Hosea 2
1 SAY ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ru-hamah.
“Tshono kubafowenu uthi, ‘Bantu bami,’ ngabodadewenu uthi, ‘Bathandekayo bami.’”
2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
“Mkhuze unyoko, mkhuze, ngoba engasuye mkami, lami kangisuye mkakhe. Kasuse ukukhangeleka kobufebe ebusweni bakhe kanye lokungathembeki phakathi kwamabele akhe.
3 Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
Funa ngimhlubule abe nqunu, ngimenze abeze njengamhla ezalwa; ngizamenza abe njengenkangala, ngimenze abe yilizwe elomileyo ngimbulale ngokomela amanzi.
4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.
Kangiyikubonakalisa uthando lwami ebantwaneni bakhe, ngoba bangabantwana bobufebe.
5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
Unina ubeyisifebe, njalo ubemule ngehlazo. Wathi, ‘Ngizazilandela izithandwa zami, ezingipha ukudla kwami lamanzi ami, iwulu yami lamalembu ami, amafutha ami lokunathwayo kwami.’
6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
Ngakho-ke indlela yakhe ngizayivala ngamahlahla ameva; ngizamhonqolozela ngomduli ukuze indlela yakhe angayifumani.
7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.
Uzaxotshana lezithandwa zakhe kodwa angazifici, uzazidinga kodwa angazitholi. Ngakho uzakuthi, ‘Ngizabuyela endodeni yami yakuqala, ngoba ngalesosikhathi ngangingcono kulakhathesi.’
8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
Kavumanga ukuthi yimi engamnika amabele, lewayini elitsha lamafutha ngamnika isiliva esinengi legolide abakusebenzisela uBhali.
9 Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.
Ngakho-ke ngizawathatha amabele ami lapho esevuthiwe, lewayini lami elitsha lapho selilungile. Ngizayithatha lewulu yami kanye lelineni lami, okwakumiselwe ukuvala ubunqunu bakhe.
10 And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.
Ngakho khathesi ngizahlazulula ukuxhwala bakhe emehlweni ezithandwa zakhe; kakho ozamsusa ezandleni zami.
11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
Ngizayiqeda yonke imikhosi yakhe yokuthokoza: imikhosi yakhe yeminyaka yonke, ukuThwasa kweziNyanga, insuku zakhe zamaSabatha, yonke imikhosi yakhe emisiweyo.
12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
Ngizatshabalalisa izivini zakhe lezihlahla zakhe zemikhiwa, lokhu athi yinhlawulo yakhe evela kuzithandwa zakhe; ngizazenza zibe liguswanyana zidliwe yizinyamazana zeganga.
13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord.
Ngizamjezisela insuku atshisela ngazo oBhali impepha; wazicecisa ngamasongo langamangqongqo, walandela izithandwa zakhe, kodwa mina wangikhohlwa,” kutsho uThixo.
14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
“Ngakho sengizamhuga; ngizamholela enkangala ngikhulume laye kakuhle.
15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
Lapho-ke ngizambuyisela izivini zakhe, ngenze iSigodi sase-Akhori sibe ngumnyango wethemba. Khonapho uzahlabelela njengasezinsukwini zobutsha bakhe, njengamhla ephuma eGibhithe.
16 And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.
Ngalolosuku,” kutsho uThixo, “lizangibiza ngokuthi ‘ndoda yami’; kalisayikungibiza ngokuthi ‘nkosi yami.’
17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
Ngizawasusa amabizo aboBhali ezindebeni zakhe; amabizo abo akusayikukhulekwa ngawo futhi.
18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
Ngalolosuku ngizabenzela isivumelwano lezinyamazana zeganga lezinyoni zasemoyeni kanye lezidalwa ezihuquzela emhlabathini. Idandili lenkemba kanye lempi ngizakuqeda elizweni ukuze konke kulale phansi kuvikelekile.
19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
Ngizakwendisela kimi kuze kube nininini; ngizakwendisa ngokulunga langemfanelo, ngothando langesihawu.
20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.
Ngizakwendisa ngokuthembeka, njalo uzamamukela uThixo.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
Ngalolosuku ngizasabela,” kutsho uThixo, “Ngizasabela emikhathini, layo izasabela emhlabeni,
22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.
lomhlaba uzasabela emabeleni lasewayinini elitsha kanye lasemafutheni, lokhu kuzasabela kuJezerili.
23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.
Ngizazihlanyelela yena elizweni; ngizabonakalisa uthando lwami kulowo engambiza ngokuthi, ‘Akasi sithandwa sami.’ Ngizakuthi kulabo ababizwa ngokuthi, ‘Abangasibantu bami,’ ‘Lingabantu bami’; bona bazakuthi, ‘UnguNkulunkulu wethu.’”
