1 Wakorintho 7
1 Yahusu sasa mambo yale mliyoandika: naam, ni vizuri kama mtu haoi;
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 hatari ya uzinzi, basi, kila mwanamume na awe na mke wake mwenyewe, na kila mwanamke awe na mume wake mwenyewe.
But, owing to the prevalence of immorality, I advise every man to have his own wife, and every woman her husband.
3 Mume atimize wajibu alio nao kwa mkewe, naye mke atimize wajibu alio nao kwa mumewe.
A husband should give his wife her due, and a wife her husband.
4 Mke hana mamlaka juu ya mwili wake, bali mumewe anayo; hali kadhalika naye mume, hana mamlaka juu ya mwili wake, bali mkewe 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 haki zenu, isipokuwa kama mnaafikiana kufanya hivyo kwa kitambo tu, ili mpate nafasi nzuri ya kusali. Kisha rudianeni tena mara, ili Shetani asije akawajaribu kwa sababu ya udhaifu wenu.
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 Ninayowaambieni sasa ni mawaidha, si amri.
I say this, however, as a concession, not as a command.
7 Ningependa watu wote wawe kama mimi nilivyo; lakini kila mmoja anacho kipaji chake kutoka kwa Mungu; mmoja kipaji hiki na mwingine kile.
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 Basi, wale ambao hawajaoana na wale walio wajane nawaambia kwamba ni vema kuendelea kuwa kama mimi nilivyo.
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 Hata hivyo, kama mtu hawezi kujizuia basi, na aoe; maana ni afadhali zaidi kuoa 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 Kwa wale waliooa ninayo amri, tena si yangu, ila ni ya Bwana: mke asiachane na mumewe;
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 akiachana naye, basi abaki bila kuolewa; ama la, apatanishwe na mume wake. Mume naye asimpe talaka mkewe.
(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 Kwa wale wengine, (mimi binafsi, si Bwana) nasema hivi: Ikiwa mwanamume Mkristo anaye mke asiyeamini, na huyo mwanamke akakubali kuendelea kuishi naye, asimpe talaka.
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 Na, kama mwanamke Mkristo anaye mume asiyeamini, na huyo mwanamume akakubali kuendelea kuishi naye, basi, asimpe talaka mumewe.
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 maana huyo mume asiyeamini hupokelewa kwa Mungu kwa kuungana na mkewe; na huyo mke asiyeamini hupokelewa kwa Mungu kwa kuungana na mumewe. Vinginevyo watoto wao wangekuwa si wa Mungu; kumbe sasa ni watoto wake Mungu.
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 Hata hivyo, ikiwa yule asiyeamini anataka kumwacha mwenzake aliye Mkristo, basi, na amwache tu. Hapo huyo Mkristo, mume au mke, atakuwa huru. Maana Mungu amewaiteni ninyi muishi 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 Wewe mama Mkristo, unawezaje kuwa na hakika kwamba hutaweza kumwokoa mume wako? Au wewe mume Mkristo, unawezaje kuwa na hakika kwamba hutaweza kumwokoa 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 Kwa vyovyote kila mmoja na aishi kufuatana na vipaji alivyogawiwa na Bwana, na kama alivyoitwa na Mungu. Hili ndilo agizo langu 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 Kama mtu aliitwa akiwa ametahiriwa, basi asijisingizie kwamba hakutahiriwa; na kama alipoitwa hakuwa ametahiriwa, basi na asitahiriwe.
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 Maana kutahiriwa au kutotahiriwa si kitu; kilicho muhimu ni kuzishika amri za Mungu.
Circumcision is nothing; the want of it is nothing; but to keep the commands of God is everything.
20 Basi, kila mmoja na abaki kama alivyokuwa wakati alipoitwa.
Let everyone remain in that condition of life in which they were when the call came to them.
21 Je, wewe ulikuwa mtumwa wakati ulipoitwa? Sawa, usijali; lakini ukipata fursa ya kuwa huru, itumie.
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 Maana yeye aliyeitwa na Bwana akiwa mtumwa huyo huwa mtu huru wa Bwana. Hali kadhalika naye aliyeitwa akiwa mtu huru, huwa 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 Nyote mmenunuliwa kwa bei; kwa hiyo msiwe tena watumwa wa watu.
You were bought, and the price was paid. Do not let yourselves become slaves to people.
24 Ndugu zangu, kila mmoja wenu basi, na abaki na Mungu kama alivyokuwa wakati alipoitwa.
Friends, let everyone remain in the condition in which they were when they were called, in close communion with God.
25 Sasa, kuhusu mabikira na waseja, sina amri kutoka kwa Bwana; lakini natoa maoni yangu mimi ambaye kwa huruma yake Bwana nastahili kuaminiwa.
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 Basi, kutokana na shida iliyopo sasa nadhani ingefaa mtu 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 Je, umeoa? Basi, usitake kuachana na mkeo. Wewe hukuoa? Basi, usitake kuoa.
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 ikiwa utaoa hutakuwa umetenda dhambi; na msichana akiolewa hatakuwa ametenda dhambi. Hao watakaooana watapatwa na matatizo ya dunia hii, lakini mimi ningependa hayo yasiwapate ninyi.
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 Ndugu, nataka kusema hivi: muda uliobaki ni mfupi. Na tangu sasa wale waliooa na waishi kama vile hawakuoa;
What I mean, friends, is this – the time is short. Meanwhile, let those who have wives live as if they had none,
30 wenye kulia wawe kama hawalii, na wenye kufurahi wawe kama hawafurahi; wanaonunua wawe kama hawana kitu;
those who are weeping as if not weeping, those who are rejoicing as if not rejoicing, those who buy as if not possessing,
31 nao wenye shughuli na dunia hii wawe kama vile hawana shughuli sana nayo. Maana ulimwengu huu, kama tuujuavyo, unapita.
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 Ningependa ninyi msiwe na wasiwasi. Mtu asiye na mke hujishughulisha na kazi ya Bwana jinsi atakavyompendeza Bwana.
I want you to be free from anxiety. The unmarried man is anxious about the Master’s cause, desiring to please him;
33 Mtu aliyeoa hujishughulisha na mambo ya dunia jinsi atakavyompendeza mkewe,
while the married man is anxious about worldly matters, desiring to please his wife;
34 naye amegawanyika. Mwanamke asiyeolewa au bikira hujishughulisha na mambo ya Bwana apate kujitolea mwili na roho kwa Bwana. Lakini mwanamke aliyeolewa hujishughulisha na mambo ya dunia hii jinsi atakavyompendeza mumewe.
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 Nawaambieni haya kwa faida yenu, na si kwa kuwawekeeni kizuio. Nataka tu muwe na mpango unaofaa, mpate kumtumikia Bwana kwa moyo na nia moja.
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 Kama mtu anaona kwamba hamtendei vyema mchumba wake asipomwoa, na kama tamaa zake zinamshinda, na afanye atakavyo; waoane tu; hatakuwa ametenda 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 huyo mwanamume akiamua kwa hiari moyoni mwake kutooa na kama anaweza kuzitawala tamaa zake na kuamua namna ya kufanya, basi, anafanya vizuri zaidi asipomwoa huyo mwenzake bikira.
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 Kwa maneno mengine: yule anayeamua kumwoa huyo mchumba wake anafanya vema; naye anayeamua kutomwoa anafanya vema 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 huwa amefungwa na mumewe kwa muda wote mumewe aishipo. Lakini mumewe akifa, mama huyo yuko huru, na akipenda anaweza kuolewa na mtu yeyote, mradi tu iwe Kikristo.
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 Lakini, nionavyo mimi, atakuwa na heri zaidi kama akibaki hivyo alivyo. Hayo ni maoni yangu, na nafikiri mimi pia ninaye 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.
