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 all of you this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.
2 ninyi mnaojiita raiya wa mji mtakatifu, na kumtegemea Mungu wa Israeli, Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote ndilo jina lake:
For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves 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.
I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; 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.
Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow 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 have even from the beginning declared it to you; before it came to pass I showed it you: lest you should say, Mine idol has done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, has commanded them.
6 Umesikia mambo haya; yaangalie hayo yote. Je, hutayakubali? “Kuanzia sasa na kuendelea nitakueleza mambo mapya, juu ya mambo yaliyofichika usiyoyajua.
You have heard, see all this; and will not all of you declare it? I have showed you new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them.
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 from the beginning; even before the day when you heard them not; lest you should say, Behold, I knew them.
8 Hujayasikia wala kuyaelewa, tangu zamani sikio lako halikufunguka. Ninafahamu vyema jinsi ulivyo mdanganyifu, uliitwa mwasi tangu kuzaliwa kwako.
Yea, you heard not; yea, you knew not; yea, from that time that your ear was not opened: for I knew that you would deal very treacherously, and were called 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 will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for you, that I cut you not off.
10 Tazama, nimekusafisha, ingawa si kama fedha, nimekujaribu katika tanuru ya mateso.
Behold, I have refined you, but not with silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
11 Kwa ajili yangu mwenyewe, kwa ajili yangu mwenyewe, nafanya hili. Jinsi gani niliache Jina langu lichafuliwe? Sitautoa utukufu wangu kwa mwingine.
For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.
12 “Ee Yakobo, nisikilize mimi, Israeli, ambaye nimekuita: Mimi ndiye; mimi ndimi mwanzo na mwisho.
Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
13 Mkono wangu mwenyewe uliweka misingi ya dunia, nao mkono wangu wa kuume umezitanda mbingu; niziitapo, zote husimama pamoja.
Mine hand also has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up 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.
All you, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them has declared these things? The LORD has loved him: he will do his pleasure on 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; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way 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 all of you near unto me, hear all of you this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, has sent me.
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 says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD your God which teaches you to profit, which leads you by the way that you should go.
18 Laiti ungesikiliza kwa makini maagizo yangu, amani yako ingekuwa kama mto, haki yako kama mawimbi ya bahari.
O that you had hearkened to my commandments! then had your peace been as a river, and your righteousness 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.”
Your seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of your bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
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.”
Go all of you out of Babylon, flee all of you from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare all of you, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say all of you, The LORD has 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.
And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
22 “Hakuna amani kwa waovu,” asema Bwana.
There is no peace, says the LORD, unto the wicked.
