Hosea 8
1 Put the trumpet to thy mouth! Like an eagle cometh an enemy against the house of Jehovah, Because they have transgressed my covenant, And have rebelled against my law.
“Wekeni tarumbeta midomoni mwenu! Tai yuko juu ya nyumba ya Bwana kwa sababu watu wamevunja Agano langu, wameasi dhidi ya sheria yangu.
2 They shall say to me, My God, we know thee, we, thine Israel!
Israeli ananililia, ‘Ee Mungu wetu, tunakukubali!’
3 Israel hath cast away what is good; The enemy shall pursue him.
Lakini Israeli amekataa lile lililo jema, adui atamfuatia.
4 They have set up kings, but not by me; They have made princes, and I knew it not. Of their silver and their gold have they made themselves idols, That they may be brought to destruction.
Wanaweka wafalme bila idhini yangu, wamechagua wakuu bila kibali changu. Kwa fedha zao na dhahabu wamejitengenezea sanamu kwa ajili ya maangamizi yao wenyewe.
5 An abomination is thy calf, O Samaria! Mine anger is kindled against them; How long will it be ere they can attain to purity!
Ee Samaria, tupilieni mbali sanamu yenu ya ndama! Hasira yangu inawaka dhidi yao. Watakuwa najisi mpaka lini?
6 For from Israel it came; The workman made it, and it is no God; Yea, into fragments shall the calf of Samaria be broken.
Zimetoka katika Israeli! Ndama huyu: ametengenezwa na fundi, si Mungu. Atavunjwa vipande vipande, yule ndama wa Samaria.
7 They have sown the wind, And they shall reap the whirlwind. They shall have no standing harvest; The ear shall yield no meal; If perchance it yield, strangers shall devour it.
“Wanapanda upepo na kuvuna upepo wa kisulisuli. Bua halina suke, halitatoa unga. Kama lingetoa nafaka, wageni wangeila yote.
8 Israel is swallowed up; Soon shall they become among the nations As a vessel which no one desireth.
Israeli amemezwa; sasa yupo miongoni mwa mataifa kama kitu kisicho na thamani.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a solitary wild-ass; Ephraim hireth lovers;
Kwa kuwa wamepanda kwenda Ashuru kama punda-mwitu anayetangatanga peke yake. Efraimu amejiuza mwenyewe kwa wapenzi.
10 But though they hire among the nations, Soon will I gather the nations against them; Then shall they rest a little while from the burden of their king, and their princes!
Ingawa wamejiuza wenyewe miongoni mwa mataifa, sasa nitawakusanya pamoja. Wataanza kudhoofika chini ya uonevu wa mfalme mwenye nguvu.
11 Ephraim hath built many altars for sin, Therefore shall he have altars for sin.
“Ingawa Efraimu alijenga madhabahu nyingi kwa ajili ya sadaka za dhambi, hizi zimekuwa madhabahu za kufanyia dhambi.
12 Though I write for him many laws, They are accounted as a strange thing;
Nimeandika kwa ajili yao mambo mengi kuhusu sheria yangu, lakini wameziangalia kama kitu cha kigeni.
13 As to the sacrifices which they should offer me, they slay flesh and eat it; Jehovah hath no pleasure in them. Now will he remember their iniquity, And punish their sins; To Egypt shall they return.
Wanatoa dhabihu nilizopewa mimi nao wanakula hiyo nyama, lakini Bwana hapendezwi nao. Sasa ataukumbuka uovu wao na kuadhibu dhambi zao: Watarudi Misri.
14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and builded palaces, And Judah hath multiplied fenced cities; But I will send a fire upon his cities, And it shall devour his palaces.
Israeli amemsahau Muumba wake na kujenga majumba ya kifalme, Yuda amejengea miji mingi ngome. Lakini nitatuma moto kwenye miji yao utakaoteketeza ngome zao.”
