Isaya 8
1 Bwana akaniambia, “Chukua gombo kubwa, uandike juu yake kwa kalamu ya kawaida jina: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Bazi.
Then the Lord told me, “Get a large tablet and write on it in with an ordinary pen, ‘Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’
2 Nami nitawaita kuhani Uria, na Zekaria mwana wa Yeberekia kama mashahidi wangu waaminifu.”
I will need Uriah the priest and Zechariah, son of Jeberekiah, to be my trustworthy witnesses.”
3 Kisha nikaenda kwa nabii mke, naye akapata mimba, akazaa mwana. Kisha Bwana akaniambia, “Mwite huyo mtoto Maher-Shalal-Hash-Bazi.
Then I slept with my wife the prophetess, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. The Lord told me, “Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
4 Kabla mtoto hajaweza kusema ‘Baba yangu’ au ‘Mama yangu,’ utajiri wa Dameski na nyara za Samaria zitachukuliwa na mfalme wa Ashuru.”
For even before the boy knows how to say ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mommy,’ the king of Assyria will carry off Damascus' wealth and Samaria's possessions.”
5 Bwana akasema nami tena:
Then the Lord spoke to me again, saying,
6 “Kwa sababu watu hawa wamekataa maji ya Shilo yatiririkayo taratibu wakamfurahia Resini na mwana wa Remalia,
“Because this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah that gently flow and instead have rejoiced with Rezin and Remaliah's son,
7 kwa hiyo Bwana yu karibu kuleta dhidi yao mafuriko makubwa ya Mto: yaani mfalme wa Ashuru na fahari yake yote. Yatafurika juu ya mifereji yake yote, yatamwagikia juu ya kingo zake zote,
the Lord is going to bring the powerful floodwaters of the Euphrates River against them—the king of Assyria with all his glorious army. It will flood all its channels and overflow all its banks.
8 na kufika hadi Yuda, yakizunguka kwa kasi juu yake, yakipita katikati na yakifika hadi shingoni. Mabawa yake yaliyokunjuliwa yatafunika upana wa nchi yako, Ee Imanueli!”
It will sweep on into Judah, overflowing and flooding through, reaching up to the neck. Like outspread wings it will engulf the whole of your land, Immanuel!
9 Inueni kilio cha vita, enyi mataifa, na mkavunjwevunjwe! Sikilizeni, enyi nyote nchi za mbali. Jiandaeni kwa vita, nanyi mkavunjwevunjwe! Jiandaeni kwa vita, nanyi mkavunjwevunjwe!
Pay attention, you nations, and be smashed! Listen, all you distant lands, get ready, but you will be smashed. Get ready, but you will be smashed.
10 Wekeni mikakati yenu, lakini itashindwa; fanyeni mipango yenu, lakini haitafanikiwa, kwa maana Mungu yu pamoja nasi.
You can plan your strategy, but it will be foiled; you can say what you're intending, but it won't happen, for God is with us.”
11 Bwana alisema nami mkono wake wenye nguvu ukiwa juu yangu, akinionya nisifuate njia za taifa hili. Akasema:
For this is what the Lord told me, holding me with a strong hand, instructing me not to follow the way of this people. He said,
12 “Usiite fitina kila kitu ambacho watu hawa hukiita fitina, usiogope kile wanachokiogopa, wala usikihofu.
Don't call a conspiracy everything that these people call a conspiracy. Don't fear what they fear. Don't be overawed!
13 Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote ndiye peke yake ikupasaye kumheshimu kuwa mtakatifu, ndiye peke yake utakayemwogopa, ndiye peke yake utakayemhofu,
The Lord Almighty is the one you should see as holy. He is the one you should fear, he is the one you should be in awe of.
14 naye atakuwa mahali patakatifu; lakini kwa nyumba zote mbili za Israeli atakuwa jiwe lile linalosababisha watu kujikwaa na mwamba wa kuwaangusha. Kwa watu wa Yerusalemu, atakuwa mtego na tanzi.
He will be a sanctuary for you. But to the royal families of both Israel and Judah he will be a stone they trip over and a rock that makes them stumble, a trap and a snare to the people who live in Jerusalem.
15 Wengi wao watajikwaa; wataanguka na kuvunjika, watategwa na kunaswa.”
Many people will stumble over them. They will fall and be broken. They will be trapped and caught.
16 Funga ushuhuda na kutia muhuri sheria miongoni mwa wanafunzi wangu.
Safeguard this testimony, seal these instructions—they are for my disciples.
17 Nitamngojea Bwana, ambaye ameificha nyumba ya Yakobo uso wake. Nitaliweka tumaini langu kwake.
I will wait for the Lord, the one who is hiding his face from Jacob's descendants. I will wait in hope for him.
18 Niko hapa, pamoja na watoto ambao Bwana amenipa. Sisi ni ishara na mfano wake katika Israeli, kutoka kwa Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote, anayeishi juu ya Mlima Sayuni.
Look, I'm here, together with the children the Lord has given me. They are signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who lives on Mount Zion.
19 Wakati watu wanapowaambia ninyi kutafuta ushauri kwa waaguzi na wenye kuongea na mizimu, ambao hunongʼona na kunungʼunika, je, watu wasingeuliza kwa Mungu wao? Kwa nini watake shauri kwa wafu kwa ajili ya walio hai?
When someone suggests to you, “Go and ask mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter,” shouldn't people ask their God? Why should they ask the dead on behalf of the living?
20 Kwa sheria na kwa ushuhuda! Kama hawatasema sawasawa na neno hili, hawana mwanga wa mapambazuko.
Go and examine God's law and his instructions! If what they say doesn't correspond with God's word, there will be no dawn for them.
21 Watazunguka katika nchi yote, wakiwa na dhiki na njaa. Watakapotaabika kwa njaa, watapatwa na hasira kali, nao, wakiwa wanatazama juu, watamlaani mfalme wao na Mungu wao.
They will wander round the country, depressed and hungry. When they are starving they will become furious, and looking up they will curse their king and their God.
22 Kisha wataangalia duniani na kuona tu dhiki na giza, hofu na huzuni tupu, nao watasukumiwa kwenye giza nene kabisa.
Then they will look towards the earth and see only misery and gloom and agonizing depression, and they will be thrown out into the darkness.
