UHoseya 8
1 “Faka icilongo ezindebeni zakho! Ukhozi lungaphezu kwendlu kaThixo ngoba abantu basephule isivumelwano sami bahlamukela lomthetho wami.
[Set] the trumpet to thy mouth. [He shall come] as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
2 U-Israyeli uyakhalaza kimi esithi, ‘Oh Nkulunkulu wethu, siyakwamukela!’
Israel shall cry to me, My God, we know thee.
3 Kodwa u-Israyeli ukwalile okuhle; isitha sizaxotshana laye.
Israel hath cast off [the thing that is] good: the enemy shall pursue him.
4 Babeka amakhosi kungekho mvumo yami; bakhetha ababusi kungekho mvumo yami. Ngesiliva sabo langegolide, bazenzela izithombe zibe yikubhujiswa kwabo.
They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew [it] not: of their silver and their gold have they made for themselves idols, that they may be cut off.
5 Lahla isithombe sakho sethole, wena Samariya! Ulaka lwami luyavutha ngawe. Koze kube nini bengelamandla okuhlambuluka na?
Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast [thee] off; my anger is kindled against them: how long [will it be] ere they attain to innocence?
6 Bavela ko-Israyeli! Ithole leli labunjwa yingcwethi; kalisuye Nkulunkulu. Lizachobozwa libe yizicucu, ithole lelo laseSamariya.
For from Israel [was] it also: the workman made it; therefore it [is] not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
7 Bahlanyela umoya bavune isavunguzane. Ihlanga kalilasikhwebu; kaliyikuthela ifulawa. Aluba belingathela amabele, abezizweni kade bezawamimiliza.
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if it shall yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
8 U-Israyeli useginyiwe; khathesi phakathi kwezizwe unjengento engelasizo.
Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel in which [is] no pleasure.
9 Ngoba sebeye e-Asiriya njengobabhemi weganga entula yedwa. U-Efrayimi uzithengisile kuzithandwa.
For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
10 Lanxa bezithengisile phakathi kwezizwe, ngizabaqoqela ndawonye. Bazaqalisa ukucikizeka bengaphansi kwencindezelo yenkosi elamandla.
Yes, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes.
11 Lanxa u-Efrayimi wakha ama-alithare amanengi eminikelo yezono, asebe ngama-alithare okwenza izono.
Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be to him to sin.
12 Ngabalobela izinto ezinengi zomthetho wami kodwa bona bazithatha njengento engaziwayo.
I have written to him the great things of my law, [but] they were counted as a strange thing.
13 Banikela imihlatshelo njengezipho kimi babuye badle inyama yakhona, kodwa uThixo kathokozi ngabo. Khathesi usezakhumbula ukuxhwala kwabo abajezisele izono zabo: Bazabuyela eGibhithe.
They sacrifice flesh [for] the sacrifices of my offerings, and eat [it]; [but] the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.
14 U-Israyeli usemkhohliwe uMenzi wakhe wakha izindlu zamakhosi; uJuda usevikele amadolobho amanengi ngezinqaba. Kodwa ngizathumela umlilo emadolobheni abo ozaqothula izinqaba zabo.”
For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fortified cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
