< Isaya 36 >

1 Katika mwaka wa kumi na nne wa mfalme Hezekia, Senacherebi, mfalme wa Asiria, alivamia miji yote ya Yuda na kuwakamata.
And it comes to pass, in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Asshur has come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and seizes them.
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 Asshur sends Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, with a heavy force, and he stands by the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller’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.
and Eliakim son of Hilkiah goes forth to him, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the remembrancer.
4 Kamanda mkuu wa jeshi akawaambia wao, ''Mwambieni Hezekia kwamba mfalme mkuu, mfalme Asiria, asema, 'Nini chanzo cha ujasiri wako?
And Rabshakeh says to them, “Now say to Hezekiah, Thus said the great king, the king of Asshur: What [is] this confidence in which you have confided?
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.
I have said, Only a word of the lips! Counsel and might [are] for battle. Now, on whom have you trusted, 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.
Behold, you have trusted on the staff of this broken reed—on Egypt—which a man leans on, and it has gone into his hand, and pierced it—so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt to all those trusting on 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''?
And do you say to me, We have trusted in our God YHWH? Is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has turned aside, and says to Judah and to Jerusalem, Bow yourselves before this altar?
8 Hivyo sasa, nataka kukufanya wewe kuwa zawadi nzuri kwa Bwana mfalme Asiria. Nitakupa farasi elfu mbili, kama utaweza kuwatafutia dereva.
And now, please negotiate with my lord the king of Asshur, and I give two thousand horses to you, if you are able to put riders on them for yourself.
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!
And how do you turn back the face of one captain of the least of the servants of my lord, and trust on Egypt for yourself, for chariot and for 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.
And now, without YHWH have I come up against this land to destroy it? YHWH said to me, Go up to this land, and you have destroyed 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.''
And Eliakim says—and Shebna and Joah—to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants [in] Aramaic, for we are understanding; and do not speak to us [in] Jewish, in the ears of the people who [are] 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?
And Rabshakeh says, “To your lord, and to you, has my lord sent me to speak these words? Is it not for the men—those sitting on the wall to eat their own dung and to drink their own water with you?”
13 Halafu kamanda mkuu akasimama na kupiga kelele kwa sauti kubwa kwa lugha ya kiyahudi, na akisema,
And Rabshakeh stands and calls with a great voice [in] Jewish, and says, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Asshur—
14 ''Mfalme asema, ' Msimruhusu Hezekia awadanganye ninyi, maana hataweza kuwaokoa ninyi.
thus said the king: Do not let Hezekiah lift you up, for he is not able to deliver you;
15 Msimruhusu Hezekia awafanye muumuamini Yahwe, Nawambieni Hakika Yahwe atatukomboa sisi; mjii huu hautachukuliwa na mfalme wa Asiria.''
and do not let Hezekiah make you trust to YHWH, saying, YHWH certainly delivers us, this city is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur.
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 thus said the king of Asshur: Make a blessing with me, and come out to me, and each of you eat of his vine, and each of his fig tree, and each drink the waters of his own well,
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 my coming in, and I have taken you to a land like your own land, a land of grain and 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?
lest Hezekiah persuades you, saying, YHWH delivers us. Have the gods of the nations each delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Asshur?
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, that they have delivered Samaria out of 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 [are] they who have delivered their land out of my hand, that YHWH delivers Jerusalem out of my hand?”
21 Lakini watu wanabaki kimya na hawataki kujibu, maana amri ya mfalme ilikuwa, ''Msimjibu''.
And they keep silent, and have not answered him a word, for a command of the king is, saying, “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.
And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who [is] over the house, comes in, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the remembrancer, to Hezekiah, with torn garments, and they declare to him the words of Rabshakeh.

< Isaya 36 >