Isaya 48
1 “Sikilizeni hili, ee nyumba ya Yakobo, ninyi mnaoitwa kwa jina la Israeli, na mnaotoka katika ukoo wa Yuda, ninyi mnaoapa kwa jina la Bwana, mnaomwomba Mungu wa Israeli, lakini si katika kweli au kwa haki;
Hear ye these things, O house of Jacob, you that are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Juda, you who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in justice.
2 ninyi mnaojiita raiya wa mji mtakatifu, na kumtegemea Mungu wa Israeli, Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote ndilo jina lake:
For they are called of the holy city, and are established upon the God of Israel: the Lord of hosts is his name.
3 Nilitoa unabii mambo ya kwanza tangu zamani, kinywa changu kiliyatangaza na kuyafanya yajulikane; kisha ghafula nikayatenda, nayo yakatokea.
The former things of old I have declared, and they went forth out of my mouth, and I have made them to be heard: I did them suddenly and they came to pass.
4 Kwa kuwa nalijua jinsi ulivyokuwa mkaidi; mishipa ya shingo yako ilikuwa chuma, kipaji chako cha uso kilikuwa shaba.
For I knew that thou art stubborn, and thy neck is as an iron sinew, and thy forehead as brass.
5 Kwa hiyo nilikuambia mambo haya tangu zamani, kabla hayajatokea nilikutangazia ili usije ukasema, ‘Sanamu zangu zilifanya hayo; kinyago changu cha mti na mungu wangu wa chuma aliyaamuru.’
I foretold thee of old, before they came to pass I told thee, lest thou shouldst say: My idols have done these things, and my graven and molten things have commanded them.
6 Umesikia mambo haya; yaangalie hayo yote. Je, hutayakubali? “Kuanzia sasa na kuendelea nitakueleza mambo mapya, juu ya mambo yaliyofichika usiyoyajua.
See now all the things which thou hast heard: but have you declared them? I have shewn thee new things from that time, and things are kept which thou knowest not:
7 Yameumbwa sasa, wala si tangu zamani; hukupata kuyasikia kabla ya siku ya leo. Hivyo huwezi kusema, ‘Naam, niliyajua hayo.’
They are created now, and not of old: and before the day, when thou heardest them not, lest thou shouldst say: Behold I knew them.
8 Hujayasikia wala kuyaelewa, tangu zamani sikio lako halikufunguka. Ninafahamu vyema jinsi ulivyo mdanganyifu, uliitwa mwasi tangu kuzaliwa kwako.
Thou hast neither heard, nor known, neither was thy ear opened of old. For I know that transgressing thou wilt transgress, and I have called thee a transgressor from the womb.
9 Kwa ajili ya Jina langu mwenyewe ninaichelewesha ghadhabu yangu, kwa ajili ya sifa zangu nimeizuia isikupate, ili nisije nikakukatilia mbali.
For my name’s sake I will remove my wrath far off: and for my praise I will bridle thee, lest thou shouldst perish.
10 Tazama, nimekusafisha, ingawa si kama fedha, nimekujaribu katika tanuru ya mateso.
Behold I have refined thee, but not as silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of poverty.
11 Kwa ajili yangu mwenyewe, kwa ajili yangu mwenyewe, nafanya hili. Jinsi gani niliache Jina langu lichafuliwe? Sitautoa utukufu wangu kwa mwingine.
For my own sake, for my own sake will I do it, that I may not be blasphemed: and I will not give my glory to another.
12 “Ee Yakobo, nisikilize mimi, Israeli, ambaye nimekuita: Mimi ndiye; mimi ndimi mwanzo na mwisho.
Hearken to me, O Jacob, and thou Israel whom I call: I am he, I am the first, and I am the last.
13 Mkono wangu mwenyewe uliweka misingi ya dunia, nao mkono wangu wa kuume umezitanda mbingu; niziitapo, zote husimama pamoja.
My hand also hath founded the earth, and my right hand hath measured the heavens: I shall call them, and they shall stand together.
14 “Kusanyikeni, ninyi nyote, msikilize: Ni ipi miongoni mwa hizo sanamu ambayo imetabiri vitu hivi? Watu wa Bwana waliochaguliwa na kuungana watatimiza kusudi lake dhidi ya Babeli; mkono wa Mungu utakuwa dhidi ya Wakaldayo.
Assemble yourselves together, all you, and hear: who among them hath declared these things? the Lord hath loved him, he will do his pleasure in Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
15 Mimi, naam, Mimi, nimenena; naam, nimemwita yeye. Nitamleta, naye atafanikiwa katika lile nililomtuma.
I, even I have spoken and called him: I have brought him, and his way is made prosperous.
16 “Nikaribieni na msikilize hili: “Tangu tangazo la kwanza sikusema kwa siri; wakati litokeapo, nitakuwako hapo.” Sasa Bwana Mwenyezi amenituma, kwa Roho wake.
Come ye near unto me, and hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning: from the time before it was done, I was there, and now the Lord God hath sent me, and his spirit.
17 Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana, Mkombozi wako, yeye Aliye Mtakatifu wa Israeli: “Mimi ni Bwana, Mungu wako, nikufundishaye ili upate faida, nikuongozaye katika njia ikupasayo kuiendea.
Thus saith the Lord thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord thy God that teach thee profitable things, that govern thee in the way that thou walkest.
18 Laiti ungesikiliza kwa makini maagizo yangu, amani yako ingekuwa kama mto, haki yako kama mawimbi ya bahari.
O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments: thy peace had been as a river, and thy justice as the waves of the sea,
19 Wazao wako wangekuwa kama mchanga, watoto wako kama chembe zake zisizohesabika; kamwe jina lao lisingefutiliwa mbali, wala kuangamizwa kutoka mbele zangu.”
And thy seed had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof: his name should not have perished, nor have been destroyed from before my face.
20 Tokeni huko Babeli, kimbieni kutoka kwa Wakaldayo! Tangazeni hili kwa kelele za shangwe na kulihubiri. Lipelekeni mpaka miisho ya dunia; semeni, “Bwana amemkomboa mtumishi wake Yakobo.”
Come forth out of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, declare it with the voice of joy: make this to be heard, and speak it out even to the ends of the earth. Say: The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
21 Hawakuona kiu alipowaongoza kupita jangwani; alifanya maji yatiririke kutoka kwenye mwamba kwa ajili yao; akapasua mwamba na maji yakatoka kwa nguvu.
They thirsted not in the desert, when he led them out: he brought forth water out of the rock for them, and he clove the rock, and the waters gushed out.
22 “Hakuna amani kwa waovu,” asema Bwana.
There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord.
