Isaya 37
1 Ikawa siku hiyo mfalme Hezekia aliposika taarifa zao, alichana mavazi yake, na kujifunika nguo za magunia, na akaenda kwenye nyumba ya Yahwe.
And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Jehovah.
2 Na alimtuma Eliakimu, ambae ni kiongozi wa kaya na Shebna mwandishi, na wazee wa makuhani, wote walijifunika nguo za magunia, kwa Isaya mtoto wa Amozi, nabii.
And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 Wakamwambia yeye, Hezekia akasema hivi, 'Siku hii ni siku ya dhiki, kukemewa, na aibu, ni kama mtoto aliye tayari kuzaliwa lakini mama yake hana nguvu za kumsukuma mtoto.
And they said to him, Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy, for the sons have come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 Itakuwa Yahwe Mungu wenu atasikia maneno ya kamanda mkuu, ambao mfalme wa Asira Bwana wake alimtuma kumpinga Mungu anayeishi, na atakemea maneno ambayo Yahwe Mungu wenu ameyasikia. Sasa inueni maombi yenu juu mabaki yaliyoobakia hapa.''
It may be Jehovah thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which Jehovah thy God has heard. Therefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
5 Sasa watumishi wa mfalme Hezekia walikuja kwa Isaya,
So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 na Isaya akawambia, ''Mwambieni Bwana wenu: 'Yahwe amesma, ''Msiogope kwa maneno mliyoyasikia, maneno ambayo mfalme wa Asiria amenitusi mimi.
And Isaiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus says Jehovah: Be not afraid of the words that thou have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Tazama nitaiweka roho yangu ndani yake na atasikiliiza taarifa fulani na atarudi kwenye nchi yake mwenyewe. Na nitamfanya anguke kwa upanga katika nchi yake mwenyewe.''
Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear news, and shall return to his own land. And I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
8 Basi kamanda mkuu alirudi na kumkuta mfalme wa Asira anapigana dhidi ya Libna, Maana aliskia kwamba mfalme amekwenda mbali kutoka Lachishi.
So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9 Halafu Sennacheribi alisikia kwamba Tirkhaka mfalme wa Ethiopia na Misri wamehamasishana kupigna dhidi yake. Hivyo akamtuma mjumbe mara nyingine kwa Hezekia apeleke ujumbe:
And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He has come out to fight against thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 ''Mwambie Hezekia, mfalme wa Yuda, 'Usimruhusu Mungu unayemwamini akudanganye, ''Yerusalemu haitatiwa mikononi mwa mfalme wa Asiria.''
Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trust deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 umesikia kitu ambacho mfalme wa Asiria alichokifanya kwa nchi yote kwa kuiangamiza kabisa. Je utawaokoa?
Behold, thou have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. And shall thou be delivered?
12 Je miungu ya mataifa imewakomboa? taifa ambalo baba yangu aliliangamiza: Gozani, Harani, Rezefi na watu wa Edeni katika Telassari?
Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?
13 Yuko wapi mfalme wa Hamathi, mfalme wa Arpadi, mfalme wa miji ya Sefarvaaimi, wa Hema na Ivva?''
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?
14 Hezekia alipokea barua hii kutoka mikononi mwa mjumbe na kisoma. Halafu akaenda juu kwenye nyumba ya Yahwe na kuusoma mbele yake.
And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. And Hezekiah went up to the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah.
15 Hezekia alimuomba Mungu:
And Hezekiah prayed to Jehovah, saying,
16 Yahwe wa majeshi, Mungu wa Israeli, wewe ambae uko juu ya makerubi, wewe ni Mungu mwenywe juu falme zote za dunia. umezifanya mbingu na nchi.
O Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, who sit above the cherubim, thou are the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. Thou have made heaven and earth.
17 Jeuza masikio yako, Yahwe, na sikiliza. Fungua macho yako, Ee Yahwe na uone, na usikilize maneno ya Sanacheribi, ambayo ameyatuma kumfanyia mzadha Mungu anayeishi.
Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear. Open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who has sent to defy the living God.
18 Ni kweli Yahwe, mfalme wa Asiria ameangamiza mataifa yote na aridhi yao.
Of a truth, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries, and their land,
19 Wameiweka miungu yao katika moto, maana haikuwa miungu lakini kazi ya mikono ya wanadamu, ni kuni na jiwe tu.
and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them.
20 Hivyo Waasira wameawaangamiza wao. hivyo saa Yahwe Mungu wetu, tuokoe kwa nguvu zako, ili falme zote za duniani zijue kwamba wewe ni Yahwe peke yako.''
Now therefore, O Jehovah our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou are Jehovah, even thou only.
21 Basi Isaya mtoto wa Amozi alituma ujumbe kwa Hezekia, na kusema, Yahwe Mungu wa Israeli amesema, Kwa sababu umeomba kwangu kuhusu Sannacheribi mfalme wa Asiria,
Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Whereas thou have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria,
22 Haya ndiyo maneno ambayo Yahwe amezungumza kuhusu yeye, ''Binti bikira wa Sayuni wanakudharau na kukucheka kwa dharau; mabinti wa Yerusalemu wanatingisha vichwa vyao kwa ajili yako.
this is the word which Jehovah has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised thee and laughed thee to scorn. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at thee.
23 Ni nani unayempinga na kumtusi? na dhidi ya nani unayenyanyua sauti yako na kunyanyua macho yako kwa kiburi? dhidi ya mtakatifu wa Israeli.
Whom have thou defied and blasphemed? And against whom have thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? Even against the Holy One of Israel.
24 Kwa kupitia watumishi wako umempinga Bwana na amesema, 'Kwa wingi wa gari nimepanda juu kwenye kilele cha milima, katika kilele cha mwuinuko wa Lebanoni. Nitaikata mierezi yake na kuchagua miti ya miseprasi pale, ni msitu uzao sana.
By thy servants thou have defied the Lord, and have said, With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon. And I will cut down the tall cedars of it, and the choice fir trees of it, and I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field.
25 Nimechimba kisima na kunywa maji; nimechimba mito yote ya Misri chini ya nyayo za miguu yangu.'
I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt.
26 Je haujasikia jinsi nilivyoamua toka siku nyingi na nimelifanyia kazi toka kipindi cha kale? ninayaleta sasa ili yaweze kutimia. Mko hapa kuhiaribu miji imara na yenye ulinzi wa kutosha na kuwa chungu cha uharibifu.
Have thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be thine to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
27 Wakazi wake, waliowadhaifu, waliokata tamaa na wenye aibu. Wanaotesha shambani, majani mabichi, majani juu paa au kwenye shamba kabla ya upepo wa mashariki.
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb. As the grass on the housetops, and as a field of grain before it is grown up.
28 Lakini najua kukaa kwenu chini, kutoka kwenu nje, mnapoingia ndani, na mnapokuwa wakali dhidi yangu.
But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against me.
29 Kwa sababu mnakuwa wakali dhidi yangu, maana kiburi chenu kimeyafikia masikio yangu, Nitaweka ndoano katika pua zenu, na sauti katika midomo yenu; Nitawageuza nyuma kwenye njia mliyokuja nayo.
Because of thy raging against me, and because thine arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou came.
30 Hii itakuwa wimbo kwenu: mwaka huu mtakula kinachoota porini na mwaka pili mtakula kinachoota hapo hapo. Lakini mwaka wa tatu lazima mpande na mvune, pandeni mizabibu na mle matunda yake.
And this shall be the sign to thee. Ye shall eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs of the same, and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of it.
31 Mabaki ya nyumba ya Yuda ambao wanaishi watachukua mzizi tena na kuzalisha matunda.
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
32 Maana katika Yerusalemu waliobaki watatoka; Kutoka kwenye mlima Sayuni waliobaki watakuja. Bidii ya Yahwe wa majeshi itafanikisha hili.''
For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion those who shall escape. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.
33 Hivyo basi Yahwe asema hivi kuhusu Asiria: ''Atakuja katika miji, wala kurusha mkuki hapa. Wala atakuja hapa mbele kwa ngao au kujenga uzio njia panda dhidi yao.
Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there. Neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.
34 Njia atakayojia itakuwa njia hiyo hiyo atakayorudia; ataingia katika mji huu. Hili ni Tamko ya Yahwe.
By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come to this city, says Jehovah.
35 Maana nitaulinda huu mji na kuuokoa, kwa niaba yangu mimi mwenyewe na kwa niaba Daudi mtumishi wangu.''
For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
36 Halafu malaika wa Yahwe alienda nje na kuvamia kambi ya Waasiria, na kuwauwa askari 185, 000. Watu walipoamka asubuhi na mapema, miili iliyokufa imelala kila mahali.
And the agent of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
37 Hivyo Sennacheribi mfalme wa Asiria aliiacha Israeli na kwenda nyumbani na akakaa Ninewi.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
38 Baadaye, na alipokuwa anabudu katika nyumba ya Nisrochi mungu wake, mtoto wake Adramaleki na Shareza alimuua kwa upanga. Halafu wakakimbilia kwenye nchi ya Ararati. Halafu Esarhadoni mtoto wake akatawala katika sehemu ya baba yake.
And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
