< Obadia 1 >

1 Maono ya Obadia. Bwana MUNGU asema hivi juu ya Edomu Tumesikia habari kutoka kwa Bwana, na mjumbe ametumwa kati ya mataifa, akisema, Inukeni! Tuinuke dhidi yake kwa vita!”
This is a message that Yahweh our God gave to me, Obadiah, about the Edom [people-group]. Yahweh our God has told me this about [the people of] Edom: “I, Yahweh, have sent a messenger to other nations, telling them to prepare to go and attack Edom.”
2 Tazama, nitawafanya wadogo kati ya mataifa, mutadharauliwa sana.
And Yahweh says this to the people of Edom: “I will soon cause you to become the weakest and most despised nation [on the earth].
3 Kiburi cha moyo wako kimekudanganya wewe, wewe ambaye unishi katika makaburi ya miamba, katika nyumba yako ya juu; asemaye moyoni mwako, 'Ni nani atakayenishusha mimi chini?'
Your [capital city] is high in the rocky cliffs, and you are very proud; you think that you are safe from being attacked by your enemies [RHQ], but you [IDM] have deceived yourselves.
4 Ingawa unasimama juu kama tai na ingawa kiota chako huwekwa kati ya nyota, nitakushusha chini kutoka huko, asema Yahweh.
And I tell you that even if [you had wings and] could fly higher than eagles fly, and if you could make your homes among the stars, I would bring you [crashing] down from there.
5 Kama wezi walikuja kwako, ikiwa wanyang'anyi wangekujilia usiku (jinsi ungekatilwa mbali!), Wasingeweza kuiba vya kuwatosha? Ikiwa wakusanya zabibu wangekujilia, wasingeacha mavuno?
When thieves break into someone’s house during the night, they certainly [RHQ] steal only the things that they want. And people who pick grapes always [RHQ] leave a few grapes on the vines. But your country will be completely destroyed!
6 Jinsi Esau amekwisha kupigwa, na hazina zake zilizofichwa zimewekwa nje!
Everything that is valuable will be taken away. [Your enemies] will find and take away even the valuable things that you have hidden.
7 Watu wote wa ushirikiano wako watakupeleka katika njiani ya hadi mpakani. Watu waliokuwa na amani pamoja nawe wamekudanganya, na kukushinda. Wale wanaokula mkate wako wameweka mtego chini yako. Hakuna uelewa ndani yake.
All (your allies/nations who promised to help you) will turn against you, and they will force you to leave your country/land. Those with whom you have peace now will trick/deceive you and defeat you. Those who eat meals with you now are planning to trap you, and [then they will say to you], ‘You are not [RHQ] as clever [as you thought you were]!’
8 Je! Sikuweza siku hiyo, asema Bwana, kuwaangamiza watu wenye hekima kutoka Edomu na kuelewa kutoka mlima wa Esau?
I, Yahweh, declare that at the time that I destroy Edom, I will punish the men who live in those cliffs who [thought that they] were wise.
9 Mashujaa wako watafadhaika, Temani, ili kila mtu akatiliwe mbali kutoka mlima wa Esau kwa kuuawa.
The soldiers from Teman [town] will become terrified; all you people who are descendants of Esau will be (wiped out/killed).
10 Kwa sababu ya ukatili uliofanywa kwa ndugu yako Yakobo, utafunikwa na aibu, nawe utakatiliwa mbali milele.
You acted cruel in a cruel way toward your relatives who are descendants of Jacob, [the twin brother of your ancestor Esau]. So now you will be disgraced forever; you will be completely destroyed.
11 Siku ile ulikuwa umesimama, siku wageni walichukua mali zake, na waliokuwa wageni katika malango yake, na kupiga kura kwa Yerusalemu, wewe ulikuwa kama mmoja wao.
Foreigners entered the gates of Jerusalem and (cast lots/threw small stones that were marked) to decide what valuable things they would take away; but you were as bad as those foreigners, because you just stood there [and did not help the Israelis].
12 Lakini usifurahi siku ya ndugu yako, siku ya msiba wake, wala usifurahi juu ya watu wa Yuda siku ya uharibifu wao; msijisifu siku ya dhiki yao.
You should not have (gloated/been happy) about the disaster that the Israelis were experiencing. You should not have been happy when their towns were ruined. You should not have made fun [of them] when they were suffering.
13 Usiingie mlango wa watu wangu siku ya msiba wao; usifurahi juu ya taabu yao siku ya msiba wao, wala msipotee utajiri wao siku ya uharibifu wao.
They are my people, so you should not have entered their [city] gates when they were experiencing those disasters and you should not have laughed at them. And you should not have taken away their [valuable] possessions.
14 Usisimama kwenye njia panda, ili kuwakatilia mbali wakimbizi wake na usiwatoe waathirika wake katika siku ya dhiki.
You should not have stood at crossroads to catch those who were [trying to] escape. You should not have [captured them and] put them into the hands of [their enemies] when they were experiencing those disasters.”
15 Kwa maana siku ya Bwana iko karibu na mataifa yote. Kama ulivyofanya, itafanyika kwako; matendo yako yatarudi juu ya kichwa chako mwenyewe.
“There will soon be the time when I, Yahweh, will judge [and punish] all the nations. And you [people of Edom] will experience the same [disasters] that you caused [others to experience]. The same evil things that you have done to others will happen to you.
16 Kwa vile mlivyokunywa katika mlima wangu mtakatifu, ndivyo mataifa yote yatakavyo kunywa daima. Watakunywa na kumeza na itakuwa kana kwamba hawakuwepo kabisa.
[My people in Jerusalem have been punished] because I was very angry with them. [It is as though] [MET] they drank [a cup of very bitter liquid] on Zion, my sacred hill. But [I] will punish [MET] all the other nations even more severely, and cause them to disappear completely.
17 Lakini katika Mlima Sayuni kutakuwa na wale waliookoka na watakuwa watakatifu; na nyumba ya Yakobo watamiliki miliki zao.
But some [people in Jerusalem will escape], and Jerusalem will become a very holy/sacred place. Then the descendants of Jacob will [conquer and] possess again the land that truly belongs to them.
18 Nyumba ya Yakobo itakuwa moto, na nyumba ya Yusufu ni mwali wa moto, na nyumba ya Esau itakuwa mabua makavu, nao watawaunguza, na kuwateketeza. Hakutakuwa na waathirika kwa nyumba ya Esau, kwa kuwa Bwana amesema.
The descendants [MTY] of Jacob and his son Joseph will be like [MET] a fire, and the people [MTY] of Edom will be like [MET] stubble that will be completely burned in that fire. Not one person will remain alive. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it.”
19 Wote kutoka Negebu watamiliki mlima wa Esau na wale wa Shepela watamiliki nchi ya Wafilisti. Wao wataimiliki nchi ya Efraimu na nchi ya Samaria; na Benyamini atamiliki Gileadi.
The Israeli people [who live] in the southern desert are the ones who will capture Edom. And those [who live in] the western foothills will capture the Phoenicia [region] and the areas of Ephraim and Samaria. And people of the tribe of Benjamin will conquer the Gilead [region].
20 Wahamiaji wa jeshi hili la watu wa Israeli watamiliki ardhi ya Kanaani mpaka Sarepta. Wahamiaji wa Yerusalemu, waliopo Sefaradi, wataimiliki miji ya Negebu.
Those who were (exiled in/forced to go to) [Babylon] will [return to their land] [and] capture the Phoenicia [region] as far north as Zarephath [on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea]. People of Jerusalem who were captured and taken to Sardis, [the capital city of the Lydia region], will capture the towns in the southern desert.
21 Waokoaji watakwenda hadi juu ya Mlima Sayuni kutawala nchi ya vilima ya Esau, na ufalme utakuwa wa Bwana.
The army of Jerusalem will attack Edom and conquer it, and Yahweh will be their king.

< Obadia 1 >