< Hosea 2 >

1 “Trɔ ŋkɔ na nɔviwò ŋutsua be Ami, si gɔmee nye ‘Azɔ ènye tɔnye,’ eye nàyɔ nɔviwò nyɔnu la be Ruhama si gɔmee nye ‘Nublanuikpɔkpɔ.’
Say unto your brethren Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.
2 “Mika mo na mia dada, elabena etrɔ zu ŋutsu bubu srɔ̃, eye nyemeganye srɔ̃a o. Mika mo nɛ be wòadzudzɔ ahasiwɔwɔ, eye megatsɔ eɖokui na ŋutsu bubuwo azɔ o.
Plead with your mother, plead; for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: and let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
3 Ne egbe gale edzi la, maɖe avɔ le eŋuti wòanɔ amama abe gbe si gbe wodzii ene, eye mana wòasɔ kple gbegbe, anɔ abe kuɖiɖinyigba ene, eye mana tsikɔ nawui wòaku.
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 as a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
4 Nyemakpɔ nublanui na viawo o, elabena wonye ahasiviwo.
And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they are the children of whoredoms.
5 Wo dada wɔ ahasi kple ŋutsu bubuwo, eye wodzi wo ɖe ŋukpe me hegblɔ be, ‘Mati ŋutsu bubuwo yome aku ɖe wo ŋuti, be woana nuɖuɖu, tsi, avɔ, ami kple aham.’
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.
6 Ke nye la, matɔ kpɔ aƒo xlãe kple ŋutiwo; maxe mɔ nɛ, ale be magakpɔ mɔ o,
Therefore behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns; and I will fence [her] in with a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
7 eye ne eti eƒe lɔlɔ̃tɔwo yome la matu wo o. Adi wo kple ŋkubiã gake makpɔ wo o. Ekema agblɔ na eɖokui be, ‘Anyo ne metrɔ yi ɖe srɔ̃nye gbɔ, elabena esi menɔ egbɔ la, nuwo dze edzi nam wu fifia.’
And she shall pursue after her lovers, and shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, and shall not find them: and she shall say, I will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now.
8 Menyae be nyee naa bli, aha yeye, ami, sika kple klosalo si wòtsɔ le eƒe mawu, Baal subɔmii la ye o.
And she did not know that I had given her the corn and the new wine and the oil, and had multiplied to her the silver and gold, which they employed for Baal.
9 “Ke azɔ la, maxɔ wain kple bli siwo menanɛ la le esi, eye maxɔ avɔ siwo katã metso nɛ be wòata la le esi.
Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my new wine in its season, and will withdraw my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.
10 Azɔ maɖe amamae le dutoƒo be eƒe lɔlɔ̃tɔwo nakpɔ, eye ame aɖeke mate ŋu axɔe le asinye o.
And now will I discover her impiety in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand.
11 Matɔ te eƒe azãɖuɖuwo katã; eƒe ƒe sia ƒe ƒe ŋkekenyuiwo, dzinu yeyewo, Dzudzɔgbewo kple azãɖugbewo katã.
And I will cause all her mirth to cease: her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths! and all her solemnities.
12 Magblẽ eƒe waingblewo kple gbotiwo, agble siwo wògblɔ be yeƒe lɔlɔ̃tɔwoe na ye. Mana agblewo nato gbe azu ave, eye gbemelãwo ava ɖu kutsetseawo katã.
And I will make desolate her vine and her fig-tree, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards which my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
13 Mahe to nɛ ɖe ɣeyiɣi siwo wòdo dzudzɔ ʋeʋĩ na Baalwo, eƒe legba Baal, eye wòde eƒe togɛ kple kɔsɔkɔsɔwo, hedze eƒe lɔlɔ̃tɔwo yome, hegblẽm ɖi. Yehowae gblɔe.
And I will visit upon her the days of the Baals, wherein she burned incense to them, and decked herself with her rings and jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith Jehovah.
14 “Eya ta mable enu akplɔe ayi ɖe gbedzi, afi ma maƒo nu nɛ kple lɔlɔ̃gbe bɔkɔɔ le.
Therefore behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart.
15 Afi ma magbugbɔ eƒe waingble la nɛ, eye matrɔ eƒe Nuxaxa ƒe Balime la wòazu Mɔkpɔkpɔ ƒe Agbo. Adzi ha kple dzidzɔ abe ale si wònɔ nɛ le eƒe ɖetugbime esi wòdo go tso Egipte ene.”
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.
16 Yehowa be, “Gbe ma gbe la ayɔm be, ‘Srɔ̃nye,’ ke menye ‘Nye Aƒetɔ’ o.
And it shall be in that day, saith Jehovah, [that] thou shalt call me, My husband, and shalt call me no more, Baali;
17 Maɖe Baalwo ƒe ŋkɔwo ɖa le ŋuwò, eye màgaƒo ŋkɔ ɖo na wo azɔ o.
for I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
18 Le ɣe ma ɣi me la, mabla nu le wò kple lã wɔadãwo, xeviwo, kple lã siwo tana la dome, maŋe dati kple yi, maɖe aʋawɔwɔ ɖa le anyigba dzi, eye ame sia ame anɔ anyi le ŋutifafa me.
And I will make a covenant for them in that day with the beasts of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will break bow and sword and battle out of the land; and I will make them to lie down safely.
19 Mabla wò ɖe ɖokuinye ŋu tegbee; matsɔ dzɔdzɔenyenye, nuteƒewɔwɔ, lɔlɔ̃ kple nublanuikpɔkpɔ abla wò ɖe ɖokuinye ŋu.
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; and I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies;
20 Mabla wò le anukwareɖiɖi me ɖe ɖokuinye ŋu, eye àva nya Yehowa wu tsã.”
and I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know Jehovah.
21 Yehowa be: “Le ŋkeke ma dzi la, maɖo to dziƒowo ƒe gbe, dziƒowo hã aɖo to anyigba ƒe gbe,
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith Jehovah, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
22 anyigba hã aɖo to bli, aha yeye kple ami, eye woawo hã woaɖo to Yezreel ƒe gbe.
and the earth shall hear the corn, and the new wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jizreel.
23 Maɖo nye dukɔ Israel te na ɖokuinye le anyigba dzi, eye maɖe nye lɔlɔ̃ afia ame si meyɔ be ‘Menye nye lɔlɔ̃tɔe o.’ Magblɔ na ame siwo woyɔna be, ‘Mienye nye dukɔ o’ la be ‘Mienye nye dukɔ’; eye woawo hã agblɔ be, ‘Wòe nye mía Mawu.’”
And I will sow her unto me in the land; and I will have mercy upon Lo-ruhamah; and I will say to Lo-ammi, Thou art my people; and they shall say, My God.

< Hosea 2 >