Warumi 7
1 Ndugu zangu (sasa ninasema na wale wanaoijua sheria), je, hamjui ya kwamba sheria ina mamlaka tu juu ya mtu wakati akiwa hai?
Do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?
2 Kwa mfano, mwanamke aliyeolewa amefungwa kwa mumewe wakati akiwa hai, lakini yule mume akifa, yule mwanamke amefunguliwa kutoka sheria ya ndoa.
For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
3 Hivyo basi, kama huyo mwanamke ataolewa na mwanaume mwingine wakati mumewe akiwa bado yuko hai, ataitwa mzinzi. Lakini kama mumewe akifa, mwanamke huyo hafungwi tena na sheria ya ndoa, naye akiolewa na mtu mwingine haitwi mzinzi.
So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law and is not an adulteress, even if she marries another man.
4 Vivyo hivyo, ndugu zangu, ninyi mmeifia sheria kwa njia ya mwili wa Kristo, ili mweze kuwa mali ya mwingine, yeye ambaye alifufuliwa kutoka kwa wafu, ili tupate kuzaa matunda kwa Mungu.
Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
5 Kwa maana tulipokuwa tunatawaliwa na asili ya dhambi, tamaa za dhambi zilizochochewa na sheria zilikuwa zikitenda kazi katika miili yetu, hivyo tulizaa matunda ya mauti.
For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.
6 Lakini sasa, kwa kufia kile kilichokuwa kimetufunga kwanza, tumewekwa huru kutokana na sheria ili tutumike katika njia mpya ya Roho, wala si katika njia ya zamani ya sheria iliyoandikwa.
But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
7 Tuseme nini basi? Kwamba sheria ni dhambi? La, hasha! Lakini, isingekuwa kwa sababu ya sheria, nisingalijua dhambi. Nisingalijua kutamani ni nini kama sheria haikusema, “Usitamani.”
What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”
8 Lakini dhambi kwa kupata nafasi katika amri, hii ikazaa ndani yangu kila aina ya tamaa. Kwa maana pasipo sheria, dhambi imekufa.
But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead.
9 Wakati fulani nilikuwa hai pasipo sheria, lakini amri ilipokuja, dhambi ikawa hai, nami nikafa.
Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
10 Nikaona kwamba ile amri iliyokusudiwa kuleta uzima, ilileta mauti.
So I discovered that the very commandment that was meant to bring life actually brought death.
11 Kwa maana dhambi kwa kupata nafasi katika amri, ilinidanganya, na kupitia katika hiyo amri, ikaniua.
For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through the commandment put me to death.
12 Hivyo basi, sheria yenyewe ni takatifu, na amri ni takatifu na ya haki, tena ni njema.
So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
13 Je, kile kilicho chema basi kilikuwa mauti kwangu? La, hasha! Lakini ili dhambi itambuliwe kuwa ni dhambi, ilileta mauti ndani yangu kupitia kile kilichokuwa chema, ili kwa njia ya amri dhambi izidi kuwa mbaya kupita kiasi.
Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
14 Kwa maana tunajua kwamba sheria ni ya kiroho, lakini mimi ni wa kimwili nikiwa nimeuzwa kwenye utumwa wa dhambi.
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
15 Sielewi nitendalo, kwa maana lile ninalotaka kulitenda, silitendi, lakini ninatenda lile ninalolichukia.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.
16 Basi kama ninatenda lile nisilotaka kutenda, ni kwamba ninakubali kuwa sheria ni njema.
And if I do what I do not want to do, I admit that the law is good.
17 Lakini, kwa kweli si mimi tena nitendaye lile nisilotaka bali ni ile dhambi ikaayo ndani yangu.
In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
18 Kwa maana ninafahamu kwamba hakuna jema lolote likaalo ndani yangu, yaani, katika asili yangu ya dhambi. Kwa kuwa nina shauku ya kutenda lililo jema, lakini siwezi kulitenda.
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
19 Sitendi lile jema nitakalo kutenda, bali lile baya nisilolitaka, ndilo nitendalo.
For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do.
20 Basi kama ninatenda lile nisilotaka kutenda, si mimi tena nifanyaye hivyo, bali ni ile dhambi ikaayo ndani yangu.
And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 Hivyo naiona sheria ikitenda kazi. Ninapotaka kutenda jema, jambo baya liko papo hapo.
So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
22 Kwa maana katika utu wangu wa ndani naifurahia sheria ya Mungu.
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.
23 Lakini ninaona kuna sheria nyingine inayotenda kazi katika viungo vya mwili wangu inayopigana vita dhidi ya ile sheria ya akili yangu. Sheria hii inanifanya mateka wa ile sheria ya dhambi inayofanya kazi katika viungo vya mwili wangu.
But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.
24 Ole wangu mimi maskini! Ni nani atakayeniokoa na mwili huu wa mauti?
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
25 Ashukuriwe Mungu kwa njia ya Yesu Kristo Bwana wetu! Hivyo basi, mimi mwenyewe kwa akili zangu ni mtumwa wa sheria ya Mungu, lakini katika asili ya dhambi ni mtumwa wa sheria ya dhambi.
Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
