< 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, ‘My people!’ and to your sisters, ‘My loved one!’
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.
Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her prostitution 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 make her bare as in the day that she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst.
4 Nyemakpɔ nublanui na viawo o, elabena wonye ahasiviwo.
Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy, for they are children of unfaithfulness.
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 played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; for she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me 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 will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she can’t find her way.
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.’
She will follow after her lovers, but she won’t overtake them; and she will seek them, but won’t find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was 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.
For she didn’t know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used 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 I will take back my grain in its time, and my new wine in its season, and will pluck away 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.
Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of my hand.
11 Matɔ te eƒe azãɖuɖuwo katã; eƒe ƒe sia ƒe ƒe ŋkekenyuiwo, dzinu yeyewo, Dzudzɔgbewo kple azãɖugbewo katã.
I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.
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.
I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, about which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me,’ and I will make them a forest, and the animals 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.
I will visit on her the days of the Baals, to which she burned incense when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers and forgot me,” says Yahweh.
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 tenderly to her.
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.”
I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she will respond 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.
It will be in that day,” says Yahweh, “that you will call me ‘my husband,’ and no longer call me ‘my master.’
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 will no longer be mentioned by 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.
In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely.
19 Mabla wò ɖe ɖokuinye ŋu tegbee; matsɔ dzɔdzɔenyenye, nuteƒewɔwɔ, lɔlɔ̃ kple nublanuikpɔkpɔ abla wò ɖe ɖokuinye ŋu.
I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion.
20 Mabla wò le anukwareɖiɖi me ɖe ɖokuinye ŋu, eye àva nya Yehowa wu tsã.”
I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know Yahweh.
21 Yehowa be: “Le ŋkeke ma dzi la, maɖo to dziƒowo ƒe gbe, dziƒowo hã aɖo to anyigba ƒe gbe,
It will happen in that day, that I will respond,” says Yahweh. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth;
22 anyigba hã aɖo to bli, aha yeye kple ami, eye woawo hã woaɖo to Yezreel ƒe gbe.
and the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to 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.’”
I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, ‘You are my people;’ and they will say, ‘You are My God!’”

< Hosea 2 >