Isaya 17
1 Tamko kuhusu Damaskasi.
A declaration about Damascus.
2 Miji ya Aroera itaharibiwa. Patakuwa na nafasi kwa ajili ya kutunzia mifugo, na hakuna hatakayeizuia.
The cities of Aroer will be abandoned. They will be places for flocks to lie down, and no one will frighten them.
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.
Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim, the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Aram—they will be like the glory of the people of Israel—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts.
4 Itakuwa siku hiyo utukufu wa Yakobo utapungua, utakuwa mwembamba na kunona kwa mwili wake utapungua.
It will come about on that day that the glory of Jacob will become thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become 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.
It will be as when a harvester gathers the standing grain, and his arm reaps the heads of grain. It will be as when one gleans heads of grain 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.
Gleanings will be left, however, as when the olive tree is shaken: two or three olives in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the highest branches of a fruitful tree—this is the declaration of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
7 Siku hiyo watu watawangalia Muumba wake, na macho yatamuangalia Mtakatifu wa Israeli.
On that day men will look toward their Maker, and their eyes will look 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.
They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, nor will they look to what their fingers have made, the Asherah poles 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.
On that day their strong cities will be like the abandoned wooded slopes on the hill summits, that were forsaken because of the people of Israel and that will become 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 you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have ignored the rock of your strength. So you plant pleasant plants, and set out vine branches received from a stranger,
11 Siku hiyo uliootesha na fensi na kulima. Mbegu zako zitaota mapema na kukua, lakini mavuno yatashindikana siku hiyo itakuwa huzuni na kukata tamaa.
on the day you plant and hedge and cultivate. Soon your seed will grow, but the harvest will fail on a 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!
Woe! 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 will roar like the rushing of many waters, but he will rebuke them and they will flee far away, they will be chased before the wind like chaff on the mountains, and like weeds whirling before a 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.
In the evening, see, terror! Before the morning they will be gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who rob us.
