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.
On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.
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 the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah 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.
to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
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.''
Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”
5 Sasa watumishi wa mfalme Hezekia walikuja kwa Isaya,
So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,
6 na Isaya akawambia, ''Mwambieni Bwana wenu: 'Yahwe amesma, ''Msiogope kwa maneno mliyoyasikia, maneno ambayo mfalme wa Asiria amenitusi mimi.
who replied, “Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words you 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 so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”
8 Basi kamanda mkuu alirudi na kumkuta mfalme wa Asira anapigana dhidi ya Libna, Maana aliskia kwamba mfalme amekwenda mbali kutoka Lachishi.
When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Halafu Sennacheribi alisikia kwamba Tirkhaka mfalme wa Ethiopia na Misri wamehamasishana kupigna dhidi yake. Hivyo akamtuma mjumbe mara nyingine kwa Hezekia apeleke ujumbe:
Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “He has set out to fight against you.” On hearing this, Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 ''Mwambie Hezekia, mfalme wa Yuda, 'Usimruhusu Mungu unayemwamini akudanganye, ''Yerusalemu haitatiwa mikononi mwa mfalme wa Asiria.''
“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 umesikia kitu ambacho mfalme wa Asiria alichokifanya kwa nchi yote kwa kuiangamiza kabisa. Je utawaokoa?
Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared?
12 Je miungu ya mataifa imewakomboa? taifa ambalo baba yangu aliliangamiza: Gozani, Harani, Rezefi na watu wa Edeni katika Telassari?
Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
13 Yuko wapi mfalme wa Hamathi, mfalme wa Arpadi, mfalme wa miji ya Sefarvaaimi, wa Hema na Ivva?''
Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, 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.
So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
15 Hezekia alimuomba Mungu:
And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:
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 LORD of Hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the 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 Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to all the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
18 Ni kweli Yahwe, mfalme wa Asiria ameangamiza mataifa yote na aridhi yao.
Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all these countries and their lands.
19 Wameiweka miungu yao katika moto, maana haikuwa miungu lakini kazi ya mikono ya wanadamu, ni kuni na jiwe tu.
They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.
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.''
And now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”
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 son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to Me concerning 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 that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.
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 you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? 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.
Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest heights, the densest of its forests.
25 Nimechimba kisima na kunywa maji; nimechimba mito yote ya Misri chini ya nyayo za miguu yangu.'
I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams 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 you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.
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, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.
28 Lakini najua kukaa kwenu chini, kutoka kwenu nje, mnapoingia ndani, na mnapokuwa wakali dhidi yangu.
But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your 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 your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you 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 will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31 Mabaki ya nyumba ya Yuda ambao wanaishi watachukua mzizi tena na kuzalisha matunda.
And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.
32 Maana katika Yerusalemu waliobaki watatoka; Kutoka kwenye mlima Sayuni waliobaki watakuja. Bidii ya Yahwe wa majeshi itafanikisha hili.''
For a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish 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.
So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow into it. He will not come before it with a shield or build up a siege ramp against it.
34 Njia atakayojia itakuwa njia hiyo hiyo atakayorudia; ataingia katika mji huu. Hili ni Tamko ya Yahwe.
He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city,’
35 Maana nitaulinda huu mji na kuuokoa, kwa niaba yangu mimi mwenyewe na kwa niaba Daudi mtumishi wangu.''
‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
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.
Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
37 Hivyo Sennacheribi mfalme wa Asiria aliiacha Israeli na kwenda nyumbani na akakaa Ninewi.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
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.
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.
