1
Laiti mngechukuliana nami katika upumbavu wangu kidogo! Naam, mchukuliane nami.
I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness, but you are already doing that.
2
Maana nawaonea wivu, wivu wa Mungu; kwa kuwa naliwaposea mume mmoja, ili nimletee Kristo bikira safi.
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
3
Lakini nachelea; kama yule nyoka alivyomdanganya Hawa kwa hila yake, asije akawaharibu fikira zenu, mkauacha unyofu na usafi kwa Kristo.
I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
4
Maana yeye ajaye akihubiri Yesu mwingine ambaye sisi hatukumhubiri, au mkipokea roho nyingine msiyoipokea, au injili nyingine msiyoikubali, mnatenda vema kuvumiliana naye!
For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it very easily.
5
Maana nadhani ya kuwa mimi sikupungukiwa na kitu walicho nacho mitume walio wakuu.
I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.”
6
Lakini nijapokuwa mimi ni mtu asiyejua kunena, hii si hali yangu katika elimu; ila katika kila neno tumedhihirishwa kwenu.
Although I am not a polished speaker, I am certainly not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way possible.
7
Je! Nalifanya dhambi kwa kunyenyekea ili ninyi mtukuzwe, kwa sababu naliwahubiri Injili ya Mungu bila ujira?
Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?
8
Naliwanyang'anya makanisa mengine mali yao, nikitwaa posho langu ili niwahudumie ninyi.
I robbed other churches by accepting their support in order to serve you.
9
Nami nilipokuwa pamoja nanyi na kuhitaji sikumlemea mtu. Maana hao ndugu waliokuja kutoka Makedonia walinipa kadiri ya mahitaji yangu; nami katika mambo yote najilinda nafsi yangu nisiwalemee hata kidogo; tena najilinda.
And when I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have refrained from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so.
10
Kama vile ile kweli ya Kristo ilivyo ndani yangu, hakuna mtu atakayenifumba kinywa katika kujisifu huku, katika mipaka ya Akaya.
As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.
11
Kwa nini? Je! Ni kwa sababu siwapendi ninyi? Mungu anajua.
Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
12
Lakini nifanyalo nitalifanya, ili niwapinge hao watafutao nafasi wasipate nafasi; ili kwamba katika neno hilo wajisifialo waonekane kuwa kama sisi.
But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast.
13
Maana watu kama hao ni mitume wa uongo, watendao kazi kwa hila, wanaojigeuza wawe mfano wa mitume wa Kristo.
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
14
Wala si ajabu. Maana Shetani mwenyewe hujigeuza awe mfano wa malaika wa nuru.
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
15
Basi si neno kubwa watumishi wake nao wakijigeuza wawe mfano wa watumishi wa haki, ambao mwisho wao utakuwa sawasawa na kazi zao.
It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.
16
Nasema tena, mtu asidhani ya kuwa mimi ni mpumbavu; lakini mjaponidhania hivi, mnikubali kama mpumbavu; ili mimi nami nipate kujisifu ngaa kidogo.
I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.
17
Ninenalo silineni agizo la Bwana, bali kama kwa upumbavu, katika ujasiri huu wa kujisifu.
In this confident boasting of mine, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as a fool.
18
Kwa sababu wengi wanajisifu kwa jinsi ya mwili, mimi nami nitajisifu.
Since many are boasting according to the flesh, I too will boast.
19
Ninyi, kwa kuwa mna akili, mnachukuliana na wajinga kwa furaha.
For you gladly put up with fools, since you are so wise.
20
Maana mwachukuliana na mtu akiwatia utumwani, akiwameza, akiwateka nyara, akijikuza, akiwapiga usoni.
In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face.
21
Nanena kwa jinsi ya kujidhili kana kwamba sisi tulikuwa dhaifu. Walakini, akiwa mtu anao ujasiri kwa lo lote, (nanena kipuuzi), mimi nami ninao ujasiri.
To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that! Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about.
22
Wao ni Waebrania? Na mimi pia. Wao ni Waisraeli? Na mimi pia. Wao ni uzao wa Ibrahimu? Na mimi pia.
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
23
Wao ni wahudumu wa Kristo? (Nanena kiwazimu), mimi ni zaidi; katika taabu kuzidi sana; katika vifungo kuzidi sana; katika mapigo kupita kiasi; katika mauti mara nyingi.
Are they servants of Christ? (I am speaking as if I were out of my mind.) I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
24
Kwa Wayahudi mara tano nalipata mapigo arobaini kasoro moja.
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
25
Mara tatu nalipigwa kwa bakora; mara moja nalipigwa kwa mawe; mara tatu nalivunjikiwa jahazi; kuchwa kucha nimepata kukaa kilindini;
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.
26
katika kusafiri mara nyingi; hatari za mito; hatari za wanyang'anyi; hatari kwa taifa langu; hatari kwa mataifa mengine; hatari za mjini; hatari za jangwani; hatari za baharini; hatari kwa ndugu za uongo;
In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,
27
katika taabu na masumbufu; katika kukesha mara nyingi; katika njaa na kiu; katika kufunga mara nyingi; katika baridi na kuwa uchi.
in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.
28
Baghairi ya mambo ya nje, yako yanijiayo kila siku, ndiyo maangalizi ya makanisa yote.
Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
29
Ni nani aliye dhaifu, nisiwe dhaifu nami? Ni nani aliyekwazwa nami nisichukiwe?
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief?
30
Ikinibidi kujisifu, nitajisifia mambo ya udhaifu wangu.
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
31
Mungu, Baba wa Bwana Yesu, aliye mtukufu hata milele, anajua ya kuwa sisemi uongo.
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is forever worthy of praise, knows that I am not lying.
32
Huko Dameski liwali wa mfalme Areta alikuwa akiulinda mji wa Wadameski, ili kunikamata;
In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas secured the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me.
33
nami nikatelemshwa ndani ya kapu, katika dirisha la ukutani, nikaokoka katika mikono yake.
But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his grasp.