Isaya 17
1 Tamko kuhusu Damaskasi.
The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
2 Miji ya Aroera itaharibiwa. Patakuwa na nafasi kwa ajili ya kutunzia mifugo, na hakuna hatakayeizuia.
The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
3 Miji ilioachwa itatoweka kutoka Efraimu, ufalme katuka Damskasi, na walobaki Aramu-watakuwa kama utukufu wa watu wa Israeli-Hili ni tamko la Yahwe wa majeshi.
And the fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria; they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith Jehovah of hosts.
4 Itakuwa siku hiyo utukufu wa Yakobo utapungua, utakuwa mwembamba na kunona kwa mwili wake utapungua.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
5 Itakuwa kama mvuna ikusanyavyo mavuno, na mkono wake huvuna maganda ya mazao. Itakuwa kama mtu atoae maganda ya mavuno katika bonde la Refaimu.
And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the standing grain, and his arm reapeth the ears; yea, it shall be as when one gleaneth ears in the valley of Rephaim.
6 Masalia yataachwa, hata hivyo, mti wa mzabibu utatingishwa: Mizeituni miwili au mitatu iliyo juu sana matawi yake yako juu, manne au matano katka tawi la juu katika mti unaozaa-hili ni tamko la Yahwe, Mungu wa Israeli.
Yet there shall be left therein gleanings, as the shaking of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost branches of a fruitful tree, saith Jehovah, the God of Israel.
7 Siku hiyo watu watawangalia Muumba wake, na macho yatamuangalia Mtakatifu wa Israeli.
In that day shall men look unto their Maker, and their eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
8 Hawatangalia madhabahu, kazi za mikono yao, wala hataangalia kile kinachofanywa na vidole vyao, nguzo za Ashera na picha ya jua.
And they shall not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they have respect to that which their fingers have made, either the Asherim, or the sun-images.
9 Siku hiyo miji yenye nguvu itakuwa kama msitu uliotelekezwa na juu ya kilele cha mlima, na palipo achwa kwa sababu ya wana wa Israeli patakuwa ukiwa.
In that day shall their strong cities be as the forsaken places in the wood and on the mountain top, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel; and it shall be a desolation.
10 Maana mmemsahau Mungu wa wakovu wenu, na umeudharau mwamba wa nguvu zako. Hivyo basi umeotesha miti mizuri, na mizabibu mizuri iliyotoka ugenini,
For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength; therefore thou plantest pleasant plants, and settest it with strange slips.
11 Siku hiyo uliootesha na fensi na kulima. Mbegu zako zitaota mapema na kukua, lakini mavuno yatashindikana siku hiyo itakuwa huzuni na kukata tamaa.
In the day of thy planting thou hedgest it in, and in the morning thou makest thy seed to blossom; but the harvest fleeth away in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Ole! Watu wenye ghasia, Kishindo chake ni kama mngurumo wa bahari, na kasi ya mataifa, wananguruma kama ngurumo ya maji mengi!
Ah, the uproar of many peoples, that roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 Mataifa yataunguruma kama maji mengi yaendao kasi, lakini Mungu atawakemea.
The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but he shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm.
14 Watakimbia mbali sana na watafukuzwa kama pumba kwenye mlima mbele ya upepo, kama mavumbi yazungukayo kwenye dhoruba. Wakati wa usiku, ona, hofu! Na kabla ya alfajiri watakwenda; hili ndilo eneo la wale waliotupora, na wale wanaotunyang'anya mali zetu.
At eventide, behold, terror; [and] before the morning they are not. This is the portion of them that despoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
