1 Wakorintho 7
1 Basi kuhusu mambo yale mliyoyaandika: Ni vyema mwanaume asimguse mwanamke.
I now deal with the subjects mentioned in your letter. It is well for a man to abstain altogether from marriage.
2 Lakini ili kuepuka zinaa, kila mwanaume na awe na mke wake mwenyewe na kila mwanamke awe na mume wake mwenyewe.
But because there is so much fornication every man should have a wife of his own, and every woman should have a husband.
3 Mume atimize wajibu wake wa ndoa kwa mkewe, naye vivyo hivyo mke kwa mumewe.
Let a man pay his wife her due, and let a woman also pay her husband his.
4 Mwanamke hana mamlaka juu ya mwili wake bali mumewe, wala mume hana mamlaka juu ya mwili wake bali mkewe.
A married woman is not mistress of her own person: her husband has certain rights. In the same way a married man is not master of his own person: his wife has certain rights.
5 Msinyimane, isipokuwa mmekubaliana kufanya hivyo kwa muda fulani ili mweze kujitoa kwa maombi, kisha mrudiane tena ili Shetani asije akapata nafasi ya kuwajaribu kwa sababu ya kutokuwa na kiasi.
Do not refuse one another, unless perhaps it is just for a time and by mutual consent, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer and may then associate again; lest the Adversary begin to tempt you because of your deficiency in self-control.
6 Nasema haya kama ushauri na si amri.
Thus much in the way of concession, not of command.
7 Laiti watu wangekuwa kama mimi nilivyo. Lakini kila mtu amepewa kipawa chake kutoka kwa Mungu, mmoja ana kipawa cha namna hii na mwingine ana cha namna ile.
Yet I would that everybody lived as I do; but each of us has his own special gift from God--one in one direction and one in another.
8 Kwa wale wasiooa na kwa wajane, nasema hivi, ingekuwa vizuri wasioe.
But I tell the unmarried, and women who are widows, that it is well for them to remain as I am.
9 Lakini kama hawawezi kujizuia, basi waoe na kuolewa, kwa maana ni afadhali kuoa au kuolewa kuliko kuwaka tamaa.
If, however, they cannot maintain self-control, by all means let them marry; for marriage is better than the fever of passion.
10 Kwa wale waliooana nawapa amri (si mimi ila ni Bwana): Mke asitengane na mumewe.
But to those already married my instructions are--yet not mine, but the Lord's--that a wife is not to leave her husband;
11 Lakini akitengana, ni lazima akae bila kuolewa, ama sivyo apatane tena na mumewe. Wala mume asimpe mkewe talaka.
or if she has already left him, let her either remain as she is or be reconciled to him; and that a husband is not to send away his wife.
12 Lakini kwa wengine nasema (si Bwana ila ni mimi): Kama ndugu ana mke asiyeamini, naye huyo mke anakubali kuishi pamoja naye, basi asimwache.
To the rest it is I who speak--not the Lord. If a brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, let him not send her away.
13 Naye mwanamke aaminiye kama ameolewa na mwanaume asiyeamini na huyo mume anakubali kuishi naye, basi huyo mwanamke asimwache.
And a woman who has an unbelieving husband--if he consents to live with her, let her not separate from him.
14 Kwa maana huyo mume asiyeamini anatakaswa kupitia mkewe, naye mke asiyeamini anatakaswa kupitia mumewe anayeamini. Kama isingalikuwa hivyo watoto wenu wangalikuwa si safi, lakini ilivyo sasa wao ni watakatifu.
For, in such cases, the unbelieving husband has become--and is--holy through union with a Christian woman, and the unbelieving wife is holy through union with a Christian brother. Otherwise your children would be unholy, but in reality they have a place among God's people.
15 Lakini kama yule asiyeamini akijitenga, basi afanye hivyo. Katika hali kama hiyo mwanamke au mwanaume aaminiye hafungwi, kwa sababu Mungu ametuita tuishi kwa amani.
If, however, the unbeliever is determined to leave, let him or her do so. Under such circumstances the Christian man or woman is no slave; God has called us to live lives of peace.
16 Wewe mke, unajuaje kama utamwokoa mumeo? Au wewe mume unajuaje kama utamwokoa mkeo?
For what assurance have you, O woman, as to whether you will save your husband? Or what assurance have you, O man, as to whether you will save your wife?
17 Lakini kila mtu na aishi maisha aliyopangiwa na Bwana, yale Mungu aliyomwitia. Hii ni sheria ninayoiweka kwa makanisa yote.
Only, whatever be the condition in life which the Lord has assigned to each individual--and whatever the condition in which he was living when God called him--in that let him continue.
18 Je, mtu alikuwa tayari ametahiriwa alipoitwa? Asijifanye asiyetahiriwa. Je, mtu alikuwa hajatahiriwa alipoitwa? Asitahiriwe.
This is what I command in all the Churches. Was any one already circumcised when called? Let him not have recourse to the surgeons. Was any one uncircumcised when called? Let him remain uncircumcised.
19 Kutahiriwa si kitu, na kutokutahiriwa si kitu. Lakini kuzitii amri za Mungu ndilo jambo muhimu.
Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing: obedience to God's commandments is everything.
20 Basi kila mmoja wenu na abaki katika hali aliyoitwa nayo.
Whatever be the condition in life in which a man was, when he was called, in that let him continue.
21 Je, wewe ulipoitwa ulikuwa mtumwa? Jambo hilo lisikusumbue. Ingawaje unaweza kupata uhuru, tumia nafasi uliyo nayo sasa kuliko wakati mwingine wowote.
Were you a slave when God called you? Let not that weigh on your mind. And yet if you can get your freedom, take advantage of the opportunity.
22 Kwa maana yeyote aliyeitwa katika Bwana akiwa mtumwa yeye ni mtu huru kwa Bwana, kama vile yeyote aliyekuwa huru alipoitwa yeye ni mtumwa wa Kristo.
For a Christian, if he was a slave when called, is the Lord's freed man, and in the same way a free man, if called, becomes the slave of Christ.
23 Mlinunuliwa kwa gharama; msiwe watumwa wa wanadamu.
You have all been redeemed at infinite cost: do not become slaves to men.
24 Ndugu zangu, kama kila mtu alivyoitwa, akae katika wito wake alioitiwa na Mungu.
Where each one stood when he was called, there, brethren, let him still stand--close to God.
25 Basi, kuhusu wale walio bikira, mimi sina amri kutoka kwa Bwana, lakini mimi natoa shauri kama mtu ambaye ni mwaminifu kwa rehema za Bwana.
Concerning unmarried women I have no command to give you from the Lord; but I offer you my opinion, which is that of a man who, through the Lord's mercy, is deserving of your confidence.
26 Kwa sababu ya shida iliyoko kwa sasa, naona ni vyema mkibaki kama mlivyo.
I think then that, taking into consideration the distress which is now upon us, it is well for a man to remain as he is.
27 Je, umeolewa? Basi usitake talaka. Je, hujaoa? Usitafute mke.
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to get free. Are you free from the marriage bond? Do not seek for a wife.
28 Lakini kama ukioa, hujatenda dhambi; na kama bikira akiolewa, hajatenda dhambi. Lakini wale wanaooa watakabiliana na matatizo mengi katika maisha haya, nami nataka kuwazuilia hayo.
Yet if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a maiden marries, she has not sinned. Such people, however, will have outward trouble. But I am for sparing you.
29 Lakini ndugu zangu, nina maana kwamba muda uliobaki ni mfupi. Tangu sasa wale waliooa waishi kama wasio na wake;
Yet of this I warn you, brethren: the time has been shortened--so that henceforth those who have wives should be as though they had none,
30 nao wanaoomboleza, kama ambao hawaombolezi; wenye furaha kama wasiokuwa nayo; wale wanaonunua, kama vile vitu walivyonunua si mali yao;
those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess,
31 nao wale wanaoshughulika na vitu vya dunia hii, kama ambao hawahusiki navyo. Kwa maana dunia hii kama tunavyoiona sasa inapita.
and those who use the world as not using it to the full. For the world as it now exists is passing away.
32 Ningetaka msiwe na masumbufu. Mwanaume ambaye hajaoa anajishughulisha na mambo ya Bwana, jinsi ya kumpendeza Bwana.
And I would have you free from worldly anxiety. An unmarried man concerns himself with the Lord's business--how he shall please the Lord;
33 Lakini mwanaume aliyeoa anajishughulisha na mambo ya dunia, jinsi ya kumfurahisha mkewe,
but a married man concerns himself with the business of the world--how he shall please his wife.
34 na mawazo yake yamegawanyika. Mwanamke asiyeolewa hujishughulisha na mambo ya Bwana: lengo lake ni awe mtakatifu kimwili na kiroho. Lakini yule aliyeolewa hujishughulisha na mambo ya dunia, jinsi atakavyoweza kumfurahisha mumewe.
There is a difference too between a married and an unmarried woman. She who is unmarried concerns herself with the Lord's business--that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but the married woman concerns herself with the business of the world--how she shall please her husband.
35 Ninasema haya kwa faida yenu wenyewe, sio ili kuwawekea vizuizi bali mpate kuishi kwa jinsi ilivyo vyema bila kuvutwa pengine katika kujitoa kwenu kwa Bwana.
Thus much I say in your own interest; not to lay a trap for you, but to help towards what is becoming, and enable you to wait on the Lord without distraction.
36 Kama mtu yeyote anadhani kwamba hamtendei ilivyo sawa mwanamwali ambaye amemposa, naye akiwa umri wake unazidi kuendelea na mtu huyo anajisikia kwamba inampasa kuoa, afanye kama atakavyo. Yeye hatendi dhambi. Yawapasa waoane.
If, however, a father thinks he is acting unbecomingly towards his still unmarried daughter if she be past the bloom of her youth, and so the matter is urgent, let him do what she desires; he commits no sin; she and her suitor should be allowed to marry.
37 Lakini mwanaume ambaye ameamua moyoni mwake kutooa bila kulazimishwa na mtu yeyote, bali anaweza kuzitawala tamaa zake kutomwoa huyo mwanamwali, basi anafanya ipasavyo.
But if a father stands firm in his resolve, being free from all external constraint and having a legal right to act as he pleases, and in his own mind has come to the decision to keep his daughter unmarried, he will do well.
38 Hivyo basi, mwanaume amwoaye mwanamwali afanya vyema, lakini yeye asiyemwoa afanya vyema zaidi.
So that he who gives his daughter in marriage does well, and yet he who does not give her in marriage will do better.
39 Mwanamke aliyeolewa amefungwa na sheria maadamu mumewe yu hai. Lakini mumewe akifa, basi mwanamke huyo yuko huru kuolewa na mume mwingine ampendaye, lakini lazima awe katika Bwana.
A woman is bound to her husband during the whole period that he lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to marry whom she will, provided that he is a Christian.
40 Lakini kwa maoni yangu, angekuwa na furaha zaidi akibaki alivyo. Nami nadhani pia nina Roho wa Mungu.
But in my judgement, her state is a more enviable one if she remains as she is; and I also think that I have the Spirit of God.
