Warumi 3
1 Basi kuna faida gani kuwa Myahudi? Au kuna thamani gani katika tohara?
What is the advantage, then, of being a Jew? or what is the good of circumcision?
2 Kuna faida kubwa kwa kila namna! Kwanza kabisa, Wayahudi wamekabidhiwa lile Neno halisi la Mungu.
Great in every way. First of all, because the Jews were entrusted with God’s utterances.
3 Ingekuwaje kama wengine hawakuwa na imani? Je, kutokuamini kwao kungebatilisha uaminifu wa Mungu?
What follows then? Some, no doubt, showed a want of faith; but will their want of faith make God break faith? Heaven forbid!
4 La hasha! Mungu na aonekane mwenye haki, na kila mwanadamu kuwa mwongo, kama ilivyoandikwa: “Ili uthibitike kuwa wa kweli unaponena, na ukashinde utoapo hukumu.”
God must prove true, though every man prove a liar! As Scripture says of God — ‘That thou mayest be pronounced righteous in what thou sayest, and gain thy cause when men would judge thee.’
5 Ikiwa uovu wetu unathibitisha haki ya Mungu waziwazi, tuseme nini basi? Je, Mungu kuileta ghadhabu yake juu yetu ni kwamba yeye si mwenye haki? (Nanena kibinadamu.)
But what if our wrong-doing makes God’s righteousness all the clearer? Will God be wrong in inflicting punishment? (I can but speak as a man.) Heaven forbid!
6 La hasha! Kama hivyo ndivyo ilivyo, Mungu angehukumuje ulimwengu?
Otherwise how can God judge the world?
7 Mtu aweza kuuliza, “Kama uongo wangu unasaidia kuonyesha kweli ya Mungu na kuzidisha utukufu wake, kwa nini basi mimi nahukumiwa kuwa mwenye dhambi?”
But, if my falsehood redounds to the glory of God, by making his truthfulness more apparent, why am I like others, still condemned as a sinner?
8 Nasi kwa nini tusiseme, kama wengine wanavyotusingizia kuwa tunasema, “Tutende maovu ili mema yapate kuja?” Wao wanastahili hukumu yao.
Why should we not say — as some people slanderously assert that we do say — ‘Let us do evil that good may come’? The condemnation of such men is indeed just!
9 Tusemeje basi? Je, sisi ni bora kuwaliko wao? La hasha! Kwa maana tumekwisha kuhakikisha kwa vyovyote kwamba Wayahudi na watu wa Mataifa wote wako chini ya nguvu ya dhambi.
What follows, then? Are we Jews in any way superior to others? Not at all. Our indictment against both Jews and Greeks was that all alike were in subjection to sin.
10 Kama ilivyoandikwa: “Hakuna mwenye haki, hakuna hata mmoja.
As Scripture says — ‘There is not even one who is righteous,
11 Hakuna hata mmoja mwenye ufahamu, hakuna hata mmoja amtafutaye Mungu.
not one who understands, not one who is searching for God!
12 Wote wamepotoka, wote wameoza pamoja; hakuna atendaye mema, naam, hakuna hata mmoja.”
They have all gone astray; they have one and all become depraved; there is no one who is doing good — no, not one!’
13 “Makoo yao ni makaburi wazi; kwa ndimi zao wao hufanya udanganyifu.” “Sumu ya nyoka iko midomoni mwao.”
‘Their throats are like opened graves; they deceive with their tongues.’ ‘The venom of serpents lies behind their lips,’
14 “Vinywa vyao vimejaa laana na uchungu.”
‘And their mouths are full of bitter curses.’
15 “Miguu yao ina haraka kumwaga damu;
‘Swift are their feet to shed blood.
16 maangamizi na taabu viko katika njia zao,
Distress and trouble dog their steps,
17 wala njia ya amani hawaijui.”
and the path of peace they do not know.’
18 “Hakuna hofu ya Mungu machoni pao.”
‘The fear of God is not before their eyes.’
19 Basi tunajua ya kwamba chochote sheria inachosema, inawaambia wale walio chini ya sheria ili kila kinywa kinyamazishwe na ulimwengu wote uwajibike kwa Mungu.
Now we know that everything said in the Law is addressed to those who are under its authority, in order that every mouth may be closed, and the whole world become liable to the judgment of God.
20 Kwa hiyo hakuna binadamu hata mmoja atakayehesabiwa haki mbele za Mungu kwa matendo ya sheria, kwa maana sheria hutufanya tuitambue dhambi.
For ‘no human being will be pronounced righteous before God’ as the result of obedience to Law; for it is Law that shows what sin is.
21 Lakini sasa, haki itokayo kwa Mungu imedhihirishwa pasipo sheria, ambayo Sheria na Manabii wanaishuhudia.
But now, quite apart from Law, the Divine Righteousness stands revealed, and to it the Law and the Prophets bear witness —
22 Haki hii itokayo kwa Mungu hupatikana kwa Yesu Kristo kwa wote wamwaminio. Kwa maana hapo hakuna tofauti,
the Divine Righteousness which is bestowed, through faith in Jesus Christ, upon all, without distinction, who believe in him.
23 kwa kuwa wote wametenda dhambi na kupungukiwa na utukufu wa Mungu,
For all have sinned, and all fall short of God’s glorious ideal,
24 wanahesabiwa haki bure kwa neema yake kwa njia ya ukombozi ulio katika Kristo Yesu.
but, in his loving-kindness, are being freely pronounced righteous through the deliverance found in Christ Jesus.
25 Yeye ambaye Mungu alimtoa awe dhabihu ya upatanisho kwa njia ya imani katika damu yake. Alifanya hivi ili kuonyesha haki yake, kwa sababu kwa ustahimili wake aliziachilia zile dhambi zilizotangulia kufanywa.
For God set him before the world, to be, by the shedding of his blood, a means of reconciliation through faith. And this God did to prove his righteousness, and because, in his forbearance, he had passed over the sins that men had previously committed;
26 Alifanya hivyo ili kuonyesha haki yake wakati huu, ili yeye awe mwenye haki na mwenye kumhesabia haki yule anayemwamini Yesu.
as a proof, I repeat, at the present time, of his own righteousness, that he might be righteous in our eyes, and might pronounce righteous the man who takes his stand on faith in Jesus.
27 Basi, kujivuna kuko wapi? Kumewekwa mbali. Kwa sheria gani? Je, ni kwa ile ya matendo? La hasha, bali kwa ile sheria ya imani.
What, then, becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what sort of Law? A Law requiring obedience? No, a Law requiring faith.
28 Kwa maana twaona kwamba mwanadamu huhesabiwa haki kwa njia ya imani wala si kwa matendo ya sheria.
For we conclude that a man is pronounced righteous on the ground of faith, quite apart from obedience to Law.
29 Je, Mungu ni Mungu wa Wayahudi peke yao? Je, yeye si Mungu wa watu wa Mataifa pia? Naam, yeye ni Mungu wa watu wa Mataifa pia.
Or can it be that God is the God only of the Jews? Is not he also the God of the Gentiles?
30 Basi kwa kuwa tuna Mungu mmoja tu, atawahesabia haki wale waliotahiriwa kwa imani na wale wasiotahiriwa kwa imani iyo hiyo.
Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is only one God, and he will pronounce those who are circumcised righteous as the result of faith, and also those who are uncircumcised on their showing the same faith.
31 Je, basi ni kwamba tunaibatilisha sheria kwa imani hii? La, hasha! Badala yake tunaithibitisha sheria.
Do we, then, use this faith to abolish Law? Heaven forbid! No, we establish Law.
