< Mika 3 >
1 Kisha nikasema, “Sikilizeni enyi viongozi wa Yakobo, enyi watawala wa nyumba ya Israeli. Je, hampaswi kujua hukumu,
And I said: Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?
2 ninyi mnaochukia mema na kupenda maovu; ninyi mnaowachuna watu wangu ngozi na kuondoa nyama kwenye mifupa yao;
Who hate the good, and love the evil; who rob their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
3 ninyi mnaokula nyama ya watu wangu, mnaowachuna ngozi na kuvunja mifupa yao vipande vipande; mnaowakatakata kama nyama ya kuwekwa kwenye sufuria na kama nyama ya kuwekwa kwenye chungu?”
Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones; yea, they chop them in pieces, as that which is in the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
4 Kisha watamlilia Bwana, lakini hatawajibu. Wakati huo atawaficha uso wake kwa sababu ya uovu waliotenda.
Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but He will not answer them; yea, He will hide His face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.
5 Hili ndilo asemalo Bwana: “Kuhusu manabii wanaowapotosha watu wangu, mtu akiwalisha, wanatangaza ‘amani’; kama hakufanya hivyo, wanaandaa kupigana vita dhidi yake.
Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people to err; that cry: 'Peace', when their teeth have any thing to bite; and whoso putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him:
6 Kwa hiyo usiku utawajieni, msiweze kuwa na maono, na giza, msiweze kubashiri. Jua litawachwea manabii hao, nao mchana utakuwa giza kwao.
Therefore it shall be night unto you, that ye shall have no vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.
7 Waonaji wataaibika na waaguzi watafedheheka. Wote watafunika nyuso zao kwa sababu hakuna jibu litokalo kwa Mungu.”
And the seers shall be put to shame, and the diviners confounded; yea, they shall all cover their upper lips; for there shall be no answer of God.
8 Lakini kuhusu mimi, nimejazwa nguvu, nimejazwa Roho wa Bwana, haki na uweza, kumtangazia Yakobo kosa lake, na Israeli dhambi yake.
But I truly am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of justice, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
9 Sikieni hili, enyi viongozi wa nyumba ya Yakobo, enyi watawala wa nyumba ya Israeli, mnaodharau haki na kupotosha kila lililo sawa;
Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, that abhor justice, and pervert all equity;
10 mnaojenga Sayuni kwa kumwaga damu na Yerusalemu kwa uovu.
That build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Viongozi wake wanahukumu kwa rushwa, na makuhani wake wanafundisha kwa malipo, nao manabii wake wanatabiri kwa fedha. Hata hivyo wanamwegemea Bwana na kusema, “Je, Bwana si yumo miongoni mwetu? Hakuna maafa yatakayotupata.”
The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money; yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say: 'Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No evil shall come upon us'?
12 Kwa hiyo kwa sababu yenu, Sayuni italimwa kama shamba, Yerusalemu itakuwa lundo la kokoto, na kilima cha Hekalu kitakuwa kichuguu kilichofunikwa na vichaka.
Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.