Jakobho 4

1 Dzinobvepi hondo nekurwa pakati penyu? Hazvibvi apa here, pakuchiva kwenyu kunorwa pamitezo yenyu?

Now I will tell you why you are fighting among yourselves and quarreling with each other [RHQ]. It is [RHQ] because each of you wants to do evil things [PRS]. You keep on wanting to do things that are not [what God wants you to do].

2 Munoshuva, asi hamuna chinhu; munouraya uye munoshumba, asi hamugoni kuwana chinhu; munorwa muchiita hondo, asi hamuna chinhu, nokuti hamukumbiri.

There are things that you [very much] desire to have, but you do not get [those things, so] you [want to] kill [HYP] [those who hinder you from getting them]. You desire what [other people have], but you are unable to get [what you desire, so] you quarrel and fight [with one another] [HYP]. You do not have [what you desire] because you do not ask [God for it].

3 Munokumbira, asi hamugamuchiri, nokuti munokumbira zvakaipa, kuti muparadze pakuchiva kwenyu.

[And even when] you do ask [him], he does not give you [what you ask for] because you are asking for the wrong reason. [You are asking for things] in order that you may use them just to (enjoy yourselves/make yourselves happy).

4 Imwi mhombwe nemhombwekadzi, hamuzivi here kuti ushamwari hwenyika ruvengo kuna Mwari? Naizvozvo umwe neumwe anoda kuva shamwari yenyika, anova muvengi waMwari.

[Like] a woman who is unfaithful to her husband, you [are being unfaithful to God and not obeying him any more] [MET]. Those who are behaving as evil people do [MTY] (OR, Those who love [the evil pleasures of] this world) are hostile toward God. Perhaps you do not realize that [RHQ]. So those who decide to act as evil people do [MTY] become enemies of God.

5 Kana munofunga kuti rugwaro rwunotaura pasina maturo here kuti: Mweya wakagara mukati medu anochivira godo?

(Surely you remember that [God told us in] the Scriptures that he eagerly desires that his Spirit, who lives in us, will help us to love [God] only!/Do you think that it is for no reason that [God told us in] the Scriptures that he strongly desires that his Spirit, who lives in us, will help us to love [God] only?) [RHQ] God has a reason for desiring that.

6 Asi anopa nyasha huru; saka anoti: Mwari anopikisa vanozvikudza, asi anopa nyasha vanozvininipisa.

[It is because] he is kind [to us and he] wants very much to help us. That is why (someone said/[King Solomon] wrote) [in the Scriptures], “God opposes those who are proud, but he helps those who are humble.”

7 Naizvozvo muzviise pasi kuna Mwari; pikisai dhiabhorosi, zvino achakutizai.

So submit yourselves to God. (Resist the devil/Refuse to do what the devil wants), and [as a result] he will run away from you.

8 Swederai kuna Mwari, naiye achaswedera kwamuri; shambai maoko, vatadzi, uye muchenure moyo, imwi vemoyo miviri.

Come near [spiritually] to God, and [as a result] he will come near to you. You who are sinners, stop doing what is wrong, and do only what is good [SYN, MET]. You who cannot decide [whether you will] ([commit yourselves to God/obey God completely]), stop thinking wrong thoughts, and think only pure thoughts [MTY].

9 Tambudzikai uye chemai uye rirai; kuseka kwenyu ngakushandurwe kuve kuchema, nemufaro uve kusuruvara.

Be sorrowful and weep/mourn [DOU] [because of the wrong things that you have done]. Do not laugh [DOU], ([enjoying only what you selfishly/enjoying only what you yourselves]) [desire]. Instead, be sad [because you have done what is wrong].

10 Zvininipisei pamberi paIshe, uye achakusimudzai.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and [as a result] he will honor you.

11 Musareverana zvakaipa, hama. Anorevera hama zvakaipa uye kutonga hama yake, anorevera murairo zvakaipa, nekutonga murairo; zvino kana uchitonga murairo, hausi muiti wemurairo, asi mutongi.

My fellow believers, stop saying evil things about one another, [because] those who say something evil about a fellow believer and [are therefore] condemning [one who is like] a brother [to them] are really speaking against the law [that God gave us to obey]. [In this law, God commanded] [MTY] [us to love others], and those who say evil things about fellow believers, [it is as though] they are saying that we do not have to do what [God] commanded. If you [(sg)] say that you do not have to do what God commanded, you [(sg)] are not obeying God’s law. Instead, you [(sg)] are claiming that you [have the authority] to condemn [others].

12 Umwe chete ndiye mutemi wemurairo, anogona kuponesa nekuparadza; iwe ndiwe ani anotonga umwe?

[But in fact], there is only one who [has the authority to] tell [people] what is right to do and to condemn [them, and that is God]. He alone is able to save [people] or to destroy people. [So], (you [(sg)] certainly have no right to decide how God should punish other people./who are you to decide how God should punish other people?) [RHQ]

13 Uyai ikozvino imwi munoti: Nhasi kana mangwana tichaenda kuguta rekuti, tigogarako gore rimwe, tigotengeserana, tigowana mubairo;

[Some of you] are [arrogantly] saying, “Today or tomorrow we will go to a certain city. We will spend a year there and we will buy and sell things and earn a lot of money.” Now, you listen to me!

14 imwi musingazivi zvamangwana. Nokuti upenyu hwenyu chii? Nokuti imhute inoonekwa nguva diki, ipapo ndokunyangarika.

[You should not talk like that, because] you do not know what will happen tomorrow, and you do not know [how long] you will live! Your life [is short] [MET], [like] a mist that appears for a short time and then disappears.

15 Pakuti muti: Kana Ishe achida, tichararamawo, tigoita ichi kana icho.

Instead of [what you are saying], you should say, “If the Lord wills/desires, we will live and do this or that.”

16 Asi ikozvino munozvirumbidza pakuzvikudza kwenyu; kuzvirumbidza kwese kwakadai kwakaipa.

But what you are doing is boasting about all the things that you arrogantly [plan to do]. Your boasting like that is evil.

17 Naizvozvo anoziva kuita zvakanaka asingazviiti, chivi kwaari.

So if anyone knows the right thing that he should do, [but] he does not do it, he is sinning.