Amos 5

1 Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lamentation I take up against you:

1 Sikia neno hili, ee nyumba ya Israeli, ombolezo hili ninalifanya kuwahusu ninyi:

2 “Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.”

2 “Bikira Israeli ameanguka, kamwe hatainuka tena, ameachwa pweke katika nchi yake, hakuna yeyote wa kumwinua.”

3 This is what the Lord GOD says: “The city that marches out a thousand strong will have but a hundred left, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have but ten left in the house of Israel.”

3 Hili ndilo Bwana Mwenyezi asemalo: “Wakati mmoja wa miji yako utakapopeleka watu elfu moja vitani kwa ajili ya Israeli, mia moja tu watarudi; wakati mji utakapopeleka mia moja, kumi tu ndio watarudi hai.”

4 For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live!

4 Hili ndilo Bwana asemalo kwa nyumba ya Israeli: “Nitafuteni mpate kuishi;

5 Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.

5 msitafute Betheli, msiende Gilgali, msisafiri kwenda Beer-Sheba. Kwa maana kwa hakika Gilgali itakwenda uhamishoni, na Betheli itafanywa kuwa si kitu.”

6 Seek the LORD and live, or He will sweep like fire through the house of Joseph; it will devour everything, with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.

6 Mtafuteni Bwana mpate kuishi, au atafagia nyumba ya Yosefu kama moto; utawateketeza, nayo Betheli haitakuwa na yeyote wa kuuzima.

7 There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.

7 Ninyi ambao mnageuza haki kuwa uchungu na kuiangusha haki chini

8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth—the LORD is His name—

8 (yeye ambaye alifanya Kilimia na Orioni, ambaye hugeuza giza kuwa mapambazuko na mchana kuwa usiku, ambaye huyaita maji ya bahari na kuyamwaga juu ya uso wa nchi: Bwana ndilo jina lake;

9 He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold.

9 yeye hufanya maangamizo kwenye ngome na kufanya mji uliozungushiwa ngome kuwa ukiwa),

10 There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.

10 mnamchukia yule akemeaye mahakamani, na kumdharau yule ambaye husema kweli.

11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.

11 Mnamgandamiza maskini na kumlazimisha awape nafaka. Kwa hiyo, ingawa mmejenga majumba ya mawe ya fahari, hamtaishi ndani yake; ingawa mmepanda mashamba mazuri ya mizabibu, hamtakunywa divai yake.

12 For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.

12 Kwa kuwa ninajua hesabu ya makosa yenu na ukubwa wa dhambi zenu. Mmewaonea wenye haki na kupokea rushwa na kuzuia haki ya maskini mahakamani.

13 Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.

13 Kwa hiyo mtu mwenye busara hunyamaza kimya nyakati kama hizo, kwa kuwa nyakati ni mbaya.

14 Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.

14 Tafuteni mema, wala si mabaya, ili mpate kuishi. Ndipo Bwana Mungu Mwenye Nguvu Zote atakuwa pamoja nanyi, kama msemavyo yupo nanyi.

15 Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

15 Yachukieni maovu, yapendeni mema; dumisheni haki mahakamani. Yamkini Bwana Mungu Mwenye Nguvu Zote atawahurumia mabaki ya Yosefu.

16 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail.

16 Kwa hiyo hili ndilo Bwana, Bwana Mungu Mwenye Nguvu Zote, asemalo: “Kutakuwepo maombolezo katika barabara zote na vilio vya uchungu katika njia kuu zote. Wakulima wataitwa kuja kulia, na waombolezaji waje kuomboleza.

17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD.

17 Kutakuwepo kuomboleza katika mashamba yote ya mizabibu, kwa kuwa nitapita katikati yenu,” asema Bwana.

18 Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.

18 Ole wenu ninyi mnaoitamani siku ya Bwana! Kwa nini mnaitamani siku ya Bwana? Siku hiyo itakuwa giza, si nuru.

19 It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.

19 Itakuwa kama vile mtu aliyemkimbia simba kumbe akakutana na dubu, kama vile mtu aliyeingia nyumbani mwake na kuupumzisha mkono wake kwenye ukuta, kumbe akaumwa na nyoka.

20 Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?

20 Je, siku ya Bwana haitakuwa giza, na si nuru: giza nene, bila mwonzi wa mwanga?

21 “I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.

21 “Ninachukia, ninazidharau sikukuu zenu za dini; siwezi kuvumilia makusanyiko yenu.

22 Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.

22 Hata ingawa mnaniletea sadaka zenu za kuteketezwa na sadaka za nafaka, sitazikubali. Ingawa mnaniletea sadaka nzuri za amani, sitazitambua.

23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

23 Niondoleeni kelele za nyimbo zenu! Sitasikiliza sauti za vinubi vyenu.

24 But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

24 Lakini acheni haki itiririke kama mto, na uadilifu uwe kama kijito kisichokauka!

25 Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

25 “Je, mliniletea dhabihu na sadaka kwa miaka arobaini kule jangwani, ee nyumba ya Israeli?

26 You have taken along Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, the idols you made for yourselves.

26 Mmeyainua madhabahu ya mfalme wenu, Sikuthi mungu wenu mtawala, na Kiuni mungu wenu wa nyota, ambao mliwatengeneza wenyewe.

27 Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.

27 Kwa sababu hiyo nitawapeleka uhamishoni mbali kupita Dameski,” asema Bwana, ambaye jina lake ni Mungu Mwenye Nguvu Zote.