< Sefania 2 >

1 Kusanyikeni pamoja, kusanyikeni pamoja, enyi taifa lisilo na aibu,
Come together, make everyone come together, O nation without shame;
2 kabla ya wakati ulioamriwa haujafika na siku ile inayopeperusha kama makapi, kabla hasira kali ya Bwana haijaja juu yenu, kabla siku ya ghadhabu ya Bwana haijaja juu yenu.
Before the Lord sends you violently away in flight like the waste from the grain; before the burning wrath of the Lord comes on you, before the day of the Lord's wrath comes on you.
3 Mtafuteni Bwana, enyi nyote wanyenyekevu wa nchi, ninyi ambao hufanya lile analoamuru. Tafuteni haki, tafuteni unyenyekevu; labda mtahifadhiwa siku ya hasira ya Bwana.
Make search for the Lord, all you quiet ones of the earth, who have done what is right in his eyes; make search for righteousness and a quiet heart: it may be that you will be safely covered in the day of the Lord's wrath.
4 Gaza utaachwa na Ashkeloni utaachwa magofu. Wakati wa adhuhuri Ashdodi utaachwa mtupu na Ekroni utangʼolewa.
For Gaza will be given up and Ashkelon will become waste: they will send Ashdod out in the middle of the day, and Ekron will be uprooted.
5 Ole wenu ninyi ambao mnaishi kando ya bahari, enyi Wakerethi; neno la Bwana liko dhidi yenu, ee Kanaani, nchi ya Wafilisti. “Mimi nitawaangamiza, na hakuna atakayebaki.”
Sorrow to the people living by the sea, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines; I will send destruction on you till there is no one living in you.
6 Nchi kando ya bahari, mahali ambapo wanaishi Wakerethi, patakuwa mahali pa wachungaji na mazizi ya kondoo.
And the land by the sea will be grass-land, with houses for keepers of sheep and walled places for flocks.
7 Itakuwa mali ya mabaki ya nyumba ya Yuda, hapo watapata malisho. Wakati wa jioni watajilaza chini katika nyumba za Ashkeloni. Bwana Mungu wao atawatunza, naye atawarudishia wafungwa wao.
The land by the sea will be for the rest of the children of Judah; by the sea they will give their flocks food: in the houses of Ashkelon they will take their rest in the evening; for the Lord their God will take them in hand and their fate will be changed.
8 “Nimeyasikia matukano ya Moabu nazo dhihaka za Waamoni, ambao waliwatukana watu wangu na kutoa vitisho dhidi ya nchi yao.
My ears have been open to the bitter words of Moab and the words of shame of the children of Ammon, which they have said against my people, lifting themselves up against the limit of their land.
9 Hakika, kama niishivyo,” asema Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote, Mungu wa Israeli, “hakika Moabu itakuwa kama Sodoma, Waamoni kama Gomora: mahali pa magugu na mashimo ya chumvi, nchi ya ukiwa milele. Mabaki ya watu wangu watawateka nyara; mabaki ya taifa langu watarithi nchi yao.”
For this cause, by my life, says the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, truly Moab will become like Sodom and the children of Ammon like Gomorrah, given up to waste plants and salt pools and unpeopled for ever: the rest of my people will take their property, the overflow of my nation will take their heritage.
10 Hiki ndicho watarudishiwa kwa ajili ya kiburi chao, kwa kutukana na kudhihaki watu wa Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote.
This will be their fate because of their pride, because they have said evil, lifting themselves up against the people of the Lord of armies.
11 Bwana atakuwa wa kuhofisha kwao atakapoangamiza miungu yote ya nchi. Mataifa katika kila pwani yatamwabudu, kila moja katika nchi yake.
The Lord will let himself be seen by them: for he will make all the gods of the earth feeble; and men will go down before him in worship, everyone from his place, even all the sea-lands of the nations.
12 “Ninyi pia, ee Wakushi, mtauawa kwa upanga wangu.”
And you Ethiopians will be put to death by my sword.
13 Mungu atanyoosha mkono wake dhidi ya kaskazini na kuangamiza Waashuru, akiiacha Ninawi ukiwa na pakame kama jangwa.
And his hand will be stretched out against the north, for the destruction of Assyria; and he will make Nineveh unpeopled and dry like the waste land.
14 Makundi ya kondoo na ngʼombe yatajilaza pale, viumbe vya kila aina. Bundi wa jangwani na bundi waliao kwa sauti nyembamba wataishi juu ya nguzo zake. Mwangwi wa kuita kwao utapita madirishani, kifusi kitakuwa milangoni, boriti za mierezi zitaachwa wazi.
And herds will take their rest in the middle of her, all the beasts of the valley: the pelican and the porcupine will make their living-places on the tops of its pillars; the owl will be crying in the window; the raven will be seen on the doorstep.
15 Huu ndio mji uliotukuka na kuishi kwa furaha wakijisikia salama. Ulisema moyoni mwako, “Mimi ndimi, na wala hapana mwingine ila mimi.” Jinsi gani umekuwa gofu, mahali pa kulala wanyama pori! Wote wanaopita kando yake wanauzomea na kutikisa mkono kwa dharau.
This is the town which was full of joy, living without fear of danger, saying in her heart, I am, and there is no other: how has she been made waste, a place for beasts to take their rest in! everyone who goes by her will make hisses, waving his hand.

< Sefania 2 >