< Malaki 2 >
1 Sasa, ninyi makuhani, amri hii ni kwa ajili yenu.
And now, O priests, this commandment is to you.
2 Kama hamtasikiliza, na kama hamtalichukua hili mioyoni mwenu na kunipa utukufu kwa jina langu, “asema Bwana wa Majeshi, Kisha nitatuma laana kwenu, na nitalaani baraka zenu. Kiukweli, nilishawalaani tayari, kwa sababu hujaweka sheria zangu moyoni.
If ye will not hearken, and if ye will not lay [it] to heart, to give glory to my name, saith the Lord Almighty, then I will send forth the curse upon you, and I will bring a curse upon your blessing: yea, I will curse it, and I will scatter your blessing, and it shall not exist among you, because ye lay not this to heart.
3 Tazama, nitakikemea kizazi chako, na nitapaka mavi juu ya uso wako, mavi ya dhabihu zenu, na mtachukuliwa pamoja nayo.
Behold, I turn my back upon you, and I will scatter dung upon your faces, the dung of your feasts, and I will carry you away at the same time.
4 Na mtajua kwamba nimetuma hii sheria kwenu, kwamba agano langu litakuwa ni juu yangu na Lawi,” asema Bwana wa Majeshi.
And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my covenant might be with the sons of Levi, saith the Lord Almighty.
5 Agano langu na yeye lilikuwa agano la uhai na amani, na nilimpa vitu hivi kama njia ya kuniheshimu. aliniheshima na alisimama akawa na hofu kwa jina langu.
My covenant of life and peace was with him, and I gave [it] him that he might reverently fear me, and that he might be awe-struck at my name.
6 Mafundisho ya kweli yalikuwa kwenye kinywa chake, na uovu haukupatikana kinywani mwake. Alitembea na mimi kwa amani na unyoofu, na aliwarudisha wengi kutoka dhambini.
The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked before me directing [his way] in peace, and he turned many from unrighteousness.
7 kwa sababu midomo ya makuhani huhifadhi maarifa, na watu watatafuta maagizo kutoka kwenye kichwa chake, kwa sababu ni mjumbe wa Bwana wa Majeshi.
For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty.
8 lakini umepita mbali na njia ya kweli. Umesababisha wengi kuwa na mashaka ya kutii sheria. umeliharifu agano la Lawi,” asema Bwana wa Majeshi.
But ye have turned aside from the way, and caused many to fail in [following] the law: ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord Almighty.
9 Kwa hiyo nimewafanya ninyi nanyi kudharauliwa mbele ya watu, kwa sababu hamkutunza njia zangu, lakini badala yake mnapendelea katika maagizo yenu.
And I have made you despised and cast out among all the people, because ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.
10 Sisi sote hatuna baba mmoja? Siyo Mungu yule mmoja aliyetuumba sote? kwa nini tunafanyiana hila kila mtu na ndugu yake, mnariharibu agano la baba zetu?
Have ye not all one father? Did not one God create you? why have ye forsaken every man his brother, to profane the covenant of your fathers?
11 Yuda amefanya hila na ameona kinyaa kwa vitu vilivyowekwa katika Israeli na Yerusalem. Yuda amenajisi mahali patakatifu pa Bwana ambapo anapapenda, na ameoa binti wa miungu migeni.
Juda has been forsaken, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Juda has profaned the holy things of the Lord, which he delighted in, and has gone after other gods.
12 Mungu akukatilie mbali kutoka kwenye hema ya Yakobo na uzao wa mtu aliyefanya haya, hata yule anayeleta sadaka kwa Bwana wa Majeshi.
The Lord will utterly destroy the man that does these things, until he be even cast down from out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and from among them that offer sacrifice to the Lord Almighty.
13 Na wewe pia fanya hivyo. Unafunika madhabahu ya Bwana kwa machozi, kwa kilio na kuugua, kwa sababu hatakubali sadaka na kuzipokea kutoka mikononi mwako.
And these things which I hated, ye did: ye covered with tears the altar of the Lord, and with weeping and groaning because of troubles: [is it] meet [for me] to have respect to your sacrifice, or to receive [anything] from your hands [as] welcome?
14 Lakini wasema, ni kwa sababu gani?” Kwa sababu Bwana amekuwa shahidi kati yako wewe na mke wako wa ujana wako, kinyume chake umekuwa si mwaminifu, ingawa yeye ni mwenzako na mke wa agano lako.
Yet ye said, Wherefore? Because the Lord has borne witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, whom thou has forsaken, and [yet] she was thy partner, and the wife of thy covenant.
15 Je yeye hakuwafanya kuwa mmoja, hata kwa sehemu ya roho yake? Sasa ni kwanini aliwafanya ninyi kuwa mmoja? Kwa sababu alikuwa anategemea kupata watoto wacha Mungu. Kwa hiyo jiepushe mwenyewe ndani ya moyo wako, na asiwepo mtu asiye mwaminifu kwa mke wa ujana wake.
And did he not do well? and [there was] the residue of his spirit. But ye said, What does God seek but a seed? But take ye heed to your spirit, and forsake not the wife of thy youth.
16 “Nakuchukia kuachana,” asema Bwana, Mungu wa Israel, “afunikizaye nguo yake kwa udhalimu,” asema Bwana wa Majeshi. “Kwa hiyo jilinde ewe mwenyewe ndani ya roho yako na usiwe mtu asiye mwaminifu.”
But if thou shouldest hate [thy wife] and put her away, saith the Lord God of Israel, then ungodliness shall cover thy thoughts, saith the Lord Almighty: therefore take ye heed to your spirit, and forsake [them] not,
17 Mmechosha Bwana na maneno. Lakini mwasema, “Tumekuchoshaje?” Kwa kusema Kila mmoja aliyefanya uovu ni mzuri kwa upande wa Bwana, na anafuraha nao;” au “Yuko wapi Mungu wa Haki?”
ye that have provoked God with your words. But ye said, Wherein have we provoked him? In that ye say, Every one that does evil is a pleasing [object] in the sight of the Lord, and he takes pleasure in such; and where is the God of justice?