Wakolosai 1
1 Paulo, mtume wa Kristo Yesu kwa mapenzi ya Mungu, na Timotheo ndugu yetu,
From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and from Timothy, also a follower of the Lord.
2 kwa waumini na ndugu waaminifu katika Kristo walioko Kolosai. Neema iwe kwenu, na amani kutoka kwa Mungu Baba yetu.
To Christ’s people at Colossae – the followers who are faithful to him: May God, our Father, bless you and give you peace.
3 Tunatoa shukrani kwa Mungu, Baba wa Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo, na tunawaombea mara kwa mara.
Whenever we pray we never fail to thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for you,
4 Tumesikia imani yenu katika Yesu Kristo na upendo mlionao kwa wale wote waliotengwa kwa ajili ya Mungu.
now that we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all his people,
5 Mna upendo huu kwa sababu ya taraja la uhakika lililohifadhiwa mbinguni kwa ajili yenu. Mlisikia kuhusu taraja hiyo ya uhakika kabla katika neno la kweli, injili,
because of the hope which is kept safe for you in heaven. Of this hope you heard long ago in the true message of the good news which reached you,
6 ambayo imekuja kwenu. Injili hii inazaa tunda na inaenea ulimwenguni kote. Imekuwa ikifanya hivi ndani yenu pia tangu siku mlipoisikia na kujifunza kuhusu neema ya Mungu katika kweli.
bearing fruit and growing, as it does, through all the world, just as it did among you from the very day that you heard of God’s loving kindness, and understood what that loving kindness really is.
7 Hii ndiyo injili mliyojifunza kutoka kwa Epafra, mpendwa wetu mtumishi mwenzetu, ambaye ni mtumishi mwaminifu wa Kristo kwa niaba yetu.
It is just what you learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who, as a minister of the Christ, faithfully represents us,
8 Epafra ameufanya ujulikane kwetu upendo wenu katika Roho.
and who told us of the love with which the Spirit has inspired you.
9 Kwa sababu ya upendo huu, tangu siku tuliposikia hivi, hatujaacha kuwaombea. Tumekuwa tukiomba kwamba mtajazwa na maarifa ya mapenzi yake katika hekima yote na ufahamu wa kiroho.
And therefore we, from the very day that we heard this, have never ceased praying for you, or asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, which comes through all true spiritual wisdom and insight.
10 Tumekuwa tukiomba kwamba mtatembea kwa ustahimilivu wa Bwana katika njia zipendezazo. Tumekuwa tukiomba kwamba mtazaa tunda katika kila tendo jema na kwamba mtakua katika maarifa ya Mungu.
Then you will live lives worthy of the Master, and so please God in every way. Your lives will be fruitful in every kind of good action, and grow into a fuller knowledge of God;
11 Tunaomba mweze kutiwa nguvu katika kila uwezo kulingana na nguvu za utukufu wake katika uvumilivu na ustahimilivu wote.
you will be made strong at all points with a strength worthy of the power manifested in his glory – strong to endure with patience, and even with gladness, whatever may happen to you;
12 Tunaomba kwamba, kwa furaha, mtatoa shukrani kwa Baba, aliyewafanya ninyi mweze kuwa na sehemu katika urithi wa waumini katika nuru.
and you will give thanks to the Father who made you fit to share the lot which awaits Christ’s people in the realms of light.
13 Ametuokoa kutoka katika utawala wa giza na kutuhamishia katika ufalme wa Mwana wake mpendwa.
For God has rescued us from the tyranny of darkness, and has removed us into the kingdom of his Son, who is the embodiment of his love,
14 Katika Mwanae tuna ukombozi, msamaha wa dhambi.
and through whom we have found deliverance in the forgiveness of our sins.
15 Mwana ni mfano wa Mungu asiyeonekana. Ni mzaliwa wa kwanza wa uumbaji wote.
For Christ is the incarnation of the invisible God – firstborn and head of all creation;
16 Kwakuwa kwa yeye vitu vyote viliumbwa, vile vilivyoko mbinguni na vilivyoko duniani, vitu vinavyoonekana na visivyoonekana. ikiwa ni vya enzi au mamlaka au utawala au wenye nguvu, vitu vyote viliumbwa na yeye na kwa ajili yake.
for in him was created all that is in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible – angels and archangels and all the powers of heaven.
17 Yeye amekuwepo kabla ya vitu vyote, na katika yeye vitu vyote vinashikamana pamoja.
All has been created through him and for him. He was before all things, and all things unite in him;
18 Na yeye ndiye kichwa cha mwili yaani kanisa, yeye ni mwanzo na mzaliwa wa kwanza kutoka miongoni mwa wafu, hivyo, ana nafasi ya kwanza miongoni mwa vitu vyote.
and he is the head of the church, which is his body. The firstborn from the dead, he is to the church the source of its life, that he, in all things, may stand first.
19 Kwa kuwa Mungu alipendezwa kwamba utimilifu wake wote uishi ndani yake,
For it pleased the Father that in him the divine nature in all its fulness should live,
20 na kupatanisha vitu vyote kwake kwa njia ya Mwanawe. Mungu alifanya amani kupitia damu ya msalaba wake. Mungu alipatanisha vitu vyote kwake mwenyewe, ikiwa ni vitu vya duniani au vitu vya mbinguni.
and through him to reconcile all things to himself (making peace by the shedding of Christ’s blood offered on the cross) – whether on earth or in heaven.
21 Nanyi pia, kwa wakati mmoja mlikuwa wageni kwa Mungu na mlikuwa maadui wake katika akili na matendo maovu.
And it pleased God that you, once estranged from him and hostile towards him in your thoughts, intent only on wickedness –
22 Lakini sasa amewapatanisha ninyi kwa mwili wake kupitia kifo. Alifanya hivi ili kuwaleta ninyi watakatifu, wasio na lawama na bila dosari mbele yake,
but now he has reconciled you to himself by the sacrifice of Christ’s earthly body in death – it has pleased God that you should stand in his presence holy, pure, and blameless,
23 kama mkiendelea katika imani, mliyoimarishwa na kuwa thabiti, pasipo kuondoshwa mbali kutoka kwenye taraja la ujasiri la injili mliyoisikia. Hi ndiyo injili iliyotangazwa kwa kila mtu aliyeumbwa chini ya mbingu. Hii ndiyo injili ambayo kwayo mimi, Paulo, nimekuwa mtumishi.
if only you remain true to your faith, firm and immovable, never abandoning the hope held out in the good news to which you listened, which has been proclaimed among all created things under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made an assistant.
24 Sasa nafurahia mateso yangu kwa ajili yenu. Nami natimiliza katika mwili wangu kinachopungua kwa mateso ya Kristo kwa ajili ya mwili wake, ambao ni kanisa.
Now at last I can rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and in my own person I supplement the afflictions endured by the Christ, for the sake of his body, the church;
25 Mimi ni mtumishi wa kanisa hili, sawasawa na wajibu niliopewa kutoka kwa Mungu kwa ajili yenu, kulijaza neno la Mungu.
of which I myself became a minister in virtue of the office with which God entrusted me for your benefit, to declare the message of God in all its fulness –
26 Huu ni ukweli wa siri iliyokuwa imefichwa kwa miaka mingi na kwa vizazi. Lakini sasa imefunuliwa kwa wote waaminio katika Yeye. (aiōn g165)
that truth which has been hidden from former ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to God’s people, (aiōn g165)
27 Ni kwa wale ambao Mungu alitaka kufunua kulivyo utajiri wa utukufu wa siri ya ukweli huu miongoni mwa Mataifa. Ni kwamba Kristo yumo ndani yenu, ujasiri wa utukufu ujao.
to whom it was his pleasure to make known the surpassing glory of that hidden truth when proclaimed among the Gentiles – ‘Christ among you! Your hope of glory!’
28 Huyu ndiye tunayemtangaza. Tunamwonya kila mtu, na kumfundisha kila mtu kwa hekima yote, ili kwamba tumlete kila mtu mkamilifu katika Kristo.
This is the Christ whom we proclaim, warning everyone, and instructing everyone, with all the wisdom that we possess, in the hope of bringing everyone into God’s presence perfected by union with Christ.
29 Kwa jili hii, mimi najibidisha na kujitahidi kulingana na nguvu yake ifanyayo kazi ndani yangu katika uweza.
It is for that I toil, struggling with all the energy which he inspires and which works powerfully within me.
