< Wagalatia 2 >

1 Baada ya miaka kumi na nne nilienda tena Yerusalemu pamoja na Barnaba. Pia nilimchukua Tito pamoja nami.
Later still, after an interval of fourteen years, I again went up to Jerusalem in company with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me.
2 Nilienda kwa sababu Mungu alijidhihirisha kwangu kwamba nilipaswa kwenda. Niliweka mbele yao Injili ambayo niliitangaza kwa watu wa mataifa. (Lakini niliongea kwa siri kwa waliosemekana kuwa viongozi muhimu). Nilifanya hivi ili kuhakikisha kwamba nilikuwa sikimbii, au nilikimbia bure.
I went up in obedience to a revelation of God's will; and I explained to them the Good News which I proclaim among the Gentiles. To the leaders of the Church this explanation was made in private, lest by any means I should be running, or should already have run, in vain.
3 Lakini hata Tito, aliyekuwa pamoja nami, aliyekuwa Myunani, alilazimishwa kutahiriwa.
But although my companion Titus was a Greek they did not insist upon even his being circumcised.
4 Jambo hili lilitokea kwa sababu ya ndugu wa uongo waliokuja kwa siri kupeleleza uhuru tuliokuwa nao katika Kristo Yesu. Walitamani kutufanya sisi kuwa watumwa wa sheria.
Yet there was danger of this through the false brethren secretly introduced into the Church, who had stolen in to spy out the freedom which is ours in Christ Jesus, in order to rob us of it.
5 Hatukujitoa kuwatii hata kwa saa moja, ili kwamba injili ya kweli ibaki bila kubadilika kwenu.
But not for an hour did we give way and submit to them; in order that the Good News might continue with you in its integrity.
6 Lakini wale waliosemwa kuwa walikuwa viongozi hawakuchangia chochote kwangu. Chochote walichokuwa wakikifanya hakikuwa na maana kwangu. Mungu hakubali upendeleo wa wanadamu.
From those leaders I gained nothing new. Whether they were men of importance or not, matters nothing to me--God recognizes no external distinctions. To me, at any rate, the leaders imparted nothing new.
7 Badala yake, waliniona kwamba nimeaminiwa kuitangaza injili kwa wale ambao hawakutahiriwa. Ilikuwa kama Petro atangaze injili kwa waliotahiriwa.
Indeed, when they saw that I was entrusted with the preaching of the Good News to the Gentiles as Peter had been with that to the Jews--
8 Kwa maana Mungu, aliyefanya kazi ndani ya Petro kwa ajili ya utume kwa wale waliotahiriwa, pia alifanya kazi ndani yangu kwa watu wa mataifa.
for He who had been at work within Peter with a view to his Apostleship to the Jews had also been at work within me with a view to my Apostleship to the Gentiles--
9 Wakati Yakobo, Kefa, na Yohana, waliotambulika kuwa waliojenga Kanisa, walifahamu neema niliyopewa mimi, walitupokea katika ushirika mimi na Barnaba. Walifanya hivi ili kwamba twende kwa watu wa mataifa, na ili kwamba waweze kwenda kwa wale waliotahiriwa.
and when they perceived the mission which was graciously entrusted to me, they (that is to say, James, Peter, and John, who were considered to be the pillars of the Church) welcomed Barnabas and me to their fellowship on the understanding that we were to go to the Gentiles and they to the Jews.
10 Pia walitutaka sisi kuwakumbuka masikini. Mimi pia nilikuwa natamani kufanya jambo hili.
Only they urged that we should remember their poor--a thing which was uppermost in my own mind.
11 Wakati Kefa alipokuja Antiokia, nilimpinga waziwazi kwa sababu alikuwa amekosea.
Now when Peter visited Antioch, I remonstrated with him to his face, because he had incurred just censure.
12 Kabla ya watu kadhaa kuja kutoka kwa Yakobo, Kefa alikuwa akila pamoja na watu wa mataifa. Lakini hawa watu walipokuja, aliacha na kuondoka kutoka kwa watu wa mataifa. Alikuwa anaogopa watu ambao walihitaji tohara.
For until certain persons came from James he had been accustomed to eat with Gentiles; but as soon as these persons came, he withdrew and separated himself for fear of the Circumcision party.
13 Vilevile Wayahudi wengine waliungana na unafiki huu pamoja na Kefa. Matokeo yake yalikuwa kwamba hata Barnaba alichukuliwa na unafiki wao.
And along with him the other Jews also concealed their real opinions, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their lack of straightforwardness.
14 Lakini nilipoona kwamba walikuwa hawafuati injili ya kweli, nilimwambia Kefa mbele yao wote, “Kama ninyi ni Wayahudi lakini mnaishi tabia za watu wa mataifa badala ya tabia za Kiyahudi, kwa nini mnawalazimisha watu wa mataifa kuishi kama Wayahudi?”
As soon as I saw that they were not walking uprightly in the spirit of the Good News, I said to Peter, before them all, "If you, though you are a Jew, live as a Gentile does, and not as a Jew, how can you make the Gentiles follow Jewish customs?
15 Sisi ambao ni Wayahudi kwa kuzaliwa na siyo “Watu wa mataifa wenye dhambi “
You and I, though we are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners,
16 fahamu kwamba hakuna anayehesabiwa haki kwa matendo ya sheria. Badala yake, wanahesabiwa haki kwa imani ndani ya Yesu Kristo. Tulikuja kwa imani ndani ya Kristo Yesu ili kwamba tunahesabiwa haki kwa imani ndani ya Kristo na siyo kwa matendo ya sheria. Kwa matendo ya sheria hakuna mwili utakao hesabiwa haki.
know that it is not through obedience to Law that a man can be declared free from guilt, but only through faith in Jesus Christ. We have therefore believed in Christ Jesus, for the purpose of being declared free from guilt, through faith in Christ and not through obedience to Law. For through obedience to Law no human being shall be declared free from guilt.
17 Lakini kama tunapomtafuta Mungu kwa kutuhesabia haki ndani ya Kristo, tunajikuta wenyewe pia kuwa wenye dhambi, je Kristo alifanywa mtumwa wa dhambi? Siyo hivyo!
But if while we are seeking in Christ acquittal from guilt we ourselves are convicted of sin, Christ then encourages us to sin! No, indeed.
18 Maana kama nikijenga tegemeo langu juu ya kutunza sheria, tegemeo ambalo nilikwisha liondoa, najionesha mwenyewe kuwa mvunja sheria.
Why, if I am now rebuilding that structure of sin which I had demolished, I am thereby constituting myself a transgressor;
19 Kupitia sheria nilikufa kwa sheria, kwa hiyo napaswa kuishi kwa ajili ya Mungu.
for it is by the Law that I have died to the Law, in order that I may live to God.
20 Nimesulubiwa pamoja na Kristo. Si mimi tena ninayeishi, bali Kristo anaishi ndani yangu. Maisha ninayoishi katika mwili ninaishi kwa imani ndani ya Mwana wa Mungu, ambaye alinipenda na akajitoa kwa ajili yangu.
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me; and the life which I now live in the body I live through faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up to death on my behalf.
21 Siikani neema ya Mungu, maana kama haki ilikuwepo kupitia sheria, basi Kristo angekuwa amekufa bure.
I do not nullify the grace of God; for if acquittal from guilt is obtainable through the Law, then Christ has died in vain."

< Wagalatia 2 >