< 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 to your brothers—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, and I [am] not her husband), And she turns her whoredoms from before her, 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 have set her up as [in] the day of her birth, And have made her as a wilderness, And have set her as a dry land, And have put her to death with thirst.
4 Nyemakpɔ nublanui na viawo o, elabena wonye ahasiviwo.
And her sons I do not pity, For they [are] sons 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 has gone whoring, Their conceiver has acted shamefully, For she has said, I go after my lovers, Those giving my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my 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 am hedging up your way with thorns, And I have made a wall for her, And her paths she does not find.
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 has pursued her lovers, And she does not overtake them, And has sought them, and does not find [them], And she has said: I go, and I return to my first husband, For—better to me then 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 to her The grain, and the new wine, and the oil. Indeed, I multiplied silver to her, And the gold they prepared for Ba‘al.
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 I return, And I have taken My grain in its season, And My new wine in its appointed time, And I have taken away My wool and My flax, covering her nakedness.
10 Azɔ maɖe amamae le dutoƒo be eƒe lɔlɔ̃tɔwo nakpɔ, eye ame aɖeke mate ŋu axɔe le asinye o.
And now I reveal her dishonor before the eyes of her lovers, And none 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 have caused all her joy to cease, Her festival, her new moon, and her Sabbath, Even all her appointed times,
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 made desolate her vine and her fig tree, Of which she said, They [are] a wage to me, That my lovers have given to me, And I have made them for a forest, And a beast of the field has consumed 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 have charged on her the days of the Ba‘alim, To whom she makes incense, And puts on her ring and her ornament, And goes after her lovers, And forgot Me,” a declaration of YHWH.
14 “Eya ta mable enu akplɔe ayi ɖe gbedzi, afi ma maƒo nu nɛ kple lɔlɔ̃gbe bɔkɔɔ le.
“Therefore, behold, I am enticing her, And have caused her to go to the wilderness, And I have spoken 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 given to her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor for an opening of hope, And she has responded there as in the days of her youth, And as in the day of her coming up out of the land of Egypt.
16 Yehowa be, “Gbe ma gbe la ayɔm be, ‘Srɔ̃nye,’ ke menye ‘Nye Aƒetɔ’ o.
And it has come to pass in that day,” A declaration of YHWH, “You call Me: My husband, And do not call Me anymore: My lord.
17 Maɖe Baalwo ƒe ŋkɔwo ɖa le ŋuwò, eye màgaƒo ŋkɔ ɖo na wo azɔ o.
And I have turned aside the names of the lords from her mouth, And they are not remembered anymore 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 have made a covenant for them in that day, With the beast of the field, And with the bird of the heavens, And the creeping thing of the ground, And bow, and sword, and war I break from off the land, And have caused them to lie down confidently.
19 Mabla wò ɖe ɖokuinye ŋu tegbee; matsɔ dzɔdzɔenyenye, nuteƒewɔwɔ, lɔlɔ̃ kple nublanuikpɔkpɔ abla wò ɖe ɖokuinye ŋu.
And I have betrothed you to Me for all time, And betrothed you to Me in righteousness, And in judgment, and kindness, and mercies,
20 Mabla wò le anukwareɖiɖi me ɖe ɖokuinye ŋu, eye àva nya Yehowa wu tsã.”
And betrothed you to Me in faithfulness, And you have known YHWH.
21 Yehowa be: “Le ŋkeke ma dzi la, maɖo to dziƒowo ƒe gbe, dziƒowo hã aɖo to anyigba ƒe gbe,
And it has come to pass in that day, I answer,” A declaration of YHWH, “I answer the heavens, and they answer the earth.
22 anyigba hã aɖo to bli, aha yeye kple ami, eye woawo hã woaɖo to Yezreel ƒe gbe.
And the earth answers the grain, And the new wine, and the oil, And they answer Jezreel.
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 have sowed her to Me in the land, And I have pitied Lo-Ruhamah, And I have said to Lo-Ammi, You [are] My people, And he says, My God!”

< Hosea 2 >