Yakobo 1
1 Yakobo, mtumwa wa Mungu na wa Bwana Yesu Kristo: Kwa makabila kumi na mawili yaliyotawanyika ulimwenguni: Salamu.
James, a servant of God and of the 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 ye fall into divers temptations.
3 kwa sababu mnajua ya kuwa kujaribiwa kwa imani yenu huleta saburi.
Knowing [this], 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.
But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
5 Kama mtu yeyote miongoni mwenu amepungukiwa na hekima na amwombe Mungu, yeye awapaye watu wote kwa ukarimu wala hana kinyongo, naye atapewa.
If any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given to 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 driven with the wind and tossed.
7 Mtu kama huyo asidhani ya kuwa atapata kitu chochote kutoka kwa Bwana.
For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing from the Lord.
8 Yeye ni mtu mwenye nia mbili, mwenye kusitasita katika njia zake zote.
A man unsettled in his opinions [is] unstable in all his ways.
9 Ndugu asiye na cheo kikubwa yampasa ajivunie hali hiyo maana ametukuzwa.
Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
10 Lakini yeye aliye tajiri afurahi kwa kuwa ameshushwa, kwa sababu atatoweka kama ua la shambani.
But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall 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 hath no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and its flower falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: 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 is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord 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 say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14 Lakini kila mtu hujaribiwa wakati anapovutwa na kudanganywa na tamaa zake mwenyewe zilizo mbaya.
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
15 Basi ile tamaa mbaya ikishachukua mimba, huzaa dhambi, nayo ile dhambi ikikomaa, huzaa mauti.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
16 Ndugu zangu wapendwa, msidanganyike.
Do not err, my beloved 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 good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
18 Kwa mapenzi yake mwenyewe alituzaa kwa neno la kweli, kusudi tuwe kama mazao ya kwanza katika viumbe vyake vyote.
Of his own will he hath begotten us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.
19 Ndugu zangu wapendwa, fahamuni jambo hili: Kila mtu awe mwepesi wa kusikiliza, lakini asiwe mwepesi wa kusema wala wa kukasirika.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
20 Kwa maana hasira ya mwanadamu haitendi haki ya Mungu.
For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness 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 lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness 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 any is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 na baada ya kujiona alivyo, huenda zake na mara husahau jinsi alivyo.
For he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and immediately forgetteth 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 who looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth [in it], he being not 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.
If any man among you seemeth to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth 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.
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.
