Isaiah 21
1 The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweeping on, it cometh from the wilderness, from a dreadful land.
Neno kuhusu Jangwa kando ya Bahari: Kama upepo wa kisulisuli unaopita katika nchi hadi kusini, mshambuliaji anakuja kutoka jangwani, kutoka nchi inayotisha.
2 A grievous vision is declared unto me: 'The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam! besiege, O Media! All the sighing thereof have I made to cease.'
Nimeonyeshwa maono ya kutisha: Msaliti anasaliti, mteka nyara anateka nyara. Elamu, shambulia! Umedi, izunguke kwa jeshi! Nitakomesha huzuni zote alizosababisha.
3 Therefore are my loins filled with convulsion; pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman in travail; I am bent so that I cannot hear; I am affrighted so that I cannot see.
Katika hili mwili wangu umeteswa na maumivu, maumivu makali ya ghafula yamenishika, kama yale ya mwanamke mwenye utungu wa kuzaa. Nimeduwazwa na lile ninalolisikia, nimeshangazwa na lile ninaloliona.
4 My heart is bewildered, terror hath overwhelmed me; the twilight that I longed for hath been turned for me into trembling.
Moyo wangu unababaika, woga unanifanya nitetemeke, gizagiza la jioni nililolitamani sana, limekuwa hofu kuu kwangu.
5 They prepare the table, they light the lamps, they eat, they drink — 'Rise up, ye princes, anoint the shield.'
Wanaandaa meza, wanatandaza mazulia, wanakula, wanakunywa! Amkeni, enyi maafisa, zitieni ngao mafuta!
6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me: Go, set a watchman; let him declare what he seeth!
Hili ndilo Bwana analoniambia: “Nenda, weka mlinzi, na atoe taarifa ya kile anachokiona.
7 And when he seeth a troop, horsemen by pairs, a troop of asses, a troop of camels, he shall hearken diligently with much heed.
Anapoona magari ya vita pamoja na kundi la farasi, wapanda punda au wapanda ngamia, na awe macho, awe macho kikamilifu.”
8 And he cried as a lion: 'Upon the watch-tower, O Lord, I stand continually in the daytime, and I am set in my ward all the nights.'
Naye mlinzi alipaza sauti, “Mchana baada ya mchana, bwana wangu, ninasimama katika mnara wa ulinzi, kila usiku ninakaa mahali pangu nilipoamriwa.
9 And, behold, there came a troop of men, horsemen by pairs. And he spoke and said: 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the graven images of her gods are broken unto the ground.'
Tazama, yuaja mtu anayepanda gari la vita pamoja na kundi la farasi. Naye anajibu: ‘Babeli umeanguka, umeanguka! Vinyago vyote vya miungu yake vimelala chini vikiwa vimevunjwa!’”
10 O thou my threshing, and the winnowing of my floor, that which I have heard from the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.
Ee watu wangu, mliopondwa kwenye sakafu ya kupuria, ninawaambia kile nilichokisikia kutoka kwa Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote, kutoka kwa Mungu wa Israeli.
11 The burden of Dumah. One calleth unto me out of Seir: 'Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?'
Neno kuhusu Duma: Mtu fulani ananiita kutoka Seiri, “Mlinzi, usiku utaisha lini? Mlinzi, usiku utaisha lini?”
12 The watchman said: 'The morning cometh, and also the night — if ye will inquire, inquire ye; return, come.'
Mlinzi anajibu, “Asubuhi inakuja, lakini pia usiku. Kama ungeliuliza, basi uliza; bado na urudi tena.”
13 The burden upon Arabia. In the thickets in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye caravans of Dedanites.
Neno kuhusu Arabia: Enyi misafara ya Wadedani, mnaopiga kambi katika vichaka vya Arabia,
14 Unto him that is thirsty bring ye water! The inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitive with his bread.
leteni maji kwa wenye kiu, ninyi mnaoishi Tema, leteni chakula kwa ajili ya wakimbizi.
15 For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.
Wanaukimbia upanga, kutoka upanga uliochomolewa alani, kutoka upinde uliopindwa, na kutoka kwenye joto la vita.
16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me: 'Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail;
Hili ndilo Bwana analoniambia: “Katika muda wa mwaka mmoja, kama vile mtumishi aliyefungwa na mkataba angeihesabu, majivuno yote ya Kedari yatafikia mwisho.
17 and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished; for the LORD, the God of Israel, hath spoken it.'
Wanaume wavutao pinde walionusurika, mashujaa wa Kedari, watakuwa wachache.” Bwana, Mungu wa Israeli, amesema.
