1
Ndugu zangu, hamjui (maana nasema na hao waijuao sheria) ya kuwa torati humtawala mtu wakati anapokuwa yu hai?
Do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?
2
Kwa maana mwanamke aliye na mume amefungwa na sheria kwa yule mume wakati anapokuwa yu hai; bali akifa yule mume, amefunguliwa ile sheria ya mume.
For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
3
Basi wakati awapo hai mumewe, kama akiwa na mume mwingine huitwa mzinzi. Ila mumewe akifa, amekuwa huru, hafungwi na sheria hiyo, hata yeye si mzinzi, ajapoolewa na mume mwingine.
So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
4
Kadhalika, ndugu zangu, ninyi pia mmeifia torati, kwa njia ya mwili wa Kristo, mpate kuwa mali ya mwingine, yeye aliyefufuka katika wafu, kusudi tumzalie Mungu matunda.
Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
5
Kwa maana tulipokuwa katika hali ya mwili, tamaa za dhambi, zilizokuwako kwa sababu ya torati, zilitenda kazi katika viungo vyetu hata mkaizalia mauti mazao.
For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.
6
Bali sasa tumefunguliwa katika torati, tumeifia hali ile iliyotupinga, ili sisi tupate kutumika katika hali mpya ya roho, si katika hali ya zamani, ya andiko.
But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
7
Tusemeje, basi? Torati ni dhambi? Hasha! Walakini singalitambua dhambi ila kwa sheria; kwa kuwa singalijua kutamani, kama torati isingalisema, Usitamani.
What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”
8
Lakini dhambi ilipata nafasi kwa ile amri, ikafanya ndani yangu kila namna ya kutamani. Kwa maana dhambi bila sheria imekufa.
But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead.
9
Nami nalikuwa hai hapo kwanza bila sheria; ila ilipokuja ile amri, dhambi ilihuika, nami nikafa.
Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
10
Nikaona ile amri iletayo uzima ya kuwa kwangu mimi ilileta mauti.
So I discovered that the very commandment that was meant to bring life actually brought death.
11
Kwa maana dhambi, kwa kupata nafasi kwa ile amri, ilinidanganya, na kwa hiyo ikaniua.
For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through the commandment put me to death.
12
Basi torati ni takatifu, na ile amri ni takatifu, na ya haki, na njema.
So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
13
Basi je! Ile iliyo njema ilikuwa mauti kwangu mimi? Hasha! Bali dhambi, ili ionekane kuwa ni dhambi hasa, ilifanya mauti ndani yangu kwa njia ya ile njema, kusudi kwa ile amri dhambi izidi kuwa mbaya mno.
Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
14
Kwa maana twajua ya kuwa torati asili yake ni ya rohoni; bali mimi ni mtu wa mwilini, nimeuzwa chini ya dhambi.
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
15
Maana sijui nifanyalo, kwa sababu lile nilipendalo, silitendi; bali lile nilichukialo ndilo ninalolitenda.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.
16
Lakini kama nikilitenda lile nisilolipenda, naikiri ile sheria ya kuwa ni njema.
And if I do what I do not want to do, I admit that the law is good.
17
Basi sasa si mimi nafsi yangu ninayetenda hilo, bali ni ile dhambi ikaayo ndani yangu
In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
18
Kwa maana najua ya kuwa ndani yangu, yaani, ndani ya mwili wangu, halikai neno jema; kwa kuwa kutaka nataka, bali kutenda lililo jema sipati.
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
19
Kwa maana lile jema nilipendalo, silitendi; bali lile baya nisilolipenda ndilo nilitendalo.
For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do.
20
Basi kama lile nisilolipenda ndilo nilitendalo, si mimi nafsi yangu nilitendaye, bali ni ile dhambi ikaayo ndani yangu.
And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21
Basi nimeona sheria hii, ya kuwa kwangu mimi nitakaye kutenda lililo jema, lipo lililo baya.
So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
22
Kwa maana naifurahia sheria ya Mungu kwa utu wa ndani,
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.
23
lakini katika viungo vyangu naona sheria iliyo mbali, inapiga vita na ile sheria ya akili zangu, na kunifanya mateka ya ile sheria ya dhambi iliyo katika viungo vyangu.
But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.
24
Ole wangu, maskini mimi! Ni nani atakayeniokoa na mwili huu wa mauti?
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
25
Namshukuru Mungu, kwa Yesu Kristo Bwana wetu. Basi, kama ni hivyo, mimi mwenyewe kwa akili zangu naitumikia sheria ya Mungu, bali kwa mwili wangu sheria ya dhambi.
Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.