1 Wakorintho 7
1 Kuhusu mambo mliyoniandikia: Kuna wakati ambapo ni vizuri mwanaume asilale na mke wake.
With reference to the subjects about which you wrote to me: It is good for a man to remain single.
2 Lakini kwa sababu ya majaribu mengi ya zinaa kila mwanaume awe na mkewe, na kila mwanamke awe na mmewe.
But, owing to the prevalence of immorality, I advise every man to have his own wife, and every woman her husband.
3 Mume anapaswa kumpa mke haki yake ya ndoa, na vile vile mke naye kwa mmewe.
A husband should give his wife her due, and a wife her husband.
4 Si mke aliye na mamlaka juu ya mwili wake, ni mme. Na vile vile, mme naye hana mamlaka juu ya mwili wake, bali mke anayo.
It is not the wife, but the husband, who exercises power over her body; and so, too, it is not the husband, but the wife, who exercises power over his body.
5 Msinyimane mnapolala pamoja, isipokuwa mmekubaliana kwa muda maalum. Fanyeni hivyo ili kupata muda wa maombi. Kisha mnaweza kurudiana tena pamoja, Ili kwamba Shetani asije akawajaribu kwa kukosa kiasi.
Do not deprive each other of what is due – unless it is only for a time and by mutual consent, so that your minds may be free for prayer until you again live as man and wife – otherwise Satan might take advantage of your want of self-control and tempt you.
6 Lakini nasema haya mambo kwa hiari na si kama amri.
I say this, however, as a concession, not as a command.
7 Natamani kila mmoja angekuwa kama mimi nilivyo. Lakini kila mmoja ana karama yake kutoka kwa Mungu. Huyu ana karama hii, na yule ana karama ile.
I should wish everyone to be just what I am myself. But everyone has his own gift from God – one in one way, and one in another.
8 Kwa wasioolewa na wajane ninasema kwamba, ni vizuri kwao kama wakibaki bila kuolewa, kama nilivyo mimi.
My advice, then, to those who are not married, and to widows, is this: It would be good for them to remain as I am myself.
9 Lakini kama hawawezi kujizuia, wanapaswa kuolewa. Kwa kuwa heri kwao kuolewa kuliko kuwaka tamaa.
But, if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to be consumed with passion.
10 Sasa kwa wale walioolewa nawapa amri, si mimi bali ni Bwana. “Mke asitengane na mme wake.”
To those who are married my direction is – yet it is not mine, but the Master’s – that a woman is not to leave her husband
11 Lakini kama akijitenga kutoka kwa mmewe, abaki hivyo bila kuolewa au vinginevyo apatane na mmewe. Na “Mme asimpe talaka mke wake.”
(If she has done so, she should remain as she is, or else be reconciled to her husband) and also that a man is not to divorce his wife.
12 Lakini kwa waliobaki, nasema- mimi, si Bwana- kwamba kama ndugu yeyote ana mke asiyeamini na anaridhika kuishi naye, hapaswi kumwacha.
To all others I say – I, not the Master – If a follower of the Lord is married to a woman, who is an unbeliever but willing to live with him, he should not divorce her;
13 Kama mwanamke ana mme asiyeamini, na kama anaridhika kuishi naye, asimwache.
and a woman who is married to a man, who is an unbeliever but willing to live with her, should not divorce her husband.
14 Kwa mme asiyeamini anatakaswa kwa sababu ya imani ya mkewe. Na mwanamke asiyeamini anatakaswa kwa sababu ya mmewe aaminiye. Vinginevyo watoto wenu wangekuwa si safi, lakini kwa kweli wametakaswa.
For, through his wife, the husband who is an unbeliever has become associated with Christ’s people; and the wife who is an unbeliever has become associated with Christ’s people through the Lord’s follower whom she has married. Otherwise your children would be “defiled,” but, as it is, they belong to Christ’s people.
15 Lakini mwenzi asiyeamini akiondoka na aende. Kwa namna hiyo, kaka au dada hafungwi na viapo vyao. Mungu ametuita tuishi kwa amani.
However, if the unbeliever wishes to be separated, let them be so. Under such circumstances neither is bound; God has called you to live in peace.
16 Unajuaje kama mwanamke, huenda utamwokoa mmeo? Au unajuaje kama mwanaume, huenda utamwokoa mkeo?
How can you tell, wife, whether you may not save your husband? And how can you tell, husband, whether you may not save your wife?
17 Kila mmoja tu aishi maisha kama Bwana alivyowagawia, kila mmoja kama Mungu alivyowaita wao. Huu ni mwongozo wangu kwa makanisa yote.
In any case, a person should continue to live in the condition which the Lord has allotted to them, and in which they were when God called them. This is the rule that I lay down in every church.
18 Yupo aliyekuwa ametahiriwa alipoitwa kuamini? Asijaribu kuondoa alama ya tohara yake. Yupo yeyote aliyeitwa katika imani hajatahiriwa? Hapaswi kutahiriwa.
Was a man already circumcised when he was called? Then he should not efface his circumcision. Has a man been called when uncircumcised? Then he should not be circumcised.
19 Kwa hili aidha ametahiriwa wala asiye tahiriwa hakuna matatizo. Chenye matatizo ni kutii amri za Mungu.
Circumcision is nothing; the want of it is nothing; but to keep the commands of God is everything.
20 Kila mmoja abaki katika wito alivyokuwa alipoitwa na Mungu kuamini.
Let everyone remain in that condition of life in which they were when the call came to them.
21 Ulikuwa mtumwa wakati Mungu alipokuita? Usijali kuhusu hiyo. Lakini kama unaweza kuwa huru, fanya hivyo.
Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that trouble you. No, even if you are able to gain your freedom, still do your best.
22 Kwa mmoja aliyeitwa na Bwana kama mtumwa ni mtu huru katika Bwana. Kama vile, mmoja aliye huru alipoitwa kuamini ni mtumwa wa Kristo.
For the person who was a slave when they were called to the master’s service is the Master’s freedman; so, too, the person who was free when called is Christ’s slave.
23 Mmekwisha nunuliwa kwa thamani, hivyo msiwe watumwa wa wanadamu.
You were bought, and the price was paid. Do not let yourselves become slaves to people.
24 Kaka na dada zangu, katika maisha yoyote kila mmoja wetu tulipoitwa kuamini, tubaki kama vile.
Friends, let everyone remain in the condition in which they were when they were called, in close communion with God.
25 Sasa, wale wote ambao hawajaoa kamwe, sina amri kutoka kwa Bwana. Lakini nawapa maoni yangu kama nilivyo. Kwa huruma za Bwana, zinazo aminika
With regard to unmarried women, I have no command from the Master to give you, but I tell you my opinion, and the Master in his mercy has made me worthy to be trusted.
26 Kwa hiyo, ninafikiri hivyo kwa sababu ya usumbufu, ni vyema mwanaume abaki kama alivyo.
I think, then, that, in view of the time of suffering that has now come upon us, what I have already said is best – that a man should remain as he is.
27 Umefungwa kwa mwanamke na kiapo cha ndoa? Usitake uhuru kutoka kwa hiyo. Una uhuru kutoka kwa mke au hujaolewa? Usitafute mke.
Are you married to a wife? Then do not seek to be separated. Are you separated from a wife? Then do not seek for a wife.
28 Lakini kama ukioa, hujafanya dhambi. Na kama mwanamke hajolewa akiolewa, hajafanya dhambi. Bado wale wanaoana wanapata masumbufu ya aina mbalimbali. Nami nataka niwaepushe hayo.
Still, if you should marry, that is not wrong; nor, if a young woman marries, is that wrong. But those who marry will have much trouble to bear, and my wish is to spare you.
29 Lakini nasema hivi, kaka na dada zangu, muda ni mfupi. Tangu sasa na kuendelea, wale walio na wake waishi kama hawana.
What I mean, friends, is this – the time is short. Meanwhile, let those who have wives live as if they had none,
30 Wote walio na huzuni wajifanye kama walikuwa hawana huzuni, na wote wanaofurahi, kama walikuwa hawafurahi, na wote wanaonunua kitu chochote, kama hawakumiliki chochote.
those who are weeping as if not weeping, those who are rejoicing as if not rejoicing, those who buy as if not possessing,
31 Na wote wanaoshughulika na ulimwengu, wawe kama hawakushughulika nao. Kwa kuwa mitindo ya dunia inafikia mwisho wake.
and those who use the good things of the world as using them sparingly; for this world as we see it is passing away.
32 Ninataka muwe huru kwa masumbufu yote. Mwanaume asiyeoa anajihusisha na vitu vinavyo mhusu Bwana, namna ya kumpendeza yeye.
I want you to be free from anxiety. The unmarried man is anxious about the Master’s cause, desiring to please him;
33 Lakini mwanaume aliyeoa hujihusisha na mambo ya dunia, namna ya kumpendeza mkewe,
while the married man is anxious about worldly matters, desiring to please his wife;
34 amegawanyika. Mwanawake asiyeolewa au bikira hujihusisha na vitu kuhusu Bwana, namna ya kujitenga katika mwili na katika roho. Lakini mwanamke aliyeolewa hujihusisha kuhusu vitu dunia, namna ya kumfurahisha mme wake.
and so his interests are divided. Again, the unmarried woman, whether she is old or young, is anxious about the Master’s cause, striving to be pure both in body and in spirit, while the married woman is anxious about worldly matters, desiring to please her husband.
35 Nasema hivi kwa faida yenu wenyewe, na siweki mtego kwenu. Nasema hivi kwa vile ni haki, ili kwamba mnaweza kujiweka wakfu kwa Bwana bila kikwazo chochote.
I say this for your own benefit, not with any intention of putting a halter round your necks, but in order to secure for the Master seemly and constant devotion, free from all distraction.
36 Lakini kama mtu anafikiri hawezi kumtendea kwa heshima mwanawali wake, kwa sababu ya hisia zake zina nguvu sana, acha aoane naye kama apendavyo. Siyo dhambi.
If, however, a father thinks that he is not acting fairly by his unmarried daughter, when she is past her youth, and if under these circumstances her marriage ought to take place, he should act as he thinks right. He is doing nothing wrong – let the marriage take place.
37 Lakini kama amefanya maamuzi kutokuoa, na hakuna haja ya lazima, na kama anaweza kutawala hamu yake, atafanya vyema kama hatamwoa.
On the other hand, a father, who has definitely made up his mind, and is under no compulsion, but is free to carry out his own wishes, and who has come to the decision, in his own mind, to keep his unmarried daughter at home will be doing right.
38 Hivyo, anayemwoa mwanamwali wake afanya vyema, na yeyote ambaye anachagua kutooa atafanya vyema zaidi.
In short, the one who consents to his daughter’s marriage is doing right, and yet the other will be doing better.
39 Mwanamke amefungwa na mmewe wakati yu hai. Lakini kama mmewe akifa, yuko huru kuolewa na yeyote ampendaye, lakini katika Bwana tu.
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives; but, if the husband should pass to his rest, the widow is free to marry anyone she wishes, provided he is a believer.
40 Bado katika maamuzi yangu, atakuwa na furaha zaidi kama akiishi kama alivyo. Na ninafikiri kuwa nami pia nina Roho wa Mungu.
Yet she will be happier if she remains as she is – in my opinion, for I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
