Fiawo 2 17
1 Le Ahaz, Yuda fia ƒe fiaɖuɖu ƒe ƒe wuievelia me la, Hosea, Ela ƒe viŋutsu zu Israel fia le Samaria; eɖu fia ƒe asiekɛ.
Elah’s son Hoshea began to rule Israel after King Ahaz had ruled Judah for twelve years. Hoshea ruled in Samaria for nine years.
2 Ewɔ nu si nye vɔ̃ le Yehowa ŋkume, ke menye abe ale si Israel fia siwo do ŋgɔ nɛ la wɔ ene o.
He did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil, but he did not do as many evil things as the previous kings of Israel had done.
3 Asiria fia Salmaneser ho aʋa ɖe Fia Hosea ŋu eye wòɖu edzi. Ale wònɔ na Israel be wòanɔ ga home gã aɖe xem na Asiria ƒe sia ƒe.
[The army of] King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked and defeated [the army of] King Hoshea. As a result, the Israelis were forced to pay a lot of tribute/taxes to Assyria each year.
4 Fia Hosea wɔ babla kple Egipte fia So, be wòakpe ɖe ye ŋu yeaɖe ye ɖokui ɖa le Asiria fia ƒe ŋusẽ te. Ke Asiria fia va nya nu tso babla sia ŋu. Gawu la, Hosea gbe megaxea ga la na Asiria fia o. Ale Asiria fia lé Hosea de gaxɔ me eye wòde kɔsɔkɔsɔe ɖe eƒe aglãdzedze ta.
But several years later, Hoshea secretly planned to rebel against the rulers of Assyria. He sent messengers to So/Osorkon, the king of Egypt, [asking if his army could help the Israelis fight against the army of Assyria]. Hoshea also stopped paying the tribute/taxes that he had been paying to Assyria every year. But the king of Assyria found out about those things, so he told his officers to put Hoshea in prison.
5 Azɔ la, Asiria ƒe asrafowo va yɔ Israelnyigba dzi, woɖe to ɖe Samaria, Israel ƒe fiadu la ƒe etɔ̃.
Then he [brought the army of] Assyria to Israel, and they attacked everywhere in that land. His army surrounded Samaria [city] for three years.
6 Mlɔeba la, le Hosea ƒe fiaɖuɖu ƒe ƒe asiekɛlia me la, Asiriatɔwo xɔ Samaria. Woɖe aboyo Israelviwo yi Asiria eye woɖo wo dometɔ aɖewo ɖe Hala du la me, bubuwo nɔ duwo me le Habor tɔsisi la ŋu le Gozan eye mamlɛawo nɔ Mediatɔwo ƒe du me.
Finally, after King Hoshea had been ruling Israel for nine years, the army of Assyria [MTY] [forcefully entered] the city [and] captured [the people]. They took the Israeli people to Assyria and forced some of them to live in Halah [town]. They forced others to live near the Habor River in Gozan district. They forced others to live in the towns where the Mede people-group lived.
7 Esiawo katã va eme elabena Israelviwo wɔ nu vɔ̃ ɖe Yehowa, woƒe Mawu, ame si kplɔ wo tso Egipte eye wòɖe wo le Farao, Egipte fia ƒe ŋusẽ te la ŋu. Wosubɔ mawu bubuwo.
Those things happened because the Israeli people had sinned against Yahweh their God. He had rescued their [ancestors] from the power [MTY] of the king of Egypt and brought them [safely] out of Egypt, but later they began to worship other gods.
8 Wodze dukɔ siwo Yehowa nya le wo ŋgɔ la ƒe subɔsubɔwo yome hekpe ɖe subɔsubɔ siwo Israel fiawo he vɛ la ŋu.
They imitated the things that the heathen/pagan people-groups did. Those were the groups that Yahweh had expelled as the Israelis occupied their land. The Israeli people also did the evil things that the kings of Israel (introduced/showed to them).
9 Israelviwo wɔ nu siwo mele eteƒe o la le bebeme ɖe Yehowa, woƒe Mawu la ŋu. Tso gbetakpɔxɔ dzi yi ɖe du si woɖo gli sesẽ ƒo xlãe la me la, woawo ŋutɔ tu nuxeƒewo ɖe woƒe duwo katã me.
The Israeli people also secretly did many things that were not pleasing to Yahweh their God. They built shrines [to worship idols] in all their cities, including small towns and big cities with walls around them.
10 Woli aƒeliwo heli aƒeliwo ɖe togbɛ kɔkɔ ɖe sia ɖe dzi kple ati dama ɖe sia ɖe te.
They set up stone pillars [to honor gods], and poles [to worship the goddess] Asherah at the top of every high hill and under every [big] tree.
11 Wodo dzudzɔ ʋeʋĩ le nuxeƒe ɖe sia ɖe abe ale si dukɔ siwo Yehowa nya le wo ŋgɔ la wɔna ene. Wowɔ nu vɔ̃ɖi siwo na Yehowa do dziku.
The Israelis burned incense in every place where they worshiped those gods, just like the people-groups who lived there previously had done—the groups that Yahweh had expelled from the land. The Israelis did many wicked things that caused Yahweh to become angry.
12 Wosubɔ legbawo, evɔ Yehowa gblɔ na wo be, “Migawɔ esia o.”
Yahweh warned them many times that they should not worship idols, but they did it anyway.
13 Yehowa xlɔ̃ nu Israel kple Yuda to nyagblɔɖilawo katã kple gbɔgbɔmenukpɔlawo dzi be, “Mitrɔ le miaƒe mɔ vɔ̃wo dzi, miwɔ ɖe nye sededewo kple ɖoɖowo dzi le se siwo katã mede na mia fofowo be woawɔ ɖe wo dzi la nu kple esiwo mede na mi to nye dɔla nyagblɔɖilawo dzi la dzi.”
Yahweh frequently sent his prophets and (seers/those who saw visions from Yahweh) to warn the people of Israel and the people of Judah. The message that Yahweh gave them was, “Turn away from all your evil behavior. Obey my commands and my laws, the laws that I told your ancestors [to obey] and which I told the prophets who served me to tell to you [again].”
14 Ke Israel meɖo to o. Wonye kɔlialiatɔwo abe wo fofowo ene eye womeka ɖe Yehowa, woƒe Mawu la dzi o.
But the Israeli people would not pay attention. They were stubborn [IDM] just like their ancestors were. Just like their ancestors did, they refused to believe in Yahweh their God.
15 Wogbe eƒe sewo kple nubabla si wòwɔ kple wo fofowo la eye wodo vlo eƒe nuxlɔ̃amenyawo. Wosubɔ ati kple kpewo ale be wova zu abunɛtɔwo. Wosrɔ̃ dukɔ siwo ƒo xlã wo la ƒe ŋunyɔnuwo wɔwɔ, evɔ Yehowa de se na wo be, “Migawɔ abe ale si wowɔna ene la o.” Ke wogbe hewɔ nu siwo Yehowa be womegawɔ o.
They rejected Yahweh’s laws and the agreement that he had made with their ancestors. They ignored Yahweh’s warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and as a result they themselves became worthless. Although Yahweh had commanded them not to imitate the evil behavior of the people-groups that lived near them, they disobeyed that command.
16 Wogbe Yehowa, woƒe Mawu ƒe sewo katã dzi wɔwɔ eye wololõ sika tsɔ wɔ nyivi eve. Woli aƒeli siwo nye ŋukpenanuwo eye wosubɔ Baal, ɣe, ɣleti kple ɣletiviwo.
The Israeli people disobeyed all of Yahweh’s commands. They made two metal calves [to worship]. They set up two poles [to worship the goddess] Asherah, and they worshiped [the god] Baal, and the sun, the moon, and the stars.
17 Wotsɔ wo viŋutsuwo kple vinyɔnuwo gɔ̃ hã wɔ numevɔsae le Molek ƒe vɔsamlekpuiwo dzi. Wodea afakalawo gbɔ, saa dzowo eye wotsɔ wo ɖokuiwo de asi na nu vɔ̃. Ale Yehowa do dɔmedzoe ɖe wo ŋu vevie.
They also burned their own sons and daughters to be sacrifices [to those gods]. They went to fortune-tellers and they practiced sorcery. They continually chose [MET] to do [all kinds of] evil things that caused Yahweh to become angry.
18 Eɖe wo ɖa le eƒe ŋkuta va se ɖe esime Yuda ƒe viwo koe susɔ ɖe anyigba la dzi.
So, because Yahweh was very angry with the Israeli people, he allowed [their enemies] to take them away [from their country]. Only the people of the tribe of Judah were left [in the land].
19 Ke Yuda gɔ̃ hã gbe Yehowa, woƒe Mawu la ƒe sewo dzi wɔwɔ. Woawo hã to Israel ƒe mɔ vlowo dzi.
But even the people of Judah did not obey the commands of Yahweh their God. They imitated the evil customs that the Israelis had introduced.
20 Ale Yehowa gbe Israel ƒe dzidzimeviwo katã. Ehe to na wo esi wòtsɔ wo de asi na woƒe futɔwo va se ɖe esime wotsrɔ̃ wo.
So Yahweh rejected all the people of Israel and of Judah. He punished them by allowing the armies of other nations to defeat them [and take them away]. He got rid of all of them.
21 Elabena Israel ɖe eɖokui ɖa tso David ƒe fiaɖuƒe la me eye wòtia Yeroboam, Nebat ƒe vi abe eƒe fia ene. Yeroboam he Israel ɖa tso Yehowa subɔsubɔ gbɔ. Ena Israelviwo wɔ nu vɔ̃
Earlier, when Yahweh allowed the people of Israel to separate/break away from the area [MTY] that King David [had estabished], they chose Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, to be their king. Then Jeroboam enticed the people of Israel to stop worshiping Yahweh [and to worship idols instead]. He led them to commit great sins.
22 eye womeɖe asi le nu vɔ̃ si me Yeroboam kplɔ wo dee la wɔwɔ ŋu o,
And the Israeli people continued to do the evil things that Jeroboam introduced. They did not turn away from those sins,
23 va se ɖe esime Yehowa kplɔ wo dzoe abe ale si eƒe Nyagblɔɖilawo be woawɔ woe ene. Ale wokplɔ Israel yi Asirianyigba dzi afi si wole va se ɖe egbe.
until finally Yahweh got rid of them. That was just what his prophets had warned would happen. The Israeli people were taken away to the land of Assyria, and they still remain there.
24 Asiria fia kplɔ amewo tso Babilonia, Kuta, Ava, Hamat kple Sefarvaim ɖada ɖe Samaria ƒe duwo me ɖe Israelviwo teƒe. Ale Asiriatɔwo xɔ Samaria kple Israel du bubuwo.
The king of Assyria [ordered his soldiers to] take [groups of] people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim [cities] to [the] Samaria [region], and to resettle them in the towns there, to take the place of the Israelis [who lived there previously]. Those people took control over [the whole] Samaria [region] and lived in the towns there.
25 Ke esi Asiriatɔ siawo mesubɔa Yehowa esi wova ɖo anyigba la dzi enumake o ta la, Yehowa ɖo dzatawo ɖa wowu wo dometɔ aɖewo.
But those people [who came from other countries] did not worship Yahweh when they first arrived in Samaria. So Yahweh sent lions to kill some of them.
26 Ale woɖo du ɖe Asiria fia be, “Mí ame siwo nèna míetso mía de va le Israel la, míenya anyigba la ƒe Mawu ƒe sewo o, ale woƒe Mawu la ɖo dzatawo ɖa be woawu mí elabena míesubɔe o.”
Then those people sent a message to the king of Assyria. They wrote, “We people who have resettled in the towns in Samaria do not know how to worship the God [that the Israelis worshiped] in this land. So he has sent lions among us to kill us, because we have not worshiped him correctly.”
27 Ale Asiria fia ɖe gbe be, “Mina nunɔla siwo mieɖe aboyoe tso Samaria la dometɔ ɖeka nagbugbɔ ayi afi ma eye wòafia nu si anyigba la ƒe Mawu di be ameawo nawɔ la mi.”
[When] the king of Assyria [read this letter, he] commanded [his officers], “You brought many priests here from Samaria. Send one of them back there. Tell him to teach the people who are now living there how to worship correctly the God whom the Israelis worshiped in that land.”
28 Ale nunɔla siwo woɖe aboyoe tso Samaria la dometɔ ɖeka va nɔ Betel eye wòfia ale si woasubɔ Yehowae wo.
So [the officers did that]. They sent one of the Israeli priests back to Samaria. That priest went to live in Bethel [city], and he taught the people there how to worship Yahweh.
29 Ke hã la, gbegbɔgblɔ ɖe sia ɖe gasubɔa woawo ŋutɔ ƒe mawuwo le du siwo me wole. Wosubɔa mawu siawo le nuxeƒe siwo Samariatɔwo wɔ da ɖi.
But the people [who returned from Babylon and started to live in Samaria and] continued to make their own idols. They placed them in the shrines that the Israelis had built there. The people of each people-group made idols in the cities in which they were living.
30 Ame siwo tso Babilonia la subɔa woƒe mawu Sukot Benot. Ame siwo tso Kuta la subɔa woƒe mawu Nergal eye ame siwo tso Hamat la subɔa Asima.
The people from Babylon made idols to represent their god Succoth-Benoth. The people from Cuthah made idols to represent their god Nergal. The people from Hamath made idols to represent their god Ashima.
31 Avitɔwo subɔa woƒe mawu siwo nye Nibhaz kple Tartak eye Sefartɔwo tsɔa wo viwo gɔ̃ hã saa numevɔe le woƒe mawu siwo nye Adramelek kple Anamelek la ƒe vɔsamlekpuiwo dzi.
The people of Avva made idols to represent their gods Nibhaz and Tartak. The people from Sepharvaim sacrificed their own children. They completely burned them [in pits where hot fires were kept burning, ] as offerings to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech.
32 Wosubɔa Yehowa hã. Woɖo nunɔlawo tso woawo ŋutɔ dome be woasa vɔ na Yehowa le vɔsamlekpui siwo nɔ toawo dzi la dzi.
But those people also worshiped Yahweh, and they appointed from among their own groups many people to be priests at the shrines on the tops of the hills, in order that those priests could offer sacrifices for them there.
33 Ke wogalé dukɔ siwo me wotso la ƒe mawusubɔsubɔ ƒe kɔnyinyiwo me ɖe asi kokoko.
So they revered Yahweh, but they also worshiped their own gods, just as the people living in the countries from which they had been taken to Samaria did.
34 Nu sia gale edzi yim le wo dome kokoko va se ɖe egbe. Wogale woƒe mawusubɔsubɔ ƒe wɔna tsãtɔwo wɔm le esime woasubɔ Yehowa nyateƒetɔe alo awɔ se siwo Yehowa na Yakob, ame si ŋkɔ wòtrɔ zu Israel dzi la teƒe.
They still keep their old customs. They really do not worship Yahweh, and they do not obey all the laws and commands that Yahweh gave to the descendants of Jacob, to whom he gave the new name Israel.
35 Esi Yehowa wɔ nubabla kple Israelviwo la, eɖoe na wo be, “Migasubɔ mawu bubu aɖeke o, miade ta agu na wo loo alo miasa vɔ na wo o.
Yahweh had previously made an agreement with their ancestors, commanding them not to worship other gods or bow down to honor them or do other things to please them or offer sacrifices to them.
36 Ke Yehowa, ame si ɖe mi tso Egipte kple ŋusẽ triakɔ kple abɔ, si wòdo ɖe dzi lae nye ame si wòle be miasubɔ. Eyae migade ta agu na eye eyae miasa vɔwo na.
He had said to them, “You must have an awesome respect for me, Yahweh, the one who brought you out of Egypt with my very great power [DOU]. I am the one whom you must bow down to honor, and I am the one to whom you must offer sacrifices.
37 Ele be Yakob ƒe dzidzimeviwo nawɔ Yehowa ƒe sewo katã dzi eye womasubɔ mawu bubuwo gbeɖegbeɖe o.”
You must always obey the laws and commands that I [told Moses to] write for you. You must not worship other gods.
38 Elabena Yehowa gblɔ be, “Migaŋlɔ nubabla si mewɔ kpli mi la be o. Migasubɔ mawu bubuwo gbeɖegbeɖe o.
And you must not forget the agreement that I made with your ancestors. You must not revere other gods.
39 Ele be miasubɔ Yehowa ɖeɖe ko; eyae aɖe mi tso miaƒe futɔwo katã ƒe asi me.”
Instead, you must revere me, Yahweh, your God. If you do that, I will rescue you from the power [MTY] of all your enemies.”
40 Ke wogbe toɖoɖo eye wogayi woƒe agbenɔnɔ tsãtɔ dzi ko.
But the people [from those foreign nations] would not heed what Yahweh said. Instead, they continued to adhere to their old customs.
41 Esi wole Yehowa subɔm hã la, wogale woƒe legbawo subɔm. Va se ɖe egbe la, wo viwo kple woƒe tɔgbuiyɔviwo gale nu siwo wo fofowo wɔ la wɔm kokoko.
So, they worshiped Yahweh, but they also worshiped their idols. And their descendants still do the same thing.
