< Mika 7 >
1 Taabu gani hii niliyo nayo! Nimefanana na yule akusanyaye matunda ya kiangazi, aokotaye masazo baada ya kuvunwa shamba la mizabibu; hakuna kishada chenye matunda ya kula, hakuna hata ile tini ya mwanzoni ninayoitamani.
Woe is me! I have become like the gathering of summer fruit, and like the grapes that have been gleaned; there is no grape cluster to eat, no ripe early fig that my soul desires.
2 Wanaomcha Mungu wameondolewa kutoka nchi; hakuna mtu mnyofu hata mmoja aliyebaki. Watu wote wanavizia kumwaga damu, kila mmoja anamwinda ndugu yake kwa wavu.
Faithful people have disappeared from the land; there is no upright person in all mankind. They all lie in wait to shed blood; each one hunts his own brother with a net.
3 Mikono yote miwili ni hodari katika kufanya ubaya, mtawala anadai zawadi, hakimu anapokea rushwa, wenye nguvu wanaamuru wanachotaka: wote wanafanya shauri baya pamoja.
Their hands are very good at doing harm: the ruler asks for money, the judge is ready for bribes, and the powerful man is saying to others what he wants to obtain. Thus they plot together.
4 Aliye mwema kupita wote kati yao ni kama mchongoma, anayeonekana mnyofu zaidi miongoni mwao ni mbaya kuliko uzio wa miiba. Siku ya walinzi wako imewadia, siku atakayokutembelea Mungu. Sasa ni wakati wao wa kuchanganyikiwa.
The best of them is like a brier, the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge. It is the day foretold by your watchmen, the day of your punishment. Now is the time of their confusion.
5 Usimtumaini jirani; usiweke matumaini kwa rafiki. Hata kwa yule alalaye kifuani mwako uwe mwangalifu kwa maneno yako.
Do not trust any neighbor; put no confidence in any friend. Be careful about what you say even to the woman who lies in your arms.
6 Kwa kuwa mwana humdharau baba yake, naye binti huinuka dhidi ya mama yake, mkwe kuwa kinyume na mama mkwe wake: adui wa mtu ni wale wa nyumbani mwake hasa.
For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the people of his own house.
7 Lakini mimi, namtazama Bwana kwa matumaini, namngoja Mungu Mwokozi wangu; Mungu wangu atanisikia mimi.
But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
8 Usifurahie msiba wangu, ee adui yangu! Ingawa nimeanguka, nitainuka. Japo ninaketi gizani, Bwana atakuwa nuru yangu.
Do not rejoice over me, my enemy. After I fall, I will rise. When I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be a light for me.
9 Kwa sababu nimetenda dhambi dhidi yake, nitabeba ghadhabu ya Bwana, mpaka atakaponitetea shauri langu na kuithibitisha haki yangu. Atanileta nje kwenye mwanga, nami nitaiona haki yake.
Because I sinned against Yahweh, I will bear his rage until he pleads my cause, and executes judgment for me. He will bring me to the light, and I will see him rescue me in his justice.
10 Kisha adui yangu ataliona naye atafunikwa na aibu, yule aliyeniambia, “Yu wapi Bwana Mungu wako?” Macho yangu yataona kuanguka kwake, hata sasa atakanyagwa chini ya mguu kama tope barabarani.
Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover the one who said to me, “Where is Yahweh your God?” My eyes will look at her; she will be trampled down like the mud in the streets.
11 Siku ya kujenga kuta zako itawadia, siku ya kupanua mipaka yako.
A day to build your walls will come; on that day the boundaries will be extended very far.
12 Siku hiyo watu watakuja kwako kutoka Ashuru na miji ya Misri, hata kutoka Misri hadi Frati na kutoka bahari hadi bahari na kutoka mlima hadi mlima.
On that day your people will come to you, from Assyria and the cities in Egypt, from Egypt to the River, from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
13 Dunia itakuwa ukiwa kwa sababu ya wakazi wake, kwa sababu ya matunda ya matendo yao.
But the land will be desolate because of the people who are living there, because of the fruit of their actions.
14 Wachunge watu wako kwa fimbo yako, kundi la urithi wako, ambalo linaishi peke yake msituni, katika nchi ya malisho yenye rutuba. Waache walishe katika Bashani na Gileadi kama ilivyokuwa siku za kale.
Shepherd your people with your rod, the flock of your inheritance. They live alone in a thicket, in the midst of a pastureland. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the old days.
15 “Kama siku zile mlipotoka Misri, nitawaonyesha maajabu yangu.”
As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders.
16 Mataifa yataona na kuaibika, waliondolewa nguvu zao zote. Wataweka mikono yao kwenye vinywa vyao na masikio yao yatakuwa na uziwi.
The nations will see and be ashamed of all their power. They will put their hands on their mouths; their ears will be deaf.
17 Wataramba mavumbi kama nyoka, kama viumbe vitambaavyo juu ya ardhi. Watatoka nje ya mapango yao wakitetemeka; watamgeukia Bwana Mungu wetu kwa hofu nao watakuogopa.
They will lick the dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the earth. They will come out of their dens with fear; they will come with fear to you, Yahweh our God, and they will be afraid because of you.
18 Ni nani Mungu kama wewe, ambaye anaachilia dhambi na kusamehe makosa ya mabaki ya urithi wake? Wewe huwi na hasira milele, bali unafurahia kuonyesha rehema.
Who is a God like you— who takes away sin, who passes over the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? He does not keep his anger forever, because he delights in his covenant faithfulness.
19 Utatuhurumia tena, utazikanyaga dhambi zetu chini ya nyayo zako, na kutupa maovu yetu yote katika vilindi vya bahari.
You will again have compassion on us; you will trample our iniquities under your feet. You will throw all our sins into the depths of the sea.
20 Utakuwa wa kweli kwa Yakobo, nawe utamwonyesha Abrahamu rehema, kama ulivyowaahidi kwa kiapo baba zetu siku za kale.
You will give truth to Jacob and covenant faithfulness to Abraham, as you swore to our ancestors in ancient days.