Amosi 5
1 Sikilizeni hili neno ambalo nisemalo kama maombelezo juu yenu, nyumba ya Israeli.
Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lamentation I take up against you:
2 Bikira wa Israeli ameanguka; hatoinuka tena; ametoroka kwenye nchi yake, hakuna mtu wa kumwinua.
“Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.”
3 Kwa kuwa hivi ndivyo Yahwe asemavyo: “Mji ambao umetoka nje kwa elfu watabaki mia, na walioenda nje mia watabaki kumi wa mali ya nyumba ya Israeli.”
This is what the Lord GOD says: “The city that marches out a thousand strong will only see a hundred return, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have but ten left in the house of Israel.”
4 Kwa kuwa hivi ndivyo Yahwe asemavyo kwa nyumba ya Israeli: “Nitafuteni na mtaishi!
For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live!
5 Msimtafute Betheli; wala kuingia Gilgali; msisafiri kwenda Bersheba. Kwa kuwa Gilgali watakwenda utumwani hakika, na Betheli haitakuwa kitu.
Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.
6 Mtafuteni Yahwe mtaishi, au atawaka kama moto kwenye nyumba ya Yusufu. Utateketeza, na hakutakuwa na mtu hata mmoja kuuzima katika Betheli.
Seek the LORD and live, or He will sweep like fire through the house of Joseph; it will devour everything, with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.
7 Wale watu wageuzao haki kuwa jambo chungu na kuiangusha haki chini!”
There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.
8 Mungu aliiumba Pleidezi na Orioni; amebadilisha giza kuwa asubuhu; hufanya siku kuwa giza na usiku na kuita maji ya bahari; yeye huyamwaga juu ya uso wa dunia. Yahwe ndilo jina lake!
He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth— the LORD is His name—
9 Yeye huleta uharibifu wa ghafla juu ya waliohodari ili kwamba uharibifu uje juu ya ngome.
He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold.
10 Wanamchukia kila awasahihishaye katika lango la mji, nao humchukia sana yeyote asemaye ukweli.
There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
11 Kwa sababu mnamkanyaga chini maskini na kuchukua sehemu ya ngano kutoka kwake- ingawa mmejenga nyumba za mawe yaliyochongwa, hamtaishi kwenye nyumba hizo. Mmependezwa na mashamba ya mizabibu, lakini hamtakunywa mvinyo wake.
Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.
12 Kwa kuwa najua ni jinsi gani mlivyo na makosa mengi na jinsi dhambi zenu zilivyo kubwa- ninyi mnaowaonea wenye haki, chukueni rushwa, na kuwageuza wahitaji kwenye lango la mji.
For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.
13 Kwa hiyo kila mtu mwenye busara atanyamaza kimya kwenye wakati kama huo, kwa kuwa ni wakati wa uovu.
Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.
14 Tafuteni mazuri na sio mabaya, ili kwamba mpate kuishi. Hivyo Yahwe, Mungu wa majeshi, atakuwa na ninyi tayari, kama msemavyo yeye ndiye.
Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.
15 Chukieni uovu, imarisheni haki katika lango la mji. Huenda Yahwe, Mungu wa majeshi, atawafadhili mabaki ya Yusufu.
Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
16 Kwa hiyo, hivi ndivyo Yahwe asemavyo, Mungu wa majeshi, Bwana, “Kutakuwa na maombolezo kwenye miraba yote, na watasema kwenye mitaa yote, 'Ole! Ole!' Watawaita wakulima kuomboleza na walio hodari wa kulia na kuomboleza.
Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail.
17 Katika mashamba yote ya mizabibu kutakuwa na kilio, kwa kuwa nitapita katikati yako,” asema Yahwe.
There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,”
18 Ole wenu ninyi mnaoitamani siku ya Yahwe! Kwa nini mnaitamani? Itakuwa giza na sio nuru,
Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.
19 kama wakati mtu anamkimbia simba na kukutana na dubu, au aliingia katika nyumba na kuweka mkono wake kwenye ukuta na kung'atwa na nyoka.
It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.
20 Je siku ya Yahwe itakuwa giza na sio nuru? Huzuni na sio furaha?
Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?
21 “Nachukia, nazidharau sikukuu zenu, naichukia mikutano yenu ya dini.
“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.
22 Hata kama mnanitolea sadaka ya kuteketeza na sadaka za unga, sintozipokea, wala kuzitazama kwenye sadaka za ushirika wa wanyama walionona.
Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.
23 Niondoleeni kelele za nyimbo zenu; sintosikiliza sauti za vinubi vyenu.
Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 Badala yake, acheni haki itiririke kama maji, na haki kama mkondo utiririkao siku zote.
But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 Je mmeniletea dhambihu na sadaka za kuteketeza jangwani kwa mda wa miaka arobaini?
Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
26 Mtamwinua Sikuthi kama mfalme wenu, na Kiuni, nyota yenu ya miungu-ambayo mmeifanya kwa ajili yenu wenyewe.
You have taken along Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, the idols you made for yourselves.
27 Kwa hiyo nitawahamisha upande wa pili wa Damaskasi,” asema Yahwe, ambaye jina lake ni Mungu wa majeshi.
Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.
