¹So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants, and stewards of God’s mysteries.

¹Mtu na atuone sisi kuwa ni watumishi wa Kristo tuliokabidhiwa siri za mungu.

²Here, moreover, it is required of stewards, that they be found faithful.

²Kinachotakiwa kwa yeyote yule aliyekabidhiwa kazi ni kuwa mwaminifu.

³But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by man’s judgment. Yes, I don’t judge my own self.

³Kwangu mimi si kitu nikihukumiwa na ninyi, au na mahakama ya kibinadamu; wala sijihukumu.

⁴For I know nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this, but he who judges me is the Lord.

⁴Dhamiri yangu hainishtaki kwa jambo lolote, lakini hiyo haionyeshi kwamba sina lawama. Bwana ndiye anayenihukumu.

⁵Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.

⁵Basi, msihukumu kabla ya wakati wake acheni mpaka Bwana atakapokuja. Yeye atayafichua mambo ya giza yaliyofichika, na kuonyesha wazi nia za mioyo ya watu. Ndipo kila mmoja atapata sifa anayostahili kutoka kwa Mungu.

⁶Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another.

⁶Ndugu, hayo yote niliyosema juu ya Apolo na juu yangu, ni kielelezo kwenu: kutokana na mfano wangu mimi na Apolo nataka mwelewe maana ya msemo huu: "Zingatieni yaliyoandikwa." Kati yenu pasiwe na mtu yeyote anayejivunia mtu mmoja na kumdharau mwingine.

⁷For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn’t receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

⁷Nani amekupendelea wewe? Una kitu gani wewe ambacho hukupewa? Na ikiwa umepewa, ya nini kujivunia kana kwamba hukukipewa?

⁸You are already filled. You have already become rich. You have come to reign without us. Yes, and I wish that you did reign, that we also might reign with you.

⁸Haya, mmekwisha shiba! Mmekwisha kuwa matajiri! Mmekuwa wafalme bila ya sisi! Naam, laiti mngekuwa kweli watawala, ili nasi pia tuweze kutawala pamoja nanyi.

⁹For, I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men.

⁹Nafikiri Mungu ametufanya sisi mitume tuwe watu wa mwisho kabisa, kama watu waliohukumiwa kuuawa, maana tumekuwa tamasha mbele ya ulimwengu wote, mbele ya malaika na watu.

¹⁰We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You have honor, but we have dishonor.

¹⁰Sisi ni wapumbavu kwa ajili ya Kristo, lakini ninyi ni wenye busara katika kuungana na Kristo! Sisi ni dhaifu, ninyi ni wenye nguvu. Ninyi mnaheshimika, sisi tunadharauliwa.

¹¹Even to this present hour we hunger, thirst, are naked, are beaten, and have no certain dwelling place.

¹¹Mpaka dakika hii, sisi tuna njaa na kiu, hatuna nguo, twapigwa makofi, hatuna malazi.

¹²We toil, working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure.

¹²Tena twataabika na kufanya kazi kwa mikono yetu wenyewe. Tukitukanwa, tunawatakia baraka; tukidhulumiwa, tunavumilia;

¹³Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, the dirt wiped off by all, even until now.

¹³tukisingiziwa, tunajibu kwa adabu. Mpaka sasa tumetendewa kama uchafu wa dunia; na kwa kila mtu sisi ni takataka!

¹⁴I don’t write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

¹⁴Siandiki mambo haya kwa ajili ya kuwaaibisha ninyi, bali kwa ajili ya kuwafundisheni watoto wangu wapenzi.

¹⁵For though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the Good News.

¹⁵Maana hata kama mnao maelfu ya walezi katika maisha yenu ya Kikristo, baba yenu ni mmoja tu, kwani katika maisha ya Kikristo mimi ndiye niliyewazaeni kwa kuihubiri Habari Njema.

¹⁶I beg you therefore, be imitators of me.

¹⁶Kwa hiyo, nawasihi: fuateni mfano wangu.

¹⁷Because of this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every assembly.

¹⁷Ndiyo maana nimemtuma Timetheo kwenu. Yeye ni mtoto wangu mpenzi na mwaminifu katika Bwana. Atawakumbusheni njia ninayofuata katika kuishi maisha ya Kikristo; njia ninayofundisha kila mahali katika makanisa yote.

¹⁸Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you.

¹⁸Baadhi yenu wameanza kuwa na majivuno wakidhani kwamba sitakuja tena kwenu.

¹⁹But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord is willing. And I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power.

¹⁹Lakini, Bwana akipenda, nitakuja kwenu upesi; na hapo ndipo nitakapojionea mwenyewe, sio tu kile wanachoweza kusema hao wenye majivuno, bali pia kila wanachoweza kufanya.

²⁰For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

²⁰Maana Utawala wa Mungu si shauri la maneno matupu, bali ni nguvu.

²¹What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

²¹Mnapendelea lipi? Nije kwenu na fimbo, ama nije na moyo wa upendo na upole?