UHoseya 12
1 UEfrayimi udla umoya, axotshane lomoya wempumalanga; usuku lonke wandisa amanga lencithakalo; benza isivumelwano leAsiriya, lamafutha athwalelwa eGibhithe.
Ephraim feedeth on wind, and pursueth the east wind; the whole day he increaseth deceit and corruption; and a covenant do they make with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.
2 INkosi layo ilengxabano loJuda, izahambela uJakobe ngokwendlela zakhe, imphindisele ngokwezenzo zakhe.
But with Judah also hath the Lord [to hold] a controversy; and to punish Jacob according to his ways, according to his doings will he recompense him.
3 Esiswini wabamba umfowabo ngesithende, langamandla akhe wabindana loNkulunkulu.
In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his strength he strove with an angel.
4 Yebo, waba lamandla phezu kwengilosi, wanqoba, wakhala inyembezi wayincenga; eBhetheli wamthola, lalapho wakhuluma lathi.
Yea, he strove with an angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: in Beth-el he should find him, and there he will speak with us.
5 Ngitsho iNkosi, uNkulunkulu wamabandla, iNkosi iyisikhumbuzo sayo.
And the Lord God of hosts, the Eternal One is his memorial.
6 Ngakho wena, phendukela kuNkulunkulu wakho, gcina umusa lokulunga, ulindele uNkulunkulu wakho njalonjalo.
Therefore do thou return to thy God: keep goodness and justice, and wait on thy God continually.
7 Ungumthengisi, izilinganiso ezikhohlisayo zisesandleni sakhe, uthanda ukucindezela.
But like a merchant, who hath the balances of deceit in his hand, loving to overreach,
8 LoEfrayimi uthi: Kanti nginothile, sengizitholele inotho; kuyo yonke imitshikatshika yami kabayikuthola ububi kimi, obuyisono.
Did Ephraim say, I am certainly become rich, I have acquired substance unto myself: it is all through my labors; they will find no iniquity in me, that could be sin.
9 Kodwa ngiyiNkosi, uNkulunkulu wakho, kusukela elizweni leGibhithe; ngisezakuhlalisa emathenteni njengensukwini zomkhosi omisiweyo.
And I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt: I will yet make thee dwell in tents, as in the days of antiquity.
10 Ngizakhuluma futhi labaprofethi, mina ngandise umbono, ngisebenzise imifanekiso ngesandla sabaprofethi.
And I have spoken through the prophets, and I myself have multiplied visions, and by the means of the prophets have I spoken in similitudes.
11 Bukhona yini ububi eGileyadi? Isibili bayize, bahlaba izinkunzi eGiligali; yebo, amalathi abo anjengenqumbi emiseleni yamasimu.
If in Gil'ad there was misfortune, [it is because] there was naught but idolatry; in Gilgal they sacrificed bullocks [to idols]: their altars also are as stone-heaps on the furrows of the fields.
12 Kanti uJakobe wabalekela elizweni leSiriya, loIsrayeli wasebenzela umfazi, welusa izimvu ngenxa yomfazi.
And Jacob fled into the fields of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept [the flocks].
13 Langomprofethi iNkosi yamenyusa uIsrayeli eGibhithe, langomprofethi walondolozwa.
And by a prophet did the Lord bring Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he guarded.
14 UEfrayimi uyicunule ngobuhlungu obukhulu; ngakho izayekela igazi lakhe phezu kwakhe, leNkosi yakhe ilibuyisele kuye ihlazo lakhe.
[Yet] Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly: therefore will his Lord cast his blood-guiltiness upon him, and his reproach will he recompense unto him.
