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 followeth after the east wind; Every day he multiplieth falsehood and violence; They make a league with Assyria, And oil is carried into Egypt.
2 INkosi layo ilengxabano loJuda, izahambela uJakobe ngokwendlela zakhe, imphindisele ngokwezenzo zakhe.
Therefore Jehovah hath a controversy with Judah. And he will punish Jacob for his ways, And requite him according to his doings.
3 Esiswini wabamba umfowabo ngesithende, langamandla akhe wabindana loNkulunkulu.
In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his strength he contended with God;
4 Yebo, waba lamandla phezu kwengilosi, wanqoba, wakhala inyembezi wayincenga; eBhetheli wamthola, lalapho wakhuluma lathi.
Yea, he contended with the angel, and prevailed; He wept, and made supplication to him. At Bethel he found him, And there he spake with us.
5 Ngitsho iNkosi, uNkulunkulu wamabandla, iNkosi iyisikhumbuzo sayo.
And Jehovah, the God of hosts, Jehovah is his name.
6 Ngakho wena, phendukela kuNkulunkulu wakho, gcina umusa lokulunga, ulindele uNkulunkulu wakho njalonjalo.
Therefore turn thou to thy God; Observe mercy and justice, And hope in thy God always!
7 Ungumthengisi, izilinganiso ezikhohlisayo zisesandleni sakhe, uthanda ukucindezela.
He is a Canaanite; in his hands are the balances of deceit; He loveth to oppress.
8 LoEfrayimi uthi: Kanti nginothile, sengizitholele inotho; kuyo yonke imitshikatshika yami kabayikuthola ububi kimi, obuyisono.
Yet Ephraim saith, Lo, I have become rich; I have found myself substance; In all my earnings can be found no transgression in which there is guilt.
9 Kodwa ngiyiNkosi, uNkulunkulu wakho, kusukela elizweni leGibhithe; ngisezakuhlalisa emathenteni njengensukwini zomkhosi omisiweyo.
Yet I, Jehovah, have been thy God from the land of Egypt; I will again cause thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.
10 Ngizakhuluma futhi labaprofethi, mina ngandise umbono, ngisebenzise imifanekiso ngesandla sabaprofethi.
I have also spoken to the prophets, And I have given many visions, And by the prophets I have used similitudes.
11 Bukhona yini ububi eGileyadi? Isibili bayize, bahlaba izinkunzi eGiligali; yebo, amalathi abo anjengenqumbi emiseleni yamasimu.
Behold, Gilead is full of iniquity; Surely they have become corrupt; In Gilgal they sacrifice oxen, And their altars are like the heaps in the furrows of the field.
12 Kanti uJakobe wabalekela elizweni leSiriya, loIsrayeli wasebenzela umfazi, welusa izimvu ngenxa yomfazi.
Jacob fled into the country of Syria, And Israel served for a wife, And for a wife he kept sheep.
13 Langomprofethi iNkosi yamenyusa uIsrayeli eGibhithe, langomprofethi walondolozwa.
By a prophet Jehovah brought up Israel out of Egypt, And by a prophet was he preserved.
14 UEfrayimi uyicunule ngobuhlungu obukhulu; ngakho izayekela igazi lakhe phezu kwakhe, leNkosi yakhe ilibuyisele kuye ihlazo lakhe.
Ephraim hath provoked his Lord most bitterly; Therefore will he leave his blood upon him, And recompense to him his reproach.
