1
Ikawa katika mwaka wa tatu wa Hoshea, mwana wa Ela, mfalme wa Israeli, Hezekia, mwana wa Ahazi, mfalme wa Yuda, alianza kutawala.
In the third year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.
2
Alikuwa na umri wa miaka ishirini na mitano alipoanza kutawala; akatawala miaka ishirini na kenda katika Yerusalemu; na jina la mama yake aliitwa Abiya, binti Zekaria.
He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.
3
Akafanya yaliyo mema machoni pa Bwana, mfano wa yote aliyoyafanya Daudi, baba yake.
And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.
4
Alipaondoa mahali pa juu, akazibomoa nguzo, akaikata hiyo Ashera; akaivunja vipande vipande ile nyoka ya shaba aliyoifanya Musa; maana hata siku zile wana wa Israeli walikuwa wakiifukizia uvumba; naye akaiita jina lake Nehushtani
He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.
5
Alimtumaini Bwana, Mungu wa Israeli; hata baada yake hapakuwa na mfano wake katika wafalme wote wa Yuda, wala katika hao waliomtangulia.
Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.
6
Maana alishikamana na Bwana, hakuacha kumfuata, bali alizishika amri zake Bwana alizomwamuru Musa.
He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses.
7
Naye Bwana akawa pamoja naye, kila alikokwenda alifanikiwa; tena alimwasi mfalme wa Ashuru, wala hakumtumikia.
And the LORD was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.
8
Akawapiga Wafilisti mpaka Gaza na mipaka yake, tangu mnara wa walinzi hata mji wenye boma.
He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.
9
Hata katika mwaka wa nne wa Hezekia, ndio mwaka wa saba wa Hoshea, mwana wa Ela, mfalme wa Israeli, Shalmanesa, mfalme wa Ashuru, akakwea ili kupigana na Samaria, akauhusuru.
In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.
10
Wakautwaa baada ya miaka mitatu; yaani, katika mwaka wa sita wa Hezekia, ndio mwaka wa kenda wa Hoshea, mfalme wa Israeli, ndipo Samaria ulipotwaliwa.
And at the end of three years, the Assyrians captured it. So Samaria was captured in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel.
11
Mfalme wa Ashuru akawahamisha Israeli mpaka Ashuru, akawaweka katika Hala, na katika Habori, karibu na mto wa Gozani, na katika miji ya Wamedi;
The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
12
kwa sababu hawakuitii sauti ya Bwana, Mungu wao, bali waliyahalifu maagano yake, mambo yote ambayo Musa mtumishi wa Bwana aliwaamuru, wasikubali kuyasikiliza, wala kuyatenda.
This happened because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD their God, but violated His covenant—all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded—and would neither listen nor obey.
13
Ikawa katika mwaka wa kumi na nne wa kumiliki kwake mfalme Hezekia, Senakeribu, mfalme wa Ashuru, akapanda ili kupigana na miji yote ya Yuda yenye boma, akaitwaa.
In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.
14
Basi Hezekia, mfalme wa Yuda, akapeleka wajumbe waende Lakishi kwa mfalme wa Ashuru, kusema, Nimekosa; uniache ukarudi kwako; cho chote utakachoweka juu yangu, nitakichukua. Mfalme wa Ashuru akamtoza Hezekia, mfalme wa Yuda, talanta za fedha mia tatu, na talanta za dhahabu thelathini.
So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand from me.” And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
15
Hezekia akampa fedha yote iliyoonekana katika nyumba ya Bwana, na katika hazina za nyumba ya mfalme.
Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
16
Wakati huo Hezekia aliiondoa dhahabu iliyokuwa juu ya milango ya hekalu la Bwana, na juu ya nguzo, ambazo Hezekia, mfalme wa Yuda, alikuwa amezitia dhahabu, akampa mfalme wa Ashuru.
At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold with which he had plated the doors and doorposts of the temple of the LORD, and he gave it to the king of Assyria.
17
Mfalme wa Ashuru akawatuma jemadari wake, na mkuu wa matowashi, na amiri wake toka Lakishi ,kwa mfalme Hezekia huko Yerusalemu, pamoja na jeshi kubwa. Nao wakakwea wakafika Yerusalemu. Na walipokwisha kufika , wakaja wakasimama karibu na mfereji wa birika la juu, lililo katika njia kuu ya kuuendea uwanda wa dobi.
Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.
18
Na walipokwisha kumwita mfalme, wakatokewa na Eliakimu, mwana wa Hilkia, aliyekuwa msimamizi wa nyumba ya mfalme, na Shebna, mwandishi, na Yoa, mwana wa Asafu, mwenye kuandika tarehe.
Then they called for the king. And Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to them.
19
Yule amiri akawaambia ,haya mwambieni Hezekia,kusema ,Mfalme mkuu,mfalme wa Ashuru, asema hivi, Ni tumaini gani hili unalolitumainia?
The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
20
Wewe wasema, lakini ni maneno yasiyo na maana, kwamba, Lipo shauri na zipo nguvu kwa vita hivi. Basi, unamtumaini nani hata ukaniasi mimi?
You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?
21
Sasa tazama, unaitumainia fimbo ya mwanzi huu uliopondeka, yaani, Misri, ambayo mtu akiitegemea, humwingia mkononi na kumchoma; ndivyo alivyo Farao, mfalme wa Misri, kwa wote wamtumainio.
Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
22
Lakini mkiniambia, Tunamtumaini Bwana, Mungu wetu; je! Si yeye ambaye Hezekia ameondoa mahali pake pa juu, na madhabahu zake, akawaambia watu wa Yuda na Yerusalemu, Sujuduni mbele ya madhabahu hii hapa Yerusalemu?
But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?
23
Basi sasa, tafadhali mpe bwana wangu, mfalme wa Ashuru, dhamana, nami nitakupa farasi elfu mbili, ikiwa wewe kwa upande wako waweza kupandisha watu juu yao.
Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!
24
Wawezaje, basi, kurudisha nyuma uso wa akida mmoja wa watumishi walio wadogo wa bwana wangu, na kuitumainia Misri upewe magari na farasi?
For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
25
Je! Nimepanda mimi, ili kupigana na mahali hapa na kupaangamiza, bila shauri la Bwana? Bwana ndiye aliyeniambia, Panda upigane na nchi hii na kuiangamiza.
So now, was it apart from the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”
26
Ndipo Eliakimu, mwana wa Hilkia, na Shebna, na Yoa, wakamwambia yule amiri, Tafadhali, sema na watumishi wako kwa lugha ya Kiashuri; maana tunaifahamu; wala usiseme nasi kwa lugha ya Kiyahudi, masikioni mwa hao watu walio ukutani.
Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
27
Lakini yule amiri akawaambia, Je! Bwana wangu amenituma kwa bwana wako, na kwako wewe, niseme maneno haya? Je! Hakunituma kwa watu hawa walio ukutani, ili wale mavi yao wenyewe na kunywa mkojo wao pamoja nanyi?
But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
28
Kisha yule amiri akasimama akalia kwa sauti kuu kwa lugha ya Kiyahudi, akasema, Lisikieni neno la mfalme mkuu, mfalme wa Ashuru.
Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!
29
Mfalme asema hivi, Hezekia asiwadanganye; kwa maana, hataweza kuwaokoa katika mkono wake.
This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you; he cannot deliver you from my hand.
30
Wala Hezekia asiwatumainishe katika Bwana, akisema, Hakika Bwana atatuokoa, wala mji huu hautatiwa mkononi mwa mfalme wa Ashuru.
Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
31
Msimsikilize Hezekia; kwa sababu mfalme wa Ashuru asema hivi, Fanyeni suluhu na mimi, mkatoke mnijie; mkale kila mtu matunda ya mzabibu wake na matunda ya mtini wake, mkanywe kila mmoja maji ya birika lake mwenyewe;
Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,
32
hata nije nikawachukue mpaka nchi iliyo kama nchi yenu wenyewe, nchi ya nafaka na divai, nchi ya chakula na mashamba ya mizabibu, nchi ya mafuta ya mzeituni na asali, ili mpate kuishi, msife; wala msimsikilize Hezekia, awadanganyapo, akisema, Bwana atatuokoa.
until I come and take you away to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey—so that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, for he misleads you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’
33
Je! Yuko mungu mmoja wa mataifa aliyewaokoa watu wake wakati wo wote na mkono wa mfalme wa Ashuru?
Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
34
Iko wapi miungu ya Hamathi, na ya Arpadi? Iko wapi miungu ya Sefarvaimu, na ya Hena, na ya Iva? Je! Imeuokoa Samaria na mkono wangu?
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
35
Katika miungu ya nchi hizi zote, ni miungu gani iliyookoa nchi yao na mkono wangu, hata Bwana auokoe Yerusalemu na mkono wangu?
Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
36
Lakini hao watu wakanyamaza kimya; wala hawakumjibu hata neno moja; maana amri ya mfalme ilikuwa kwamba, Msimjibu neno.
But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
37
Ndipo Eliakimu, mwana wa Hilkia, aliyekuwa msimamizi wa nyumba ya mfalme, na Shebna, mwandishi, na Yoa, mwana wa Asafu, mwenye kuandika tarehe, wakaenda kwa Hezekia, na nguo zao zimeraruliwa, wakamwambia maneno ya yule amiri.
Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.