UHoseya 12
1 U-Efrayimi udla umoya; uxotshana lomoya wasempumalanga ilanga lonke andise amanga lodlakela. Wenza isivumelwano le-Asiriya, athumele amafutha e-oliva eGibhithe.
Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind; Every day he multiplieth falsehood and violence; They make a league with Assyria, And oil is carried into Egypt.
2 Kulecala uThixo azalethesa uJuda; uzajezisa uJakhobe mayelana lezindlela zakhe aphindisele kuye mayelana lezenzo zakhe.
Therefore Jehovah hath a controversy with Judah. And he will punish Jacob for his ways, And requite him according to his doings.
3 Esiswini wabamba isithende sikamfowabo; eseyindoda wabindana loNkulunkulu.
In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his strength he contended with God;
4 Wabindana lengilosi wayehlula; wakhala wacela umusa kuyo. Wayifica eBhetheli wakhuluma layo khonapho,
Yea, he contended with the angel, and prevailed; He wept, and made supplication to him. At Bethel he found him, And there he spake with us.
5 uThixo uNkulunkulu uSomandla, uThixo yilo ibizo lakhe lodumo!
And Jehovah, the God of hosts, Jehovah is his name.
6 Kodwa kumele ubuyele kuNkulunkulu wakho; ugcine uthando lokulunga, umlindele kokuphela uNkulunkulu wakho.
Therefore turn thou to thy God; Observe mercy and justice, And hope in thy God always!
7 Umthengisi usebenzisa izikali zenkohliso; uthanda ukuqilibezela.
He is a Canaanite; in his hands are the balances of deceit; He loveth to oppress.
8 U-Efrayimi uyazincoma esithi, “Nginothe kakhulu; sengiyisipatsha. Ngenotho yami kabayikufumana ububi loba isono kimi.”
Yet Ephraim saith, Lo, I have become rich; I have found myself substance; In all my earnings can be found no transgression in which there is guilt.
9 “Mina nginguThixo uNkulunkulu wenu owalikhupha eGibhithe; ngizalenza lihlale emathenteni futhi, njengasezinsukwini zemikhosi yenu emisiweyo.
Yet I, Jehovah, have been thy God from the land of Egypt; I will again cause thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.
10 Ngakhuluma labaphrofethi, ngabatshengisa imibono eminengi ngakhuluma imizekeliso ngabo.”
I have also spoken to the prophets, And I have given many visions, And by the prophets I have used similitudes.
11 IGiliyadi ixhwalile na? Abantu bakhona bakhohlakele! EGiligali bayanikela umhlatshelo wenkunzi na? Ama-alithare abo azakuba njengezinqwaba zamatshe ensimini elinyiweyo.
Behold, Gilead is full of iniquity; Surely they have become corrupt; In Gilgal they sacrifice oxen, And their altars are like the heaps in the furrows of the field.
12 UJakhobe wabalekela elizweni lase-Aramu; u-Israyeli wasebenzela ukuthola umfazi, njalo welusa izimvu ukuba amlobole.
Jacob fled into the country of Syria, And Israel served for a wife, And for a wife he kept sheep.
13 UThixo wasebenzisa umphrofethi ekukhupheni u-Israyeli eGibhithe; wamlondoloza ngomphrofethi.
By a prophet Jehovah brought up Israel out of Egypt, And by a prophet was he preserved.
14 Kodwa u-Efrayimi umthukuthelise kabuhlungu; UThixo wakhe uzaliyekela liphezu kwakhe icala lokuchitha kwakhe igazi njalo uzaphindisela kuye ukudelela kwakhe.
Ephraim hath provoked his Lord most bitterly; Therefore will he leave his blood upon him, And recompense to him his reproach.
