juu ya mlima mrefu. Wewe uletaye habari njema Yerusalemu, inua sauti yako kwa kupiga kelele, inua sauti, usiogope; iambie miji ya Yuda, “Yuko hapa Mungu wenu!”
O Zion, that bring good tidings, get you up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
10 Tazameni, Bwana Mwenyezi anakuja na nguvu, nao mkono wake ndio utawalao kwa ajili yake. Tazameni, ujira wake u pamoja naye, nayo malipo yake yanafuatana naye.
Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11 Huchunga kundi lake kama mchungaji wa mifugo: Hukusanya wana-kondoo katika mikono yake na kuwachukua karibu na moyo wake, huwaongoza taratibu wale wanyonyeshao.
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
12 Ni nani aliyepima maji ya bahari kwenye konzi ya mkono wake, au kuzipima mbingu kwa shibiri yake? Ni nani aliyeyashika mavumbi ya dunia katika kikapu, au kupima milima kwenye kipimio na vilima kwenye mizani?
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13 Ni nani aliyeyafahamu mawazo ya Bwana, au kumfundisha akiwa kama mshauri wake?
Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor has taught him?
14 Ni nani ambaye Bwana ametaka shauri kwake ili kumwelimisha, naye ni nani aliyemfundisha njia iliyo sawa? Ni nani aliyemfundisha maarifa au kumwonyesha mapito ya ufahamu?
With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?
15 Hakika mataifa ni kama tone ndani ya ndoo, ni kama vumbi jembamba juu ya mizani, huvipima visiwa kana kwamba vilikuwa vumbi laini.
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he takes up the isles as a very little thing.
16 Lebanoni hautoshi kwa moto wa madhabahuni, wala wanyama wake hawatoshi kwa sadaka za kuteketezwa.
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 Mbele yake mataifa yote ni kama si kitu, yanaonekana yasio na thamani na zaidi ya bure kabisa.
All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
18 Basi, utamlinganisha Mungu na nani? Utamlinganisha na kitu gani?
To whom then will all of you liken God? or what likeness will all of you compare unto him?
19 Kwa habari ya sanamu, fundi huisubu, naye mfua dhahabu huifunika kwa dhahabu na kuitengenezea mikufu ya fedha.
The workman melts a graven image, and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold, and casts silver chains.
20 Mtu aliye maskini sana asiyeweza kuleta sadaka kama hii huuchagua mti usiooza. Humtafuta fundi stadi wa kusimamisha sanamu ambayo haitatikisika.
He that is so impoverished that he has no oblation chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
21 Je, hujui? Je, hujasikia? Je, hujaambiwa tangu mwanzo? Je, hujafahamu tangu kuumbwa kwa dunia?
Have all of you not known? have all of you not heard? has it not been told you from the beginning? have all of you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 Anakaa kwenye kiti cha enzi juu ya duara ya dunia, nao watu wakaao ndani yake ni kama panzi. Huzitandaza mbingu kama chandarua, na kuzitandaza kama hema la kuishi.
It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in:
23 Huwafanya wakuu kuwa si kitu, na kuwashusha watawala wa dunia hii kuwa kitu bure.
That brings the princes to nothing; he makes the judges of the earth as vanity.
24 Mara baada ya kupandwa, mara baada ya kutiwa ardhini, mara baada ya kutoa mizizi yao ardhini, ndipo huwapulizia nao wakanyauka, nao upepo wa kisulisuli huwapeperusha kama makapi.
Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25 “Utanilinganisha mimi na nani? Au ni nani anayelingana nami?” asema yeye Aliye Mtakatifu.
To whom then will all of you liken me, or shall I be equal? says the Holy One.
26 Inueni macho yenu mtazame mbinguni: Ni nani aliyeumba hivi vyote? Ni yeye aletaye nje jeshi la nyota moja baada ya nyingine na kuziita kila moja kwa jina lake. Kwa sababu ya uweza wake mkuu na nguvu zake kuu, hakuna hata mojawapo inayokosekana.
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who has created these things, that brings out their host by number: he calls them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one fails.
27 Kwa nini unasema, ee Yakobo, nanyi ee Israeli, kulalamika, “Njia yangu imefichwa Bwana asiione, Mungu wangu hajali shauri langu?”
Why say you, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28 Je wewe, hufahamu? Je wewe, hujasikia? Bwana ni Mungu wa milele, Muumba wa miisho ya dunia. Hatachoka wala kulegea, wala hakuna hata mmoja awezaye kuupima ufahamu wake.
Have you not known? have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 Huwapa nguvu waliolegea na huongeza nguvu za wadhaifu.
He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength.
30 Hata vijana huchoka na kulegea, nao vijana wanaume hujikwaa na kuanguka,
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 bali wale wamtumainio Bwana atafanya upya nguvu zao. Watapaa juu kwa mbawa kama tai; watapiga mbio wala hawatachoka, watatembea kwa miguu wala hawatazimia.
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.