James 4

1 What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?

1 Ni kitu gani kinachosababisha mapigano na ugomvi miongoni mwenu? Je, haya hayatokani na tamaa zenu zinazoshindana ndani yenu?

2 You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask.

2 Mnatamani lakini hampati, kwa hiyo mwaua. Mwatamani kupata lakini hampati vile mnavyotaka, kwa hiyo mnajitia katika magomvi na mapigano. Mmepungukiwa kwa sababu hammwombi Mungu.

3 And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

3 Mnapoomba hampati kwa sababu mnaomba kwa nia mbaya, ili mpate kuvitumia hivyo mtakavyopata kwa tamaa zenu.

4 You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.

4 Ninyi wanaume na wanawake wazinzi, hamjui ya kwamba urafiki na dunia ni uadui na Mungu? Kwa hiyo mtu yeyote anayetaka kuwa rafiki wa dunia hufanyika adui wa Mungu.

5 Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?

5 Au mwadhani kwamba Andiko lasema bure kuwa huyo Roho ambaye Mungu amemweka ndani yetu hututamani kiasi cha kuona wivu?

6 But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

6 Lakini yeye hutupatia neema zaidi. Hii ndiyo sababu Andiko husema: “Mungu huwapinga wenye kiburi, lakini huwapa wanyenyekevu neema.”

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

7 Basi mtiini Mungu. Mpingeni ibilisi, naye atawakimbia.

8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

8 Mkaribieni Mungu, naye atawakaribia ninyi. Itakaseni mikono yenu ninyi wenye dhambi, na kuisafisha mioyo yenu ninyi wenye nia mbili.

9 Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

9 Huzunikeni, ombolezeni na kulia. Kicheko chenu na kigeuzwe kuwa kuomboleza, na furaha yenu kuwa huzuni.

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

10 Jinyenyekezeni mbele za Bwana, naye atawainua.

11 Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it.

11 Ndugu, msineneane mabaya ninyi kwa ninyi. Mtu yeyote anayesema mabaya dhidi ya ndugu yake au kumhukumu anasema dhidi ya sheria na kuihukumu. Unapoihukumu sheria, basi huishiki sheria bali umekuwa hakimu wa kuihukumu hiyo sheria.

12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

12 Yuko Mtoa sheria mmoja tu na yeye peke yake ndiye Hakimu, ndiye awezaye kuokoa au kuangamiza. Lakini wewe ni nani hata umhukumu jirani yako?

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”

13 Basi sikilizeni ninyi msemao, “Leo au kesho tutakwenda katika mji huu ama ule tukae humo mwaka mmoja, tufanye biashara na kupata faida.”

14 You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

14 Lakini hamjui hata litakalotukia kesho. Maisha yenu ni nini? Ninyi ni ukungu ambao huonekana kwa kitambo kidogo kisha hutoweka.

15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”

15 Badala yake, inawapasa kusema, “Kama Bwana akipenda, tutaishi na kufanya hili ama lile.”

16 As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.

16 Kama ilivyo sasa, mnajisifu na kujigamba. Kujisifu kwa namna hiyo ni uovu.

17 Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.

17 Basi mtu yeyote anayejua jema limpasalo kutenda, lakini asilitende, mtu huyo anatenda dhambi.