Job 4

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

1 Ndipo Elifazi Mtemani akajibu:

2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?

2 “Kama mtu akithubutu kuzungumza nawe, kutakukasirisha? Lakini ni nani awezaye kujizuia asiseme?

3 Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.

3 Fikiri jinsi ambavyo umewafundisha watu wengi, jinsi ambavyo umeitia nguvu mikono iliyokuwa dhaifu.

4 Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.

4 Maneno yako yamewategemeza wale waliojikwaa; umeyatia nguvu magoti yaliyokuwa dhaifu.

5 But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.

5 Lakini sasa hii taabu imekujia wewe, nawe unashuka moyo; imekupiga wewe, nawe unafadhaika.

6 Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?

6 Je, kumcha Mungu kwako hakupaswi kuwa ndiyo matumaini yako na njia zako kutokuwa na lawama ndilo taraja lako?

7 Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?

7 “Fikiri sasa: Ni mtu yupi asiye na hatia ambaye aliwahi kuangamia? Ni wapi wanyofu waliwahi kuangamizwa?

8 As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.

8 Kwa jinsi ambavyo mimi nimechunguza, wale walimao ubaya na wale hupanda uovu, huvuna hayo hayo hayo.

9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.

9 Kwa pumzi ya Mungu huangamizwa; kwa mshindo wa hasira zake huangamia.

10 The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.

10 Simba anaweza kunguruma na kukoroma, lakini bado meno ya simba mkubwa huvunjika.

11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

11 Simba anaweza kuangamia kwa kukosa mawindo, nao wana wa simba jike hutawanyika.

12 Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.

12 “Neno lililetwa kwangu kwa siri, masikio yangu yakasikia mnongʼono wake.

13 In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,

13 Katikati ya ndoto za kutia wasiwasi wakati wa usiku, hapo usingizi mzito uwapatapo wanadamu,

14 fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.

14 hofu na kutetemeka kulinishika na kufanya mifupa yangu yote itetemeke.

15 Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.

15 Kuna roho aliyepita mbele ya uso wangu, nazo nywele za mwili wangu zikasimama.

16 It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:

16 Yule roho akasimama, lakini sikuweza kutambua kilikuwa kitu gani. Umbo fulani lilisimama mbele ya macho yangu, kukawa na ukimya kisha nikasikia sauti:

17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?

17 ‘Je, binadamu aweza kuwa mwadilifu kuliko Mungu? Je, mtu aweza kuwa safi kuliko Muumba wake?

18 If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,

18 Kama Mungu hawaamini watumishi wake, kama yeye huwalaumu malaika zake kwa kukosea,

19 how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!

19 ni mara ngapi zaidi wale waishio katika nyumba za udongo wa mfinyanzi, ambazo misingi yake ipo mavumbini, ambao wamepondwa kama nondo!

20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.

20 Kati ya mawio na machweo huvunjwa vipande vipande; bila yeyote kutambua, huangamia milele.

21 Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’

21 Je, kamba za hema yao hazikungʼolewa, hivyo hufa bila hekima?’