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.
Uphondo emlonyeni wakho. Uzakuza njengokhozi lumelene lendlu yeNkosi; ngoba sebeqe isivumelwano sami, baphambuke bemelene lomlayo wami.
2 Israel cries out to Me, “O our God, we know You!”
Bazamemeza kimi: Nkulunkulu wami, thina, uIsrayeli, siyakwazi.
3 But Israel has rejected good; an enemy will pursue him.
UIsrayeli walile 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.
Bona babeke amakhosi, kodwa kungengami; bamisa iziphathamandla, kodwa ngangingakwazi; ngesiliva sabo legolide labo bazenzela izithombe, ukuze baqunywe.
5 He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?
Ithole lakho, Samariya, likwalile; intukuthelo yami iyavutha imelene labo; koze kube nini ukuthi banganelisi ukuba msulwa?
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.
Ngoba laleli livela koIsrayeli; umbazi walenza, njalo kalisuye Nkulunkulu; kodwa ithole leSamariya lizakuba yizihlephu.
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.
Ngoba behlanyele umoya, bazavuna isivunguzane; kakuyikuba lamabele emiyo; ihlumela kaliyikwenza impuphu; uba mhlawumbe lingayiveza, abezizwe bazayiginya.
8 Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel.
UIsrayeli useginyiwe; khathesi baphakathi kwezizwe, njengesitsha okungelantokozo kiso.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers.
Ngoba bona benyukele eAsiriya, ubabhemi weganga oyedwa ngokwakhe. UEfrayimi uqhatshe izithandwa.
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.
Yebo, lanxa beqhatsha phakathi kwezizwe, sengizabaqoqa; yebo, bazaqala ukuba balutshwana ngenxa yomthwalo wenkosi yeziphathamandla.
11 Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning.
Ngoba uEfrayimi wandise amalathi ngawokona, amalathi azakuba ngawokona kuye.
12 Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.
Ngimbhalele izinto ezinkulu zomlayo wami kodwa zabalwa njengento yemzini.
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.
Mayelana lemihlatshelo yeminikelo yami, bahlaba inyama, bayidle, kodwa iNkosi kayithokozi ngabo. Khathesi izakhumbula ububi babo, iphindisele izono zabo; bona 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.
Ngoba uIsrayeli umkhohliwe uMenzi wakhe, wakha amathempeli; njalo uJuda wandisile imizi ebiyelweyo; kodwa ngizathumela umlilo emizini yakhe, ozaqothula izigodlo zakhe.
