Hosea 8
1 Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
“Faka icilongo ezindebeni zakho! Ukhozi lungaphezu kwendlu kaThixo ngoba abantu basephule isivumelwano sami bahlamukela lomthetho wami.
2 Israel cries out to Me, “O our God, we know You!”
U-Israyeli uyakhalaza kimi esithi, ‘Oh Nkulunkulu wethu, siyakwamukela!’
3 But Israel has rejected good; an enemy will pursue him.
Kodwa u-Israyeli ukwalile okuhle; isitha sizaxotshana laye.
4 They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.
Babeka amakhosi kungekho mvumo yami; bakhetha ababusi kungekho mvumo yami. Ngesiliva sabo langegolide, bazenzela izithombe zibe yikubhujiswa kwabo.
5 He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?
Lahla isithombe sakho sethole, wena Samariya! Ulaka lwami luyavutha ngawe. Koze kube nini bengelamandla okuhlambuluka na?
6 For this thing is from Israel— a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria.
Bavela ko-Israyeli! Ithole leli labunjwa yingcwethi; kalisuye Nkulunkulu. Lizachobozwa libe yizicucu, ithole lelo laseSamariya.
7 For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.
Bahlanyela umoya bavune isavunguzane. Ihlanga kalilasikhwebu; kaliyikuthela ifulawa. Aluba belingathela amabele, abezizweni kade bezawamimiliza.
8 Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel.
U-Israyeli useginyiwe; khathesi phakathi kwezizwe unjengento engelasizo.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers.
Ngoba sebeye e-Asiriya njengobabhemi weganga entula yedwa. U-Efrayimi uzithengisile kuzithandwa.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to diminish under the oppression of the king of princes.
Lanxa bezithengisile phakathi kwezizwe, ngizabaqoqela ndawonye. Bazaqalisa ukucikizeka bengaphansi kwencindezelo yenkosi elamandla.
11 Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning.
Lanxa u-Efrayimi wakha ama-alithare amanengi eminikelo yezono, asebe ngama-alithare okwenza izono.
12 Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.
Ngabalobela izinto ezinengi zomthetho wami kodwa bona bazithatha njengento engaziwayo.
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt.
Banikela imihlatshelo njengezipho kimi babuye badle inyama yakhona, kodwa uThixo kathokozi ngabo. Khathesi usezakhumbula ukuxhwala kwabo abajezisele izono zabo: Bazabuyela eGibhithe.
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has multiplied its fortified cities. But I will send fire upon their cities, and it will consume their citadels.
U-Israyeli usemkhohliwe uMenzi wakhe wakha izindlu zamakhosi; uJuda usevikele amadolobho amanengi ngezinqaba. Kodwa ngizathumela umlilo emadolobheni abo ozaqothula izinqaba zabo.”
