UHoseya 2
1 “Tshono kubafowenu uthi, ‘Bantu bami,’ ngabodadewenu uthi, ‘Bathandekayo bami.’”
Say ye to your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.
2 “Mkhuze unyoko, mkhuze, ngoba engasuye mkami, lami kangisuye mkakhe. Kasuse ukukhangeleka kobufebe ebusweni bakhe kanye lokungathembeki phakathi kwamabele akhe.
Plead with your mother, plead: for she [is] not my wife, neither [am] I her husband: let her therefore put away her prostitutions out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
3 Funa ngimhlubule abe nqunu, ngimenze abeze njengamhla ezalwa; ngizamenza abe njengenkangala, ngimenze abe yilizwe elomileyo ngimbulale ngokomela amanzi.
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 like a dry land, and kill her with thirst.
4 Kangiyikubonakalisa uthando lwami ebantwaneni bakhe, ngoba bangabantwana bobufebe.
And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they [are] the children of lewdness.
5 Unina ubeyisifebe, njalo ubemule ngehlazo. Wathi, ‘Ngizazilandela izithandwa zami, ezingipha ukudla kwami lamanzi ami, iwulu yami lamalembu ami, amafutha ami lokunathwayo kwami.’
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, my oil and my drink.
6 Ngakho-ke indlela yakhe ngizayivala ngamahlahla ameva; ngizamhonqolozela ngomduli ukuze indlela yakhe angayifumani.
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
7 Uzaxotshana lezithandwa zakhe kodwa angazifici, uzazidinga kodwa angazitholi. Ngakho uzakuthi, ‘Ngizabuyela endodeni yami yakuqala, ngoba ngalesosikhathi ngangingcono kulakhathesi.’
And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find [them]: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then [was it] better with me than now.
8 Kavumanga ukuthi yimi engamnika amabele, lewayini elitsha lamafutha ngamnika isiliva esinengi legolide abakusebenzisela uBhali.
For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, [which] they prepared for Baal.
9 Ngakho-ke ngizawathatha amabele ami lapho esevuthiwe, lewayini lami elitsha lapho selilungile. Ngizayithatha lewulu yami kanye lelineni lami, okwakumiselwe ukuvala ubunqunu bakhe.
Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will recover my wool and my flax [given] to cover her nakedness.
10 Ngakho khathesi ngizahlazulula ukuxhwala bakhe emehlweni ezithandwa zakhe; kakho ozamsusa ezandleni zami.
And now will I disclose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand.
11 Ngizayiqeda yonke imikhosi yakhe yokuthokoza: imikhosi yakhe yeminyaka yonke, ukuThwasa kweziNyanga, insuku zakhe zamaSabatha, yonke imikhosi yakhe emisiweyo.
I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
12 Ngizatshabalalisa izivini zakhe lezihlahla zakhe zemikhiwa, lokhu athi yinhlawulo yakhe evela kuzithandwa zakhe; ngizazenza zibe liguswanyana zidliwe yizinyamazana zeganga.
And I will destroy her vines and her fig-trees, of which she hath said, These [are] my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
13 Ngizamjezisela insuku atshisela ngazo oBhali impepha; wazicecisa ngamasongo langamangqongqo, walandela izithandwa zakhe, kodwa mina wangikhohlwa,” kutsho uThixo.
And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, in which she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her ear-rings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith the LORD.
14 “Ngakho sengizamhuga; ngizamholela enkangala ngikhulume laye kakuhle.
Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her.
15 Lapho-ke ngizambuyisela izivini zakhe, ngenze iSigodi sase-Akhori sibe ngumnyango wethemba. Khonapho uzahlabelela njengasezinsukwini zobutsha bakhe, njengamhla ephuma eGibhithe.
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 from the land of Egypt.
16 Ngalolosuku,” kutsho uThixo, “lizangibiza ngokuthi ‘ndoda yami’; kalisayikungibiza ngokuthi ‘nkosi yami.’
And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, [that] thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.
17 Ngizawasusa amabizo aboBhali ezindebeni zakhe; amabizo abo akusayikukhulekwa ngawo futhi.
For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
18 Ngalolosuku ngizabenzela isivumelwano lezinyamazana zeganga lezinyoni zasemoyeni kanye lezidalwa ezihuquzela emhlabathini. Idandili lenkemba kanye lempi ngizakuqeda elizweni ukuze konke kulale phansi kuvikelekile.
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and [with] the creeping animals of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down in safety.
19 Ngizakwendisela kimi kuze kube nininini; ngizakwendisa ngokulunga langemfanelo, ngothando langesihawu.
And I will betroth thee to me for ever; yes, I will betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies.
20 Ngizakwendisa ngokuthembeka, njalo uzamamukela uThixo.
I will even betroth thee to me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
21 Ngalolosuku ngizasabela,” kutsho uThixo, “Ngizasabela emikhathini, layo izasabela emhlabeni,
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
22 lomhlaba uzasabela emabeleni lasewayinini elitsha kanye lasemafutheni, lokhu kuzasabela kuJezerili.
And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.
23 Ngizazihlanyelela yena elizweni; ngizabonakalisa uthando lwami kulowo engambiza ngokuthi, ‘Akasi sithandwa sami.’ Ngizakuthi kulabo ababizwa ngokuthi, ‘Abangasibantu bami,’ ‘Lingabantu bami’; bona bazakuthi, ‘UnguNkulunkulu wethu.’”
And I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to [them who were] not my people, Thou [art] my people; and they shall say, [Thou art] my God.
