2 Corinthians 3

1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?

1 Je, tunaanza tena kujisifu wenyewe? Au tunahitaji kupata barua za utambulisho kwenu au kutoka kwenu, kama watu wengine?

2 You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone.

2 Ninyi wenyewe ndio barua yetu iliyoandikwa katika mioyo yetu, inayojulikana na kusomwa na kila mtu.

3 It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

3 Nanyi mwadhihirisha wazi kwamba ninyi ni barua itokayo kwa Kristo, matokeo ya huduma yetu, ambayo haikuandikwa kwa wino bali kwa Roho wa Mungu aliye hai, si katika vibao vya mawe, bali katika vibao ambavyo ni mioyo ya wanadamu.

4 Such confidence before God is ours through Christ.

4 Hili ndilo tumaini tulilo nalo mbele za Mungu kwa njia ya Kristo.

5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.

5 Si kwamba sisi tunafikiri kuwa tunaweza kufanya jambo lolote wenyewe, lakini nguvu yetu inatoka kwa Mungu.

6 And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

6 Ndiye alituwezesha sisi kuwa wahudumu wa Agano Jipya: si wa andiko, bali wa Roho; kwa kuwa andiko huua bali Roho hutia uzima.

7 Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory,

7 Basi ikiwa ile huduma iliyoleta mauti, iliyoandikwa kwa herufi juu ya jiwe ilikuja kwa utukufu, hata Waisraeli wakawa hawawezi kuutazama uso wa Mose kwa sababu ya ule utukufu wake ingawa ulikuwa ni wa kufifia,

8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?

8 je, huduma ya Roho haitakuwa na utukufu zaidi?

9 For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness!

9 Ikiwa huduma ile inayowahukumu wanadamu ina utukufu, je, ile huduma iletayo haki haitakuwa ya utukufu zaidi?

10 Indeed, what was once glorious has no glory now in comparison to the glory that surpasses it.

10 Kwa maana kile kilichokuwa na utukufu sasa hakina utukufu ukilinganisha na huu utukufu unaozidi wa Agano Jipya.

11 For if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which endures!

11 Ikiwa kile kilichokuwa kinafifia kilikuja kwa utukufu, je, si zaidi utukufu wa kile kinachodumu?

12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.

12 Kwa hiyo, kwa kuwa tunalo tumaini hili, tuna ujasiri sana.

13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away.

13 Sisi si kama Mose, ambaye ilimpasa kuweka utaji ili kufunika uso wake ili Waisraeli wasiuone ule mngʼao uliokuwa juu yake hadi ulipofifia na hatimaye kutoweka.

14 But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.

14 Lakini akili zao zilipumbazwa, kwa maana mpaka leo utaji ule ule hufunika wakati Agano la Kale linasomwa. Huo utaji haujaondolewa, kwa maana ni katika Kristo peke yake unaondolewa.

15 And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.

15 Hata leo Sheria ya Mose inaposomwa, utaji hufunika mioyo yao.

16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

16 Lakini wakati wowote mtu anapomgeukia Bwana, utaji unaondolewa.

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

17 Basi Bwana ndiye Roho. Mahali alipo Roho wa Bwana hapo pana uhuru.

18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

18 Nasi sote, tukiwa na nyuso zisizotiwa utaji tunadhihirisha utukufu wa Bwana, kama kwenye kioo. Nasi tunabadilishwa ili tufanane naye, toka utukufu hadi utukufu mkuu zaidi, utokao kwa Bwana, ambaye ndiye Roho.