1
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.
2
Mfalme wa Ashuru akamtuma amiri toka Lakishi hata Yerusalemu,kwa mfalme Hezekia,pamoja na jeshi kubwa. Naye akasimama karibu na mfereji wa birika ya juu,iliyo katika njia kuu ya kuuendea uwanda wa dobi.
And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.
3
Wakamtokea Eliakimu, mwana wa Hilkia, aliyekuwa msimamizi wa nyumba ya mfalme, na Shebna, mwandishi, na Yoa, mwana wa Asafu, mwenye kuandika tarehe.
Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to him.
4
Yule amiri akawaambia, Haya, mwambieni Hezekia, kwamba 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?
5
Nasema, mashauri yako, na nguvu zako kwa vita, ni maneno yasiyo na maana; 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?
6
Tazama, unaitumainia fimbo ya mwanzi huu uliopondeka, yaani, Misri, ambayo, mtu akitegemea juu yake, 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.
7
Lakini ukiniambia, Tunamtumaini Bwana, Mungu wetu, je! Si yeye ambaye Hezekia ameondoa mahali pake mlimoinuka, na madhabahu zake, akawaambia watu wa Yuda na Yerusalemu, Sujuduni mbele ya madhabahu hii?
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’?
8
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!
9
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?
10
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 land to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”
11
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 watu wote walio ukutani.
Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
12
Lakini yule amiri akawaambia, Je! Bwana wangu amenituma kwa bwana wako, na kwako wewe, niseme maneno haya? 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?”
13
Kisha yule amiri akasimama akalia kwa sauti kuu kwa lugha ya Kiyahudi, akisema, Lisikieni neno la mfalme mkuu, mfalme wa Ashuru.
Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!
14
Mfalme asema hivi; Hezekia asiwadanganye, kwa maana hataweza kuwaokoa;
This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot deliver you.
15
wala msimwache Hezekia kuwatia moyo wa kumtumaini Bwana; akisema, Bwana bila shaka atatuokoa, mji huu hautatiwa katika mkono wa 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.’
16
Msimsikilize Hezekia; maana 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 yake 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,
17
hata nije nikawachukue mpaka nchi iliyo kama nchi yenu wenyewe, nchi ya nafaka na divai, nchi ya mkate na mashamba ya mizabibu.
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.
18
Jihadharini, asije Hezekia akawadanganya, akisema, Bwana atatuokoa. Je! Yuko mungu mmoja wa mataifa aliyewaokoa watu wake na mkono wa mfalme wa Ashuru?
Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
19
Wako wapi miungu ya Hamathi na ya Arpadi? Wako wapi miungu ya Sefarvaimu? Je! Wameiokoa Samaria na mkono wangu?
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
20
Katika miungu yote ya nchi hizi ni nani waliookoa 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?”
21
Lakini watu wakanyamaza kimya; wala hawakumjibu hata neno moja; maana ilikuwa amri ya mfalme, kwamba, Msimjibu neno.
But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
22
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 Hezekia 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.