< Zekaria 5 >

1 Nikatazama tena: na hapo mbele yangu kulikuwa na kitabu kilichoruka!
Again I lifted up my eyes and saw before me a flying scroll.
2 Akaniuliza, “Unaona nini?” Nikamjibu, “Naona kitabu kinachoruka chenye, urefu wa dhiraa ishirini na upana wa dhiraa kumi.”
“What do you see?” asked the angel. “I see a flying scroll,” I replied, “twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”
3 Akaniambia, “Hii ni laana inayotoka kwenda juu ya nchi yote, kwa kuwa kufuatana na yale yaliyoandikwa katika upande mmoja, kila mwizi atafukuziwa mbali, pia kufuatana na yaliyo upande wa pili, kila aapaye kwa uongo atafukuziwa mbali.
Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed.
4 Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote asema, ‘Nitaituma hiyo laana, nayo itaingia katika nyumba ya mwizi na nyumba ya huyo aapaye kwa uongo kwa Jina langu. Itabaki katika nyumba yake na kuiharibu, pamoja na mbao zake na mawe yake.’”
I will send it out, declares the LORD of Hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name. It will remain inside his house and destroy it, down to its timbers and stones.”
5 Kisha yule malaika aliyekuwa akizungumza nami akanijia na kuniambia, “Tazama juu uone ni nini kile kinachojitokeza.”
Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and told me, “Now lift up your eyes and see what is approaching.”
6 Nikamuuliza, “Ni kitu gani?” Akanijibu, “Ni kikapu cha kupimia.” Kisha akaongeza kusema, “Huu ni uovu wa watu katika nchi nzima.”
“What is it?” I asked. And he replied, “A measuring basket is going forth.” Then he continued, “This is their iniquity in all the land.”
7 Kisha kifuniko kilichotengenezwa kwa madini ya risasi kilichokuwa kimefunika kile kikapu, kiliinuliwa na ndani ya kile kikapu alikuwako mwanamke ameketi!
And behold, the cover of lead was raised, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket.
8 Akasema, “Huu ni uovu,” tena akamsukumia ndani ya kikapu na kushindilia kifuniko juu ya mdomo wa kikapu.
“This is Wickedness,” he said. And he shoved her down into the basket, pushing down the lead cover over its opening.
9 Kisha nikatazama juu: na pale mbele yangu, walikuwepo wanawake wawili, wakiwa na upepo katika mabawa yao! Walikuwa na mabawa kama ya korongo, nao wakainua kile kikapu na kuruka nacho kati ya mbingu na nchi.
Then I lifted up my eyes and saw two women approaching, with the wind in their wings. Their wings were like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.
10 Nikamuuliza yule malaika aliyekuwa akizungumza nami, “Wanakipeleka wapi hicho kikapu?”
“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking with me.
11 Akanijibu, “Wanakipeleka katika nchi ya Babeli na kujenga nyumba kwa ajili yake. Itakapokuwa tayari, kikapu kitawekwa pale mahali pake.”
“To build a house for it in the land of Shinar,” he told me. “And when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its pedestal.”

< Zekaria 5 >