Yakobo 1
1 Yakobo, mtumwa wa Mungu na wa Bwana Yesu Kristo, kwa makabila kumi na mbili yaliyotawanyika, salaam.
James the servant of God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
2 Hesabuni kuwa ni furaha zaidi, ndugu zangu, mnapopita katika matatizo mbali mbali,
My brethren, count it all joy, when you shall fall into divers temptations;
3 mkijua kuwa kujaribiwa kwa imani yenu huwapa uvumilivu.
Knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 Acheni uvumilivu uikamilishe kazi yake, kwamba muweze kukomaa kikamilifu, bila kupungukiwa katika lolote.
And patience hath a perfect work; that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing.
5 Lakini kama mtu kati yenu anahitaji hekima, aiombe kutoka kwa Mungu, ambaye hutoa kwa ukarimu na pasipo kukemea kwa wote wamwombao, na atawapa hekima.
But if any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men abundantly, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 Lakini omba kwa imani, bila shaka, kwa kuwa mwenye kutia shaka ni kama mawimbi katika bahari, huchukuliwa na upepo na kutupwa huku na huko.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind.
7 Kwa hakika mtu huyu asifikirie kwamba atapokelewa ombi lake kutoka kwa Bwana;
Therefore let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 mtu huyu ana nia mbili, si imara katika njia zake zote.
A double minded man is inconstant in all his ways.
9 Ndugu maskini anapaswa kujivuna katika kusimama kwake juu,
But let the brother of low condition glory in his exaltation:
10 wakati huo huo ndugu tajiri katika unyenyekevu wake, kwa sababu atatoweka kama ua la kondeni katika shamba analopita.
And the rich, in his being low; because as the flower of the grass shall he pass away.
11 Jua huchomoza na joto la kuunguza kukausha mimea, na maua huanguka na uzuri wake hufa. Vivyo hivyo watu matajiri watachakaa katikati ya kazi zao.
For the sun rose with a burning heat, and parched the grass, and the flower thereof fell off, and the beauty of the shape thereof perished: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
12 Amebarikiwa mtu yule anayevumilia majaribu, kwa kuwa baada ya kushinda jaribu hilo, atapokea taji ya uzima, ambayo imeahidiwa kwa wale wampendao Mungu.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive a crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him.
13 Mtu yeyote hapaswi kusema anapojaribiwa, “Jaribu hili linatoka kwa Mungu,” kwa sababu Mungu hajaribiwi na uovu, na Mungu mwenyewe hamjaribu yeyote.
Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God. For God is not a tempter of evils, and he tempteth no man.
14 Kila mtu hujaribiwa na tamaa zake mbaya zinazomshawishi na kumvuta mbali.
But every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured.
15 Ndipo baada ya tamaa ya dhambi kubeba mimba, dhambi huzaliwa, na baada ya dhambi kukomaa sawasawa, huishia katika mauti.
Then when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. But sin, when it is completed, begetteth death.
16 Ndugu zangu wapendwa, msidanganyike.
Do not err, therefore, my dearest brethren.
17 Kila zawadi iliyo nzuri na kila zawadi iliyokamilika hutoka juu, hushuka chini kutoka kwa Baba wa nuru. Kamwe habadiliki kama kivuli kibadilikavyo.
Every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration.
18 Mungu alichagua kutupa sisi uzima kwa Neno la kweli, ili kwamba tuweze kuwa kama uzao wa kwanza miongoni mwa viumbe vyake.
For of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of his creatures.
19 Mnajua hili, ndugu zangu wapendwa. Kila mmoja anapaswa kuwa mwepesi wa kusikia, siyo mwepesi wa kuongea wala kukasirika,
You know, my dearest brethren. And let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to anger.
20 kwa kuwa hasira ya mwanadamu haiwezi kutenda haki ya Mungu.
For the anger of man worketh not the justice of God.
21 Kwa hiyo wekeni mbali uchafu wa dhambi na ubaya wote ulio mahali popote, na kwa unyenyekevu lipokeeni neno lililopandwa ndani yenu, ambalo lina uwezo wa kuokoa roho zenu.
Wherefore casting away all uncleanness, and abundance of naughtiness, with meekness receive the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 Litiini neno, msilisikie tu, mkijidanganya nafsi zenu wenyewe.
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 Kwa kuwa kama yeyote alisikiaye neno bila kulitendea kazi ni sawa na mtu ajiangaliaye uso wake halisi katika kioo.
For if a man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass.
24 Hujitathimini uso wake, na huenda zake na baada ya muda mfupi husahau anavyofanana.
For he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was.
25 Bali mtu yule anayeiangalia kwa uangalifu sheria kamili, sheria ya uhuru, na kuendelea kuitii, si kwa sababu yeye ni msikilizaji anayesahau, huyu mtu atabarikiwa anapoitenda.
But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty, and hath continued therein, not becoming a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work; this man shall be blessed in his deed.
26 Ikiwa mtu yeyote atafikiri mwenyewe kuwa ni mtu wa dini, lakini hawezi kuutawala ulimi wake, huudanganya moyo wake na dini yake ni bure.
And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
27 Dini iliyo safi na isiyoharibiwa mbele za Mungu wetu na Baba ni hii: kuwasaidia yatima na wajane katika mateso yao, na kujilinda wenyewe na ufisadi wa dunia.
Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation: and to keep one’s self unspotted from this world.
