UHoseya 2
1 “Tshono kubafowenu uthi, ‘Bantu bami,’ ngabodadewenu uthi, ‘Bathandekayo bami.’”
“Say to your brothers, ‘My people!’ and to your sisters, ‘My loved one!’
2 “Mkhuze unyoko, mkhuze, ngoba engasuye mkami, lami kangisuye mkakhe. Kasuse ukukhangeleka kobufebe ebusweni bakhe kanye lokungathembeki phakathi kwamabele akhe.
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 Funa ngimhlubule abe nqunu, ngimenze abeze njengamhla ezalwa; ngizamenza abe njengenkangala, ngimenze abe yilizwe elomileyo ngimbulale ngokomela amanzi.
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 Kangiyikubonakalisa uthando lwami ebantwaneni bakhe, ngoba bangabantwana bobufebe.
Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy, for they are children of unfaithfulness.
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 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 Ngakho-ke indlela yakhe ngizayivala ngamahlahla ameva; ngizamhonqolozela ngomduli ukuze indlela yakhe angayifumani.
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 Uzaxotshana lezithandwa zakhe kodwa angazifici, uzazidinga kodwa angazitholi. Ngakho uzakuthi, ‘Ngizabuyela endodeni yami yakuqala, ngoba ngalesosikhathi ngangingcono kulakhathesi.’
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 Kavumanga ukuthi yimi engamnika amabele, lewayini elitsha lamafutha ngamnika isiliva esinengi legolide abakusebenzisela uBhali.
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 Ngakho-ke ngizawathatha amabele ami lapho esevuthiwe, lewayini lami elitsha lapho selilungile. Ngizayithatha lewulu yami kanye lelineni lami, okwakumiselwe ukuvala ubunqunu bakhe.
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 Ngakho khathesi ngizahlazulula ukuxhwala bakhe emehlweni ezithandwa zakhe; kakho ozamsusa ezandleni zami.
Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will 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 celebrations to cease: her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.
12 Ngizatshabalalisa izivini zakhe lezihlahla zakhe zemikhiwa, lokhu athi yinhlawulo yakhe evela kuzithandwa zakhe; ngizazenza zibe liguswanyana zidliwe yizinyamazana zeganga.
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 Ngizamjezisela insuku atshisela ngazo oBhali impepha; wazicecisa ngamasongo langamangqongqo, walandela izithandwa zakhe, kodwa mina wangikhohlwa,” kutsho uThixo.
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 the LORD.
14 “Ngakho sengizamhuga; ngizamholela enkangala ngikhulume laye kakuhle.
“Therefore behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
15 Lapho-ke ngizambuyisela izivini zakhe, ngenze iSigodi sase-Akhori sibe ngumnyango wethemba. Khonapho uzahlabelela njengasezinsukwini zobutsha bakhe, njengamhla ephuma eGibhithe.
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 Ngalolosuku,” kutsho uThixo, “lizangibiza ngokuthi ‘ndoda yami’; kalisayikungibiza ngokuthi ‘nkosi yami.’
It will be in that day,” says the LORD, “that you will call me ‘my husband,’ and no longer call me ‘my master.’
17 Ngizawasusa amabizo aboBhali ezindebeni zakhe; amabizo abo akusayikukhulekwa ngawo futhi.
For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by name.
18 Ngalolosuku ngizabenzela isivumelwano lezinyamazana zeganga lezinyoni zasemoyeni kanye lezidalwa ezihuquzela emhlabathini. Idandili lenkemba kanye lempi ngizakuqeda elizweni ukuze konke kulale phansi kuvikelekile.
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 Ngizakwendisela kimi kuze kube nininini; ngizakwendisa ngokulunga langemfanelo, ngothando langesihawu.
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 Ngizakwendisa ngokuthembeka, njalo uzamamukela uThixo.
I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD.
21 Ngalolosuku ngizasabela,” kutsho uThixo, “Ngizasabela emikhathini, layo izasabela emhlabeni,
It will happen in that day, that I will respond,” says the LORD. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth;
22 lomhlaba uzasabela emabeleni lasewayinini elitsha kanye lasemafutheni, lokhu kuzasabela kuJezerili.
and the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to 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.’”
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!’”
