Yakobo 1
1 Yakobo, mtumwa wa Mungu na wa Bwana Yesu Kristo: Kwa makabila kumi na mawili yaliyotawanyika ulimwenguni: Salamu.
James the servant of God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
2 Ndugu zangu, hesabuni kuwa ni furaha tupu mnapopatwa na majaribu mbalimbali,
My brethren, count it all joy, when you shall fall into divers temptations;
3 kwa sababu mnajua ya kuwa kujaribiwa kwa imani yenu huleta saburi.
Knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 Saburi na iwe na kazi timilifu, ili mpate kuwa wakamilifu, mmekamilishwa, bila kupungukiwa na kitu chochote.
And patience hath a perfect work; that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing.
5 Kama mtu yeyote miongoni mwenu amepungukiwa na hekima na amwombe Mungu, yeye awapaye watu wote kwa ukarimu wala hana kinyongo, naye atapewa.
But if any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men abundantly, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 Lakini anapoomba, lazima aamini wala asiwe na shaka, kwa sababu mtu aliye na shaka ni kama wimbi la bahari, lililochukuliwa na upepo na kutupwa huku na huku.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind.
7 Mtu kama huyo asidhani ya kuwa atapata kitu chochote kutoka kwa Bwana.
Therefore let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 Yeye ni mtu mwenye nia mbili, mwenye kusitasita katika njia zake zote.
A double minded man is inconstant in all his ways.
9 Ndugu asiye na cheo kikubwa yampasa ajivunie hali hiyo maana ametukuzwa.
But let the brother of low condition glory in his exaltation:
10 Lakini yeye aliye tajiri afurahi kwa kuwa ameshushwa, kwa sababu atatoweka kama ua la shambani.
And the rich, in his being low; because as the flower of the grass shall he pass away.
11 Kwa maana jua kali lenye kuchoma huchomoza na kuliunguza, likayakausha majani, na ua lake likapukutika, nao uzuri wake huharibika. Vivyo hivyo tajiri naye atanyauka akiwa anaendelea na shughuli zake.
For the sun rose with a burning heat, and parched the grass, and the flower thereof fell off, and the beauty of the shape thereof perished: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
12 Heri mtu anayevumilia wakati wa majaribu, kwa sababu akiisha kushinda hilo jaribio atapewa taji la uzima Mungu alilowaahidia wale wampendao.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive a crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him.
13 Mtu anapojaribiwa asiseme, “Ninajaribiwa na Mungu.” Kwa maana Mungu hawezi kujaribiwa na maovu wala yeye hamjaribu mtu yeyote.
Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God. For God is not a tempter of evils, and he tempteth no man.
14 Lakini kila mtu hujaribiwa wakati anapovutwa na kudanganywa na tamaa zake mwenyewe zilizo mbaya.
But every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured.
15 Basi ile tamaa mbaya ikishachukua mimba, huzaa dhambi, nayo ile dhambi ikikomaa, huzaa mauti.
Then when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. But sin, when it is completed, begetteth death.
16 Ndugu zangu wapendwa, msidanganyike.
Do not err, therefore, my dearest brethren.
17 Kila kitolewacho kilicho chema na kilicho kamili, hutoka juu, na hushuka kutoka kwa Baba wa mianga, ambaye kwake hakuna kubadilika, wala kivuli cha kugeukageuka.
Every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration.
18 Kwa mapenzi yake mwenyewe alituzaa kwa neno la kweli, kusudi tuwe kama mazao ya kwanza katika viumbe vyake vyote.
For of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of his creatures.
19 Ndugu zangu wapendwa, fahamuni jambo hili: Kila mtu awe mwepesi wa kusikiliza, lakini asiwe mwepesi wa kusema wala wa kukasirika.
You know, my dearest brethren. And let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to anger.
20 Kwa maana hasira ya mwanadamu haitendi haki ya Mungu.
For the anger of man worketh not the justice of God.
21 Kwa hiyo, ondoleeni mbali uchafu wote na uovu ambao umezidi kuwa mwingi, mkalipokee kwa unyenyekevu lile Neno lililopandwa ndani yenu ambalo laweza kuokoa nafsi zenu.
Wherefore casting away all uncleanness, and abundance of naughtiness, with meekness receive the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 Basi kuweni watendaji wa Neno wala msiwe wasikiaji tu, huku mkijidanganya nafsi zenu.
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 Kwa maana kama mtu ni msikiaji tu wa Neno wala hatendi kile linachosema, yeye ni kama mtu ajitazamaye uso wake kwenye kioo
For if a man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass.
24 na baada ya kujiona alivyo, huenda zake na mara husahau jinsi alivyo.
For he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was.
25 Lakini yeye anayeangalia kwa bidii katika sheria kamilifu, ile iletayo uhuru, naye akaendelea kufanya hivyo bila kusahau alichosikia, bali akalitenda, atabarikiwa katika kile anachofanya.
But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty, and hath continued therein, not becoming a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work; this man shall be blessed in his deed.
26 Kama mtu akidhani ya kuwa anayo dini lakini hauzuii ulimi wake kwa hatamu, hujidanganya moyoni mwake, wala dini yake mtu huyo haifai kitu.
And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
27 Dini iliyo safi, isiyo na uchafu, inayokubalika mbele za Mungu Baba yetu, ndiyo hii: Kuwasaidia yatima na wajane katika dhiki zao na kujilinda usitiwe madoa na dunia.
Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation: and to keep one’s self unspotted from this world.
