Isaya 36

1 Katika mwaka wa kumi na nne wa mfalme Hezekia, Senacherebi, mfalme wa Asiria, alivamia miji yote ya Yuda na kuwakamata.

In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.

2 Halafu mfalme wa Asiria akamtuma kamanda mkuu na jeshi kubwa kutoka Lachishi mpaka Yerusalemu kwa mfalme Hezekia. Alipofika kwenye mfereji katika kisima cha juu, katika njia kuu na katika shamba la dobi na akasimama pale.

And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.

3 Maofisa wa Israeli waliotumwa kuzungumza nao walikuwa ni Eliakimu mtoto wa Hilkia, kiongozi wa jumba, Shebna katibu wa mfalme, na Joa mtoto wa Asapha, anayeandika makubaliano ya serekali.

Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to him.

4 Kamanda mkuu wa jeshi akawaambia wao, ''Mwambieni Hezekia kwamba mfalme mkuu, mfalme Asiria, asema, 'Nini chanzo cha ujasiri wako?

The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?

5 Unaongea maneno yasiyo na maana tu, nasema kama kuna shauri na nguvu za vita. Sasa ni nani unayemuamini? na ni nani aliyekupa ujasiri wa kuniasi mimi.

You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?

6 Tazama, umeweka imani yako Misri, maana banzi la mwanzi unalolitumia kama fimbo ya kutembelea, ikiwa mtu ataiegemea na kuishika kwenye mkono wake itamchoma. Hivyo ndovyo jinsi Farao mfalme wa Misri alivyo kwa yeyote anayemuamini.

Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

7 Lakini ikiwa utasema nami, ''Tunamwamini Yahwe Mungu wetu,''Je sio yeye ambaye Hezekia ameondosha mahali palipoinuka na madhebau, asema kwa Yuda na Yerusalemu, ''Lazima tuabudu mbele ya madhebau hii katika Yerusalemu''?

But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before this altar’?

8 Hivyo sasa, nataka kukufanya wewe kuwa zawadi nzuri kwa Bwana mfalme Asiria. Nitakupa farasi elfu mbili, kama utaweza kuwatafutia dereva.

Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!

9 Ni kwa jinsi gani unaweza kumpinga moja kati ya nahodha aliye mdogo katika watumishi wa Bwana wangu? Mmeweka imani yenu Misri katika gari na farasi!

For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?

10 Halafu sasa, Je nimewezaje kusafiri mpaka hapa pasipo Yahwe kupigana dhidi ya nchi hii na kuhiaribu? Yahwe asema nami, Vamia nchi hii na uhiharibu.

So now, was it apart from the LORD that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”

11 Halafu Eliakimu mtoto wa Hilkia, na Shebna na Joa asema kwa kamanda mkuu, Tafadhali zungumza na watu wako kwa lugha ya kiashuru, maana kiashuru tunakielewa. Usiongee na sisi kwa lugha kiyahudi katika masikio ya watu ambao wako ukutani.''

Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

12 Lakini kamanda mkuu akasema, ''Je bwana wenu ametuma kwa bwana wako na kuzungumza haya maneno? Je hajanituma kwa watu walio kaa kwenye ukuta, ili wale kinyesi chaao mwenyewe na kunywa mkojo waomwenyewe?

But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”

13 Halafu kamanda mkuu akasimama na kupiga kelele kwa sauti kubwa kwa lugha ya kiyahudi, na akisema,

Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!

14 ''Mfalme asema, ' Msimruhusu Hezekia awadanganye ninyi, maana hataweza kuwaokoa ninyi.

This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot deliver you.

15 Msimruhusu Hezekia awafanye muumuamini Yahwe, Nawambieni Hakika Yahwe atatukomboa sisi; mjii huu hautachukuliwa na mfalme wa Asiria.''

Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

16 Msimsikilize Hezekia, maana hivi ndivyo mfalme wa Asiria anavyosema: 'Fanyeni amani na mimi na mje kwangu. Halafu kila mmoja wenu atakula kwenye mzabibu wake mwenyewe na tunda la mti wake mwenyewe, na kunjwa maji ya kisima chake mwenyewe.

Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern,

17 Mtafanya hivi mpaka nije kuwachukua na kuwapeleka kwenye nchi kama ya kwenu. nchi ya mavuno na mvinyo mpya, nchi ya mkate na shamba.

until I come and take you away to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

18 Msimruhusu Hezekia awapotoshe nyie, akisema, Yahwe atatuokoa nyie; Je kuna miungu ya aina yeyote ya watu iliyowakomboa kutoka mikononi mwa mfalme wa Asiria?

Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

19 Wako wapi miungu wa Hamathi na Arpadi? Iko wapi miungu ya Sefarvaimu? Je wameikomboa Samaria kutoka kwenye nguvu zangu?

Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

20 Miongoni mwa miungu yote ya nchi hii, Je kuna miungu ya aina yeyote iliyoikomboa nchi yao kutoka kwenye nguvu yangu, ni kama Yahwe anaweza kuawokoa Yerusalemu kutoka kwenye nguvu yangu?''

Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

21 Lakini watu wanabaki kimya na hawataki kujibu, maana amri ya mfalme ilikuwa, ''Msimjibu''.

But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

22 Halafu Eliakimu mtoto wa Hilkia, yeye aliye juu ya kaya, Shebna mwandishi, na Joa mtoto wa Asafu, na mtunza kumbukumbu, walikuja kwa Hezekia na nguo zilizotoboka na wakapeleka maneno ya kamanda mkuu.

Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.