Isaya 8
1 Yahwe ameniambia mimi, '' chukua meza kubwa na uandike juu yake, 'Maheri Shalal Hash Baz.'
Then the Lord told me, “Get a large tablet and write on it in with an ordinary pen, ‘Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’
2 Nitachagua mashahidi waaminifu wanishuhudie mimi, kuhani Uria, Zakaria mototo wa Yeberekia.''
I will need Uriah the priest and Zechariah, son of Jeberekiah, to be my trustworthy witnesses.”
3 Nilienda kwa huyo nabii mwanamke alipata mimba na kumzaa mtoto. Halafu Yahwe akaniambia, ''Muite jina lake Shalal Hash Baz;
Then I slept with my wife the prophetess, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. The Lord told me, “Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
4 Maana kabla mtoto ajajua kulia, 'Baba yangu, 'Mama yangu; utajiri wa Damaskasi, na mateka wa Samaria watachuliwa na mfalme wa Asiria.
For even before the boy knows how to say ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mommy,’ the king of Assyria will carry off Damascus' wealth and Samaria's possessions.”
5 Yahwe aliongea na mimi tena,
Then the Lord spoke to me again, saying,
6 Kwa sababu watu hawa wameyakataa maji ya Shiloa na ni furaha kwa Rezeni na mtoto wa Remalia,
“Because this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah that gently flow and instead have rejoiced with Rezin and Remaliah's son,
7 Hivyo basi Bwana anakairbia kuwaletea maji maji ya mto, yenye nguvu na mengi, mfalme Asiria na utukufu wake utakuja juu na kupita juu ya mifereji yake atafurika juu ya kingo zote.
the Lord is going to bring the powerful floodwaters of the Euphrates River against them—the king of Assyria with all his glorious army. It will flood all its channels and overflow all its banks.
8 Mto utafurika kuelekea Yuda, utafurika mpaka kufika kwenye shingo yako. Mabawa yake yaliyonyooshwa utajaza upana wa nchi, Emanueli.''
It will sweep on into Judah, overflowing and flooding through, reaching up to the neck. Like outspread wings it will engulf the whole of your land, Immanuel!
9 Nyie watu mtavunjika vipande vipande, Sikilizeni, nyote muishio nchi zilizo mbali; jiandaeni wenyewe na mtavunyika vipande vipande.
Pay attention, you nations, and be smashed! Listen, all you distant lands, get ready, but you will be smashed. Get ready, but you will be smashed.
10 utatengeneza mpango, lakini haufanyiwa kazi; maana Mungu yuko pamoja nasi.
You can plan your strategy, but it will be foiled; you can say what you're intending, but it won't happen, for God is with us.”
11 Yahwe ameiniambia mimi, kwa mkono wake imara juu yangu, na amenikataza nisitembee katika njia za watu hawa. Nisiseme,
For this is what the Lord told me, holding me with a strong hand, instructing me not to follow the way of this people. He said,
12 Ni fitina habari ya mambo ambayo watu hawatasema, ni fitina msihofu wala msiogope.
Don't call a conspiracy everything that these people call a conspiracy. Don't fear what they fear. Don't be overawed!
13 Yahwe wa majeshi ambaye mtakaye muheshimu kama mtakatifu; yeye ndie mtakayemuogopa na yeye ndiye mtakayemuhofia.
The Lord Almighty is the one you should see as holy. He is the one you should fear, he is the one you should be in awe of.
14 mtakatifu; lakinia takuwa kama jiwe la kikwazo na mwamba wa kujikwaza kwa nyumba zote za Israeli. Na atakuwa mtego na mtego kwa watu wake Yerusalemu.
He will be a sanctuary for you. But to the royal families of both Israel and Judah he will be a stone they trip over and a rock that makes them stumble, a trap and a snare to the people who live in Jerusalem.
15 Wengi watajikwaa juu yao na kuanguka na kuvunjika, na kutekwa na kukamata mateka.
Many people will stumble over them. They will fall and be broken. They will be trapped and caught.
16 Ufunge huo ushuhuda, tia muhuri, na uwape wafuasi wangu,
Safeguard this testimony, seal these instructions—they are for my disciples.
17 Nitamsubiri Yahwe, afichaye uso wake kutoka nyumba ya Yakobo; Nitamsubiri yeye.
I will wait for the Lord, the one who is hiding his face from Jacob's descendants. I will wait in hope for him.
18 Ona, Mimi na watoto ambaye Yahwe amenipa mimi ni ishara na maajabu tu katika Israeli kutoka kwa Yahwe wa Majeshi yeye aishiye mlima wa Sayuni.
Look, I'm here, together with the children the Lord has given me. They are signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who lives on Mount Zion.
19 Watakuambia wewe, ''tafuta habari kwa watu wenye pepo na wachawi'', walio kama ndege na kunong'ona dua. Lakini hawataacha kutafuta habari kwa Mungu wao? Je waenende kwa watu waliokufa badala ya walio hai?
When someone suggests to you, “Go and ask mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter,” shouldn't people ask their God? Why should they ask the dead on behalf of the living?
20 Kwa sheria na kwa ushuhuda! kama hawatayasema mambo hayo ni kwa sababu hakuna mwanga wa alfajiri.
Go and examine God's law and his instructions! If what they say doesn't correspond with God's word, there will be no dawn for them.
21 Nawatapita katikati ya nchi kwa shida kubwa na njaa. Walipokuwa na njaa, walipatwa na hasira na kumlaani mfalme wao na Mungu wao, na wakajeuza macho yao juu.
They will wander round the country, depressed and hungry. When they are starving they will become furious, and looking up they will curse their king and their God.
22 Wataiangalia nchi na kuona dhiki, giza, na ukandamizaji wa viza. Watapelekwa kwenye nchi ya giza.
Then they will look towards the earth and see only misery and gloom and agonizing depression, and they will be thrown out into the darkness.
