Warumi 9
1 Ninasema kweli katika Kristo, wala sisemi uongo, dhamiri yangu inanishuhudia katika Roho Mtakatifu.
I am speaking the truth as one in union with Christ; it is no lie; and my conscience, enlightened by the Holy Spirit,
2 Nina huzuni kuu na uchungu usiokoma moyoni mwangu.
bears me out when I say that there is a great weight of sorrow upon me and that my heart is never free from pain.
3 Kwa maana ningetamani hata mimi nilaaniwe na kutengwa na Kristo kwa ajili ya ndugu zangu hasa, wale walio wa kabila langu kwa jinsi ya mwili,
I could wish that I were myself accursed and severed from the Christ, for the sake of my Brothers — my own countrymen.
4 yaani, watu wa Israeli, ambao ndio wenye kule kufanywa wana, ule utukufu wa Mungu, yale maagano, kule kupokea sheria, ibada ya kwenye Hekalu na zile ahadi.
For they are Israelites, and theirs are the adoption as Sons, the visible Presence, the Covenants, the revealed Law, the Temple worship, and the Promises.
5 Wao ni wa uzao wa mababa wakuu wa kwanza, ambao kutoka kwao Kristo alikuja kwa jinsi ya mwili kama mwanadamu, yeye ambaye ni Mungu aliye juu ya vyote, mwenye kuhimidiwa milele! Amen. (aiōn g165)
They are descended from the Patriarchs; and, as far as his human nature was concerned, from them came the Christ — he who is supreme over all things, God for ever blessed. Amen. (aiōn g165)
6 Si kwamba Neno la Mungu limeshindwa. Kwa maana si kila Mwisraeli ambaye ni wa uzao utokanao na Israeli ni Mwisraeli halisi.
Not that God’s Word has failed. For it is not all who are descended from Israel who are true Israelites;
7 Wala hawakuwi wazao wa Abrahamu kwa sababu wao ni watoto wake, lakini: “Uzao wako utahesabiwa kupitia kwake Isaki.”
nor, because they are Abraham’s descendants, are they all his Children; but — ‘It is Isaac’s children who will be called thy descendants.’
8 Hii ina maana kwamba, si watoto waliozaliwa kimwili walio watoto wa Mungu, bali ni watoto wa ahadi wanaohesabiwa kuwa uzao wa Abrahamu.
This means that it is not the children born in the course of nature who are God’s Children, but it is the children born in fulfilment of the Promise who are to be regarded as Abraham’s descendants.
9 Kwa maana ahadi yenyewe ilisema, “Nitakurudia tena wakati kama huu, naye Sara atapata mtoto wa kiume.”
For these words are the words of a promise — ‘About this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.’
10 Wala si hivyo tu, bali pia watoto aliowazaa Rebeka walikuwa na baba huyo huyo mmoja, yaani, baba yetu Isaki.
Nor is that all. There is also the case of Rebecca, when she was about to bear children to our ancestor Isaac.
11 Lakini, hata kabla hao mapacha hawajazaliwa au kufanya jambo lolote jema au baya, ili kwamba kusudi la Mungu la kuchagua lipate kusimama,
For in order that the purpose of God, working through selection, might not fail — a selection depending, not on obedience, but on his Call — Rebecca was told, before her children were born and before they had done anything either right or wrong,
12 si kwa matendo, bali kwa yeye mwenye kuita, Rebeka aliambiwa, “Yule mkubwa atamtumikia yule mdogo.”
that ‘the elder would be a servant to the younger.’
13 Kama vile ilivyoandikwa, “Nimempenda Yakobo, lakini nimemchukia Esau.”
The words of Scripture are — ‘I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.’
14 Tuseme nini basi? Je, Mungu ni dhalimu? La, hasha!
What are we to say, then? Is God guilty of injustice? Heaven forbid!
15 Kwa maana Mungu alimwambia Mose, “Nitamrehemu yeye nimrehemuye, na pia nitamhurumia yeye nimhurumiaye.”
For his words to Moses are — ‘I will take pity on whom I take pity, and be merciful to whom I am merciful.’
16 Kwa hiyo haitegemei kutaka kwa mwanadamu au jitihada, bali hutegemea huruma ya Mungu.
So, then, all depends, not on human wishes or human efforts, but on God’s mercy.
17 Kwa maana Maandiko yamwambia Farao, “Nilikuinua kwa kusudi hili hasa, ili nipate kuonyesha uweza wangu juu yako, na ili Jina langu lipate kutangazwa duniani yote.”
In Scripture, again, it is said to Pharaoh — ‘It was for this very purpose that I raised thee to the throne, to show my power by my dealings with thee, and to make my name known throughout the world.’
18 Kwa hiyo basi, Mungu humhurumia yeye atakaye kumhurumia na humfanya mgumu yeye atakaye kumfanya mgumu.
So, then, where God wills, he takes pity, and where he wills, he hardens the heart.
19 Basi mtaniambia, “Kama ni hivyo, kwa nini basi bado Mungu anatulaumu? Kwa maana ni nani awezaye kupinga mapenzi yake?”
Perhaps you will say to me — ‘How can any one still be blamed? For who withstands his purpose?’
20 Lakini, ewe mwanadamu, u nani wewe ushindane na Mungu? “Je, kilichoumbwa chaweza kumwambia yeye aliyekiumba, ‘Kwa nini umeniumba hivi?’”
I might rather ask ‘Who are you who are arguing with God?’ Does a thing which a man has moulded say to him who has moulded it ‘Why did you make me like this?’
21 Je, mfinyanzi hana haki ya kufinyanga kutoka bonge moja vyombo vya udongo, vingine kwa matumizi ya heshima na vingine kwa matumizi ya kawaida?
Has not the potter absolute power over his clay, so that out of the same lump he makes one thing for better, and another for common, use?
22 Iweje basi, kama Mungu kwa kutaka kuonyesha ghadhabu yake na kufanya uweza wake ujulikane, amevumilia kwa uvumilivu mwingi vile vyombo vya ghadhabu vilivyoandaliwa kwa uharibifu?
And what if God, intending to reveal his displeasure and make his power known, bore most patiently with the objects of his displeasure, though they were fit only to be destroyed,
23 Iweje basi, kama yeye alitenda hivi ili kufanya wingi wa utukufu wake ujulikane kwa vile vyombo vya rehema yake, alivyotangulia kuvitengeneza kwa ajili ya utukufu wake,
so as to make known his surpassing glory in dealing with the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared beforehand for glory,
24 yaani pamoja na sisi, ambao pia alituita, si kutoka kwa Wayahudi peke yao, bali pia kutoka kwa watu wa Mataifa?
and whom he called — even us — Not only from among the Jews but from among the Gentiles also!
25 Kama vile Mungu asemavyo katika Hosea: “Nitawaita ‘watu wangu’ wale ambao si watu wangu; nami nitamwita ‘mpenzi wangu’ yeye ambaye si mpenzi wangu,”
This, indeed, is what he says in the Book of Hosea — ‘I will call those my People who were not my People, and her my beloved who was not beloved.
26 tena, “Itakuwa hasa mahali pale walipoambiwa, ‘Ninyi si watu wangu,’ wao wataitwa ‘wana wa Mungu aliye hai.’”
And in the very place where it was said to them — “Ye are not my People”, they shall be called Sons of the Living God.’
27 Isaya anapiga kelele kuhusu Israeli: “Ingawa idadi ya wana wa Israeli ni wengi kama mchanga wa pwani, ni mabaki yao tu watakaookolewa.
And Isaiah cries aloud over Israel — ‘Though the Sons of Israel are like the sand of the sea in number, only a remnant of them shall escape!
28 Kwa kuwa Bwana ataitekeleza hukumu yake duniani kwa haraka na kwa ukamilifu.”
For the Lord will execute his sentence upon the world, fully and without delay.’
29 Ni kama vile alivyotabiri Isaya akisema: “Kama Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote asingelituachia uzao, tungelikuwa kama Sodoma, tungelifanana na Gomora.”
It is as Isaiah foretold — ‘Had not the Lord of Hosts spared some few of our race to us, we should have become like Sodom and been made to resemble Gomorrah.’
30 Kwa hiyo tuseme nini basi? Kwamba watu wa Mataifa ambao hawakutafuta haki, wamepata haki ile iliyo kwa njia ya imani.
What are we to say, then? Why, that Gentiles, who were not in search of righteousness, secured it — a righteousness which was the result of faith;
31 Lakini Israeli, ambao walijitahidi kupata haki kwa njia ya sheria, hawakuipata.
while Israel, which was in search of a Law which would ensure righteousness, failed to discover one.
32 Kwa nini? Kwa sababu hawakuitafuta kwa njia ya imani bali kwa njia ya matendo. Wakajikwaa kwenye lile “jiwe la kukwaza.”
And why? Because they looked to obedience, and not to faith, to secure it. They stumbled over ‘the Stumbling-block.’
33 Kama ilivyoandikwa: “Tazama naweka katika Sayuni jiwe la kukwaza watu na mwamba wa kuwaangusha. Yeyote atakayemwamini hataaibika kamwe.”
As Scripture says — ‘See, I place a Stumbling-block in Zion — a Rock which shall prove a hindrance; and he who believes in him shall have no cause for shame.’
