1I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you do bear with me.
1Laiti mngenivumilia kidogo, hata kama mimi ni mjinga kiasi fulani! Naam, nivumilieni kidogo.
2For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I married you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
2Ninawaoneeni wivu lakini ni wivu wa Mungu; maana ninyi ni kama bikira safi niliyemposa kwa mwanamume mmoja tu ambaye ndiye Kristo.
3But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
3Lakini naogopa kwamba, kama vile yule nyoka kwa hila zake za uongo alimdanganya Hawa, fikira zenu zaweza kupotoshwa, mkauacha uaminifu wenu wa kweli kwa Kristo.
4For if he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if you receive a different spirit, which you did not receive, or a different “good news”, which you did not accept, you put up with that well enough.
4Maana mtu yeyote ajaye na kumhubiri Yesu aliye tofauti na yule tuliyemhubiri, ninyi mwampokea kwa mikono miwili; au mnakubali roho au habari njema tofauti kabisa na ile mliyopokea kutoka kwetu!
5For I reckon that I am not at all behind the very best apostles.
5Sidhani kwamba mimi ni mdogo kuliko hao "mitume wakuu."
6But though I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not unskilled in knowledge. No, in every way we have been revealed to you in all things.
6Labda sina ufasaha wa lugha, lakini elimu ninayo; jambo hili tumelionyesha wazi kwenu, kila mahali na kila wakati.
7Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached to you God’s Good News free of charge?
7Mimi niliihubiri kwenu Habari Njema ya Mungu bila kudai mshahara; nilijinyenyekeza ili nipate kuwakweza ninyi. Je, nilifanya vibaya?
8I robbed other assemblies, taking wages from them that I might serve you.
8Nilipofanya kazi kati yenu, mahitaji yangu yaligharimiwa na makanisa mengine. Kwa namna moja au nyingine niliwapokonya wao mali yao nipate kuwatumikia ninyi.
9When I was present with you and was in need, I wasn’t a burden on anyone, for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my need. In everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I will continue to do so.
9Nilipokuwa nanyi sikumsumbua mtu yeyote nilipohitaji fedha; ndugu waliotoka Makedonia waliniletea kila kitu nilichohitaji. Nilikuwa mwangalifu sana nisiwe mzigo kwa namna yoyote ile, na nitaendelea kufanya hivyo.
10As the truth of Christ is in me, no one will stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.
10Naahidi kwa ule ukweli wa Kristo ulio ndani yangu, kwamba hakuna kitakachoweza kunizuia kujivunia jambo hilo popote katika Akaya.
11Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows.
11Kwa nini nasema hivyo? Kwa sababu eti siwapendi ninyi? Mungu anajua kwamba nawapenda!
12But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them that desire an occasion, that in which they boast, they may be found even as we.
12Nitaendelea kufanya kama ninavyofanya sasa, ili nisiwape nafasi wale wanaotafuta nafasi, nafasi ya kujivuna kwamba eti wanafanya kazi kama sisi.
13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ’s apostles.
13Maana, hao ni mitume wa uongo, wafanyakazi wadanganyifu wanojisingizia kuwa mitume wa Kristo.
14And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light.
14Wala si ajabu, maana hata Shetani mwenyewe hujisingizia kuwa malaika wa mwanga!
15It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
15Kwa hiyo si jambo la kushangaza ikiwa na hao watumishi wake wanajisingizia kuwa watumishi wa haki. Mwisho wao watapata kile wanachostahili kufuatana na matendo yao.
16I say again, let no one think me foolish. But if so, yet receive me as foolish, that I also may boast a little.
16Tena nasema: Mtu asinifikirie kuwa mpumbavu. Lakini kama mkifikiri hivyo, basi, nichukueni kama mpumbavu ili nami nipate kuwa na cha kujivunia angaa kidogo.
17That which I speak, I don’t speak according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.
17Ninachosema sasa si kile alichoniagiza Bwana; kuhusu jambo hili la kujivuna, nasema tu kama mtu mpumbavu.
18Seeing that many boast after the flesh, I will also boast.
18Maadam wengi hujivuna kwa sababu za kidunia, nami pia nitajivuna.
19For you bear with the foolish gladly, being wise.
19Ninyi ni wenye busara, ndiyo maana hata mnawavumilia wapumbavu!
20For you bear with a man, if he brings you into bondage, if he devours you, if he takes you captive, if he exalts himself, if he strikes you on the face.
20Mnamvumilia hata mtu anayewafanya ninyi watumwa, mtu mwenye kuwanyonya, mwenye kuwakandamiza, mwenye kuwadharau na kuwapiga usoni!
21I speak by way of disparagement, as though we had been weak. Yet however any is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also.
21Kwa aibu nakubali kwamba sisi tulikuwa dhaifu. Iwe iwavyo, lakini kama kuna mtu yeyote anayethubutu kujivunia kitu--nasema kama mtu mpumbavu--mimi nathubutu pia.
22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.
22Je, wao ni Waebrania? Hata mimi. Je, wao ni Waisraeli? Hata mimi. Wao ni wazawa wa Abrahamu? Hata mimi.
23Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I am more so; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths often.
23Wao ni watumishi wa Kristo? Hata mimi--nanena hayo kiwazimu--ni mtumishi wa Kristo zaidi kuliko wao. Mimi nimefanya kazi ngumu zaidi, nimekaa gerezani mara nyingi zaidi, nimepigwa mara nyingi zaidi na nimekaribia kifo mara nyingi.
24Five times from the Jews I received forty stripes minus one.
24Mara tano nilichapwa vile viboko thelathini na tisa vya Wayahudi.
25Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered shipwreck. I have been a night and a day in the deep.
25Nilipigwa viboko mara tatu, nilipigwa mawe mara moja; mara tatu nilivunjikiwa meli baharini, na humo nikakesha usiku kucha na kushinda mchana kutwa.
26I have been in travels often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from my countrymen, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brothers;
26Kila mara safarini nimekabiliwa na hatari za mafuriko ya mito, na hatari za wanyama; hatari kutoka kwa wananchi wenzangu na kutoka kwa watu wa mataifa mengine; hatari za mjini, hatari za porini, hatari za baharini, hatari kutoka kwa ndugu wa uongo
27in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness.
27Nimefanya kazi na kutaabika, nimekesha bila usingizi mara nyingi; nimekuwa na njaa na kiu; mara nyingi nimefunga na kukaa katika baridi bila nguo.
28Besides those things that are outside, there is that which presses on me daily, anxiety for all the assemblies.
28Na, licha ya mengine mengi, kila siku nakabiliwa na shughuli za makanisa yote.
29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I don’t burn with indignation?
29Kama mtu yeyote ni dhaifu, nami pia ni dhaifu; mtu yeyote akikwazwa, nami pia huwa na wasiwasi.
30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that concern my weakness.
30Ikinilazimu kujivuna, basi, nitajivunia udhaifu wangu.
31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who is blessed forevermore, knows that I don’t lie.
31Mungu na Baba wa Bwana Yesu--jina lake litukuzwe milele--yeye anajua kwamba sisemi uongo.
32In Damascus the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of the Damascenes desiring to arrest me.
32Nilipokuwa Damasko, mkuu wa mkoa, aliyekuwa chini ya mfalme Areta, alikuwa akiulinda mji wa Damasko ili apate kunikamata.
33Through a window I was let down in a basket by the wall, and escaped his hands.
33Lakini, ndani ya kapu kubwa, niliteremshwa nje kupitia katika nafasi ukutani, nikachopoka mikononi mwake.