Yakobo 1
1 Mimi Yakobo, mtumishi wa Mungu na wa Bwana Yesu Kristo, nawaandikia ninyi, makabila kumi na mawili, yaliyotawanyika ulimwenguni! Salaam!
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, greeting.
2 Ndugu zangu, muwe na furaha mnapopatwa na majaribu mbalimbali,
Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;
3 kwani mwajua kwamba imani yenu ikisha stahimili, itawapatieni uvumilivu.
Knowing that the proof of your faith worketh patience.
4 Muwe na hakika kwamba uvumilivu wenu utawategemeza mpaka mwisho, mpate kuwa wakamilifu na watimilifu, bila kupungukiwa chochote.
And let patience have [its] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.
5 Lakini kama mmoja wenu ametindikiwa hekima, basi, anapaswa kumwomba Mungu ambaye atampatia; kwani Mungu huwapa wote kwa wingi na kwa ukarimu.
But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 Lakini anapaswa kuomba kwa imani bila mashaka yoyote. Mtu aliye na mashaka ni kama mawimbi ya bahari ambayo husukumwa na kutupwatupwa na upepo.
But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.
7 Mtu wa namna hiyo, mwenye nia mbili na asiye na msimamo katika mwenendo wake wote,
For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord;
8 asidhani ya kwamba atapata chochote kile kutoka kwa Bwana.
a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Ndugu aliye maskini anapaswa kufurahi wakati Mungu anapomkweza,
But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate:
10 naye tajiri anapaswa kufurahi anaposhushwa na Mungu. Maana tajiri atatoweka kama ua la porini.
and the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
11 Jua huchomoza na kwa joto lake kali hukausha mimea, nayo maua yake huanguka, na uzuri wake wote huharibika. Vivyo hivyo, tajiri ataangamizwa katika shughuli zake.
For the sun ariseth with the scorching wind, and withereth the grass; and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his goings.
12 Heri mtu anayebaki mwaminifu katika majaribu, kwani akisha stahimili atapewa tuzo la uzima ambalo Mungu aliwaahidia wale wanaompenda.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which [the Lord] promised to them that love him.
13 Kama mtu akijaribiwa, asiseme: “Ninajaribiwa na Mungu.” Maana Mungu hawezi kujaribiwa na uovu, wala yeye hamjaribu mtu yeyote.
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man:
14 Lakini mtu hujaribiwa anapovutwa na kunaswa na tamaa zake mbaya.
but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
15 Tamaa ikiiva huzaa dhambi; nayo dhambi ikikomaa huzaa kifo.
Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.
16 Ndugu zangu wapenzi, msidanganyike!
Be not deceived, my beloved brethren.
17 Kila kipaji chema na kila zawadi kamilifu hutoka mbinguni; hutoka kwa Baba, Muumba wa mianga, ambaye habadiliki wala hana alama yoyote ya ugeugeu.
Every good gift and every perfect boon is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.
18 Kwa kupenda kwake mwenyewe alituzaa kwa neno lake la ukweli, ili tuwe namna ya matunda ya kwanza miongoni mwa viumbe vyake.
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
19 Ndugu zangu wapenzi, kumbukeni jambo hili! Kila mtu na awe mwepesi wa kusikia lakini asiwe mwepesi wa kusema wala mwepesi wa kukasirika.
Ye know [this], my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
20 Mwenye hasira hawezi kutimiza matakwa ya Mungu yaliyo ya haki.
for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
21 Kwa hiyo, tupilieni mbali mwenendo mchafu na tabia zote mbovu; jiwekeni chini ya Mungu na kupokea ule ujumbe uliopandwa mioyoni mwenu, ambao waweza kuziokoa nafsi zenu.
Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 Msijidanganye wenyewe kwa kusikiliza tu neno lake, bali litekelezeni kwa vitendo.
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.
23 Yeyote anayesikiliza hilo neno lakini halitekelezi, huyo ni kama mtu anayejiangalia sura yake mwenyewe katika kioo.
For if any one is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror:
24 Hujiangalia mwenyewe, kisha huenda zake, na mara husahau jinsi alivyo.
for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 Lakini mtu anayeangalia kwa makini sheria kamilifu ambayo huwapa watu uhuru, mtu anayeendelea kuizingatia, na si kuisikia tu na kuisahau baadaye, bali anaitekeleza, mtu huyo atabarikiwa katika kila kitu anachofanya.
But he that looketh into the perfect law, the [law] of liberty, and [so] continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth, but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing.
26 Kama mtu akijiona kuwa ni mtu mwenye dini, lakini hawezi kuutawala ulimi wake, dini yake haifai kitu, na anajidanganya mwenyewe.
If any man thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his heart, this man’s religion is vain.
27 Dini iliyo safi na isiyo na hitilafu mbele ya Mungu Baba ni hii: Kuwasaidia yatima na wajane katika shida zao, na kujilinda mwenyewe usichafuliwe na ulimwengu huu.
Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.
