1
Wewe u mwenye haki, Ee Bwana, nitetapo nawe, lakini nitasema nawe katika habari ya haki. Mbona njia ya wabaya inasitawi? Mbona wote watendao hila wanakaa salama?
Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
2
Umewapanda, naam, wametia mizizi, wanakua, naam, wanazaa matunda; katika vinywa vyao u karibu, bali katika mioyo yao u mbali.
You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts.
3
Lakini wewe, Bwana, wanijua; umeniona, umeujaribu moyo wangu, jinsi unavyokuelekea; uwakokote kama kondoo waendao kuchinjwa, ukawaweke tayari kwa siku ya kuchinjwa.
But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage.
4
Hata lini itaomboleza nchi, na kukauka majani ya nchi yote? Kwa ajili ya mabaya yao wakaao ndani yake, wanyama wameangamia na ndege pia; kwa sababu walisema, Hatauona mwisho wetu.
How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”
5
Ikiwa umepiga mbio pamoja na hao waendao kwa miguu, nao wamekuchosha, basi wawezaje kushindana na farasi? Na ujapokuwa katika nchi ya amani u salama, lakini utafanyaje hapo katika kiburi cha Yordani?
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
6
Kwa maana hata ndugu zako, na nyumba ya baba yako, wamekutenda mambo ya hila; naam, wamepiga kelele nyuma yako; usiwasadiki, wajapokuambia maneno mazuri.
Even your brothers—your own father’s household—even they have betrayed you; even they have cried aloud against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you.
7
Nimeiacha nyumba yangu, nimeutupa urithi wangu; nimemtia mpenzi wangu katika mikono ya adui zake.
I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My inheritance. I have given the beloved of My soul into the hands of her enemies.
8
Urithi wangu umekuwa kwangu kama simba msituni; ameinua sauti yake juu yangu; kwa sababu hiyo nimemchukia.
My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against Me; therefore I hate her.
9
Je! Urithi wangu umekuwa kwangu kama ndege mwenye madoadoa? Ndege wakali wanamtulia pande zote? Enendeni, wakusanyeni pamoja wanyama wote wa mwituni, waleteni ili wale.
Is not My inheritance to Me like a speckled bird of prey with other birds of prey circling against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; bring them to devour her.
10
Wachungaji wengi wameliharibu shamba langu la mizabibu, wamelikanyaga fungu langu chini ya miguu yao, wamefanya fungu langu zuri kuwa jangwa la ukiwa.
Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.
11
Wamelifanya kuwa ukiwa, na kwa kuwa ni ukiwa linanililia; nchi yote imefanywa kuwa ukiwa, kwa sababu hapana mtu aliyeweka haya moyoni mwake.
They have made it a desolation; desolate before Me, it mourns. All the land is laid waste, but no man takes it to heart.
12
Watekao nyara wamepanda juu ya vilele vya milima katika nyika; kwa maana upanga wa Bwana utakula toka upande mmoja wa nchi hata upande wa pili wa nchi; hapana mwenye mwili atakayekuwa na amani.
Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the earth to the other. No flesh has peace.
13
Wamepanda ngano, lakini watavuna miiba; wamejiumiza nafsi zao, lakini hawatakuwa na faida; naam, tahayarini kwa ajili ya matunda yenu, kwa sababu ya hasira kali ya Bwana.
They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
14
Bwana asema hivi juu ya jirani zangu wote walio wabaya, waugusao urithi wangu niliowarithisha watu wangu Israeli, Tazama, nitawang'oa katika nchi yao, nami nitaing'oa nyumba ya Yuda isiwe kati yao.
This is what the LORD says: “As for all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.
15
Tena itakuwa, baada ya kuwang'oa, nitarudi na kuwahurumia; nami nitawaleta tena, kila mtu aingie katika urithi wake, na kila mtu aingie katika nchi yake.
But after I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.
16
Kisha itakuwa, ikiwa watajifunza kwa bidii njia za watu wangu, kuapa kwa jina langu, Kama Bwana aishivyo, vile vile kama walivyowafundisha watu wangu kuapa kwa Baali, ndipo watakapojengwa kati ya watu wangu.
And if they will diligently learn the ways of My people and swear by My name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’—just as they once taught My people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among My people.
17
Bali, kama hawataki kusikia, kung'oa nitaling'oa taifa lile, na kuliangamiza kabisa, asema Bwana.
But if they will not obey, then I will uproot that nation; I will uproot it and destroy it, declares the LORD.”