2 Petro 3
1 Wapenzi, huu ndio waraka wangu wa pili ninaowaandikia. Katika nyaraka hizi mbili ninajaribu kuziamsha nia zenu safi kwa mawazo makamilifu.
This letter which I am now writing to you, dear friends, is my second letter. In both my letters I seek to revive in your honest minds the memory of certain things,
2 Nataka ninyi mkumbuke maneno yaliyosemwa zamani na manabii watakatifu na ile amri ya Bwana na Mwokozi mliyopewa kupitia kwa mitume wenu.
so that you may recall the words spoken long ago by the holy Prophets, and the commandments of our Lord and Saviour given you through your Apostles.
3 Kwanza kabisa, ni lazima mfahamu ya kwamba siku za mwisho watakuja watu wenye dhihaka, wakidhihaki na kuzifuata tamaa zao mbaya.
But, above all, remember that, in the last days, men will come who make a mock at everything--men governed only by their own passions,
4 Watasema, “Iko wapi ile ahadi ya kuja kwake? Tangu baba zetu walipofariki, kila kitu kinaendelea kama kilivyokuwa tangu mwanzo wa kuumbwa.”
and, asking, "What has become of His promised Return? For from the time our forefathers fell asleep all things continue as they have been ever since the creation of the world."
5 Lakini wao kwa makusudi hupuuza ukweli huu, ya kwamba kwa neno la Mungu mbingu zilikuwepo tangu zamani, nayo dunia ilifanyizwa kutoka ndani ya maji na kwa maji.
For they are wilfully blind to the fact that there were heavens which existed of old, and an earth, the latter arising out of water and extending continuously through water, by the command of God;
6 Ulimwengu wa wakati ule uligharikishwa kwa hayo maji na kuangamizwa.
and that, by means of these, the then existing race of men was overwhelmed with water and perished.
7 Lakini kwa neno lilo hilo, mbingu za sasa na dunia zimewekwa akiba kwa ajili ya moto, zikihifadhiwa hadi siku ile ya hukumu na ya kuangamizwa kwa watu wasiomcha Mungu.
But the present heavens and the present earth are, by the command of the same God, kept stored up, reserved for fire in preparation for a day of judgement and of destruction for the ungodly.
8 Lakini wapenzi, msisahau neno hili: kwamba kwa Bwana, siku moja ni kama miaka elfu, na miaka elfu ni kama siku moja.
But there is one thing, dear friends, which you must not forget. With the Lord one day resembles a thousand years and a thousand years resemble one day.
9 Bwana hakawii kuitimiza ahadi yake, kama watu wengine wanavyokudhani kukawia. Badala yake, yeye anawavumilia ninyi, maana hataki mtu yeyote aangamie, bali kila mtu afikilie toba.
The Lord is not slow in fulfilling His promise, in the sense in which some men speak of slowness. But He bears patiently with you, His desire being that no one should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10 Lakini siku ya Bwana itakuja kama mwizi. Ndipo mbingu zitatoweka kwa kishindo kikuu; navyo vitu vya asili vitateketezwa kwa moto, nayo dunia na kila kitu kilichomo ndani yake kitaunguzwa.
The day of the Lord will come like a thief--it will be a day on which the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise, the elements be destroyed in the fierce heat, and the earth and all the works of man be utterly burnt up.
11 Kwa kuwa vitu vyote vitaharibiwa namna hii, je, ninyi imewapasa kuwa watu wa namna gani? Inawapasa kuishi maisha matakatifu na ya kumcha Mungu,
Since all these things are thus pre-destined to dissolution, what sort of men ought you to be found to be in all holy living and godly conduct,
12 mkingojea na kuhimiza kuja kwa hiyo siku ya Mungu. Siku hiyo italeta mbingu kuchomwa moto na kutoweka, na vitu vya asili vitayeyuka kwa moto.
eagerly looking forward to the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens, all ablaze, will be destroyed, and the elements will melt in the fierce heat?
13 Lakini kufuatana na ahadi yake, sisi tunatazamia mbingu mpya na dunia mpya, ambayo haki hukaa ndani yake.
But in accordance with His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness will dwell.
14 Kwa sababu hii, wapenzi, kwa kuwa mnatazamia mambo haya, fanyeni bidii ili awakute katika amani, bila mawaa wala dosari.
Therefore, dear friends, since you have these expectations, earnestly seek to be found in His presence, free from blemish or reproach, in peace.
15 Hesabuni uvumilivu wa Bwana kuwa ni wokovu, kama vile ndugu yetu mpenzi Paulo alivyowaandikia kwa hekima ile aliyopewa na Mungu.
And always regard the patient forbearance of our Lord as salvation, as our dear brother Paul also has written to you in virtue of the wisdom granted to him.
16 Huandika vivyo hivyo katika nyaraka zake zote, akizungumzia ndani yake mambo haya. Katika nyaraka zake kuna mambo mengine ambayo ni vigumu kuyaelewa, ambayo watu wajinga na wasio thabiti huyapotosha kwa maangamizi yao wenyewe, kama wapotoshavyo pia Maandiko mengine.
That is what he says in all his letters, when speaking in them of these things. In those letters there are some statements hard to understand, which ill-taught and unprincipled people pervert, just as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own ruin.
17 Basi, ninyi wapenzi, kwa kuwa mmekwisha kujua mambo haya, jilindeni msije mkachukuliwa na kosa la watu hao waasi na kuanguka kutoka kwenye uthabiti wenu.
You, therefore, dear friends, having been warned beforehand, must continually be on your guard so as not to be led astray by the false teaching of immoral men nor fall from your own stedfastness.
The World is Destroyed by Water
