Hosea 8
1 [Set] the trumpet to thy mouth. [He shall come] as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
“Faka icilongo ezindebeni zakho! Ukhozi lungaphezu kwendlu kaThixo ngoba abantu basephule isivumelwano sami bahlamukela lomthetho wami.
2 Israel shall cry to me, My God, we know thee.
U-Israyeli uyakhalaza kimi esithi, ‘Oh Nkulunkulu wethu, siyakwamukela!’
3 Israel hath cast off [the thing that is] good: the enemy shall pursue him.
Kodwa u-Israyeli ukwalile okuhle; isitha sizaxotshana laye.
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 for themselves idols, that they may be cut off.
Babeka amakhosi kungekho mvumo yami; bakhetha ababusi kungekho mvumo yami. Ngesiliva sabo langegolide, bazenzela izithombe zibe yikubhujiswa kwabo.
5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast [thee] off; my anger is kindled against them: how long [will it be] ere they attain to innocence?
Lahla isithombe sakho sethole, wena Samariya! Ulaka lwami luyavutha ngawe. Koze kube nini bengelamandla okuhlambuluka na?
6 For from Israel [was] it also: the workman made it; therefore it [is] not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
Bavela ko-Israyeli! Ithole leli labunjwa yingcwethi; kalisuye Nkulunkulu. Lizachobozwa libe yizicucu, ithole lelo laseSamariya.
7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if it shall yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
Bahlanyela umoya bavune isavunguzane. Ihlanga kalilasikhwebu; kaliyikuthela ifulawa. Aluba belingathela amabele, abezizweni kade bezawamimiliza.
8 Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel in which [is] no pleasure.
U-Israyeli useginyiwe; khathesi phakathi kwezizwe unjengento engelasizo.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
Ngoba sebeye e-Asiriya njengobabhemi weganga entula yedwa. U-Efrayimi uzithengisile kuzithandwa.
10 Yes, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes.
Lanxa bezithengisile phakathi kwezizwe, ngizabaqoqela ndawonye. Bazaqalisa ukucikizeka bengaphansi kwencindezelo yenkosi elamandla.
11 Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be to him to sin.
Lanxa u-Efrayimi wakha ama-alithare amanengi eminikelo yezono, asebe ngama-alithare okwenza izono.
12 I have written to him the great things of my law, [but] they were counted as a strange thing.
Ngabalobela izinto ezinengi zomthetho wami kodwa bona bazithatha njengento engaziwayo.
13 They sacrifice flesh [for] the sacrifices of my offerings, and eat [it]; [but] the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall 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 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fortified cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
U-Israyeli usemkhohliwe uMenzi wakhe wakha izindlu zamakhosi; uJuda usevikele amadolobho amanengi ngezinqaba. Kodwa ngizathumela umlilo emadolobheni abo ozaqothula izinqaba zabo.”
