UHoseya 5
1 “Zwanini lokhu, lina baphristi! Lalelani, lina bako-Israyeli. Lalela, wena ndlu yobukhosi! Ukwahlulela lokhu kumelane lani: Kade lingumjibila eMizipha, umambule owendlalwe eThabhori.
Hear this, priests, and pay attention, house of Israel, and listen closely, house of the king. For there is a judgment against you, because you have become a trap for those you watched over, and a net stretched out over Tabor.
2 Abahlamuki batshonile ekubulaleni, ngizabalaya bonke.
And you have led astray victims into the depths, though I am the teacher of them all.
3 Mina ngazi konke ngo-Efrayimi; u-Israyeli kafihlakalanga kimi. Efrayimi, khathesi ususenza ubufebe; u-Israyeli uxhwalile.
I know Ephraim, and Israel has not been hidden from me, yet now Ephraim has committed fornication, and Israel has been contaminated.
4 Izenzo zabo kazibavumeli ukubuyela kuNkulunkulu wabo. Umoya wobufebe usezinhliziyweni zabo; kabamamukeli uThixo.
They will not set their thoughts to return to their God, for the spirit of fornication is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord.
5 Ukuzigqaja kuka-Israyeli kufakaza okubi ngaye; abako-Israyeli, kanye laye u-Efrayimi, bayakhubeka ezonweni zabo. LoJuda laye ukhubeka labo
And the arrogance of Israel will answer to his face. And Israel and Ephraim will fall in their iniquity, and even Judah will fall with them.
6 Lapho behamba lemihlambi yezimvu zabo leyenkomo ukuyadinga uThixo, kabayikumfumana; uzisusile kubo.
With their flocks and their herds, they will go to seek the Lord, and they will not find him. He has taken himself away from them.
7 Kabathembekanga kuThixo; bazala abantwana ngokungemthetho. Khathesi imikhosi yabo yokuThwasa Kwezinyanga izabaqothula kanye lamasimu abo.
They have sinned against the Lord. For they have conceived sons that are strangers. Now one month will devour them with all their own.
8 Khalisani icilongo eGibhiya, lophondo eRama. Hlabani umkhosi wempi eBhethi-Aveni; khokhela, wena Bhenjamini.
Sound the bugle in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Shout in Bethaven, behind your back, O Benjamin.
9 U-Efrayimi uzachithwa ngosuku lokwahlulela. Phakathi kwezizwana zako-Israyeli ngimemezela okuliqiniso.
Ephraim will be in desolation on the day of correction, for within the tribes of Israel, I have revealed faith.
10 Abakhokheli bakoJuda banjengalabo abatshedisa amatshe omngcele. Ngizathululela ulaka lwami phezu kwabo njengesikhukhula samanzi.
The leaders of Judah have become like those who assume the end. I will pour my wrath over them like water.
11 U-Efrayimi uncindezelwe, wanyathelwa ekwahluleleni, ehlose ukulandela izithombe.
Ephraim has been enduring malicious slander and broken judgment, because he began to go after filth.
12 Mina nginjengenondo ku-Efrayimi, njengokubola ebantwini bakoJuda.
And I will be like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.
13 Kwathi u-Efrayimi ebona umkhuhlane wakhe, loJuda ebona izilonda zakhe, u-Efrayimi waya e-Asiriya, wathumela ilizwi loncedo enkosini enkulu. Kodwa kayenelisi ukukwelapha, kayenelisi ukwelapha izilonda zakho.
And Ephraim saw his own weakness, and Judah his chains. And Ephraim went to Assur, and he sent to the Avenging king. But he will not be able to heal you, nor is he able to release you from your chains.
14 Ngoba ngizakuba njengesilwane ku-Efrayimi, lanjengesilwane esikhulu kuJuda. Ngizabadabudabula ngisuke ngihambe; ngizabathwala ngihambe labo, kungekho ozabahlenga.
For I will be like a lioness to Ephraim, and like a lion’s offspring to the house of Judah. I myself will seize and go forth. I will take away, and there is no one who can rescue.
15 Ngizabuyela endaweni yami baze balivume icala labo. Njalo bazabudinga ubuso bami; esizini lwabo bazangidinga impela.”
I will go and return to my place, until you shall grow faint and seek my face.
