Amosi 5
1 Sikilizeni hili neno ambalo nisemalo kama maombelezo juu yenu, nyumba ya Israeli.
Listen to the words of the funeral song I am singing for you, Israel:
2 Bikira wa Israeli ameanguka; hatoinuka tena; ametoroka kwenye nchi yake, hakuna mtu wa kumwinua.
Fallen, no more to rise, is the virgin Israel! Hurled down upon her own soil she lies, with no one to lift 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.”
For the Lord God says this: The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers has only a hundred left, and the one that marches out with a hundred has only ten left.
4 Kwa kuwa hivi ndivyo Yahwe asemavyo kwa nyumba ya Israeli: “Nitafuteni na mtaishi!
For the Lord says this to Israel: Seek me and live,
5 Msimtafute Betheli; wala kuingia Gilgali; msisafiri kwenda Bersheba. Kwa kuwa Gilgali watakwenda utumwani hakika, na Betheli haitakuwa kitu.
But do not seek Bethel, do not enter Gilgal, do not go over to Beer-sheba. For Gilgal will enter exile, and Bethel will go to destruction.
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 cast fire on the house of Joseph, and it will devour and there will be no one to quench it for Bethel.
7 Wale watu wageuzao haki kuwa jambo chungu na kuiangusha haki chini!”
You who turn judgment to bitter wormwood, and cast righteousness into the dirt:
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 deep darkness into dawn, who darkens day again into night, who summons the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the earth’s surface, the Lord is his name!
9 Yeye huleta uharibifu wa ghafla juu ya waliohodari ili kwamba uharibifu uje juu ya ngome.
He causes destruction to burst over the strong. He brings devastation on the fortress.
10 Wanamchukia kila awasahihishaye katika lango la mji, nao humchukia sana yeyote asemaye ukweli.
You who hate the arbiters at the city gate, and abhor anyone who speaks the truth:
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.
Because you trample on the weak, and tax their grain, although you have built houses of hewn stone, you will not live in them, although you have planted charming vineyards, you will not drink their wine.
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 how many are your crimes, and how great are your sins! You persecutors of the righteous, takers of bribes! You deny the poor their justice at the city gate.
13 Kwa hiyo kila mtu mwenye busara atanyamaza kimya kwenye wakati kama huo, kwa kuwa ni wakati wa uovu.
It would be wise to keep quiet in such an evil time.
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 and not evil, that you may live, so the Lord, God of hosts, may be with you, as you have claimed he is.
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 at the city gate. Perhaps the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to a surviving 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 the Lord, the God of hosts, says: In all the public squares there will be wailing, in every street the sound of mourning. They will summon the farmers to mourning, and professional mourners to wailing.
17 Katika mashamba yote ya mizabibu kutakuwa na kilio, kwa kuwa nitapita katikati yako,” asema Yahwe.
In all vineyards there will be lamenting, when I pass through your midst, says the Lord.
18 Ole wenu ninyi mnaoitamani siku ya Yahwe! Kwa nini mnaitamani? Itakuwa giza na sio nuru,
Fools who long for the day of the Lord! What does the day of the Lord mean to you? It is 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 is as when one flees from a lion, and is attacked by a bear, as when one reaches home, leans his hand on the wall, and a snake bites him.
20 Je siku ya Yahwe itakuwa giza na sio nuru? Huzuni na sio furaha?
Won’t the Lord’s day be darkness and not light, murky darkness without a ray of light in it?
21 “Nachukia, nazidharau sikukuu zenu, naichukia mikutano yenu ya dini.
I hate, I despise your feasts, I will not smell the savor of your festivals,
22 Hata kama mnanitolea sadaka ya kuteketeza na sadaka za unga, sintozipokea, wala kuzitazama kwenye sadaka za ushirika wa wanyama walionona.
I will not be pleased with your burnt offerings, your grain offerings, I will not accept the peace offerings of your fattened calves.
23 Niondoleeni kelele za nyimbo zenu; sintosikiliza sauti za vinubi vyenu.
Spare me the noise of your songs, I will not listen to the melody of your lyres.
24 Badala yake, acheni haki itiririke kama maji, na haki kama mkondo utiririkao siku zote.
But let justice roll on as a flood of waters, and righteousness like an unfailing stream.
25 Je mmeniletea dhambihu na sadaka za kuteketeza jangwani kwa mda wa miaka arobaini?
Was it only sacrifices and grain offerings you brought me during the forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
26 Mtamwinua Sikuthi kama mfalme wenu, na Kiuni, nyota yenu ya miungu-ambayo mmeifanya kwa ajili yenu wenyewe.
But now you will lift up your “king” Sikkuth and “star god” Kiyyun, your idols which you have made for yourselves,
27 Kwa hiyo nitawahamisha upande wa pili wa Damaskasi,” asema Yahwe, ambaye jina lake ni Mungu wa majeshi.
as I drive you into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
