UHoseya 8
1 Uphondo emlonyeni wakho. Uzakuza njengokhozi lumelene lendlu yeNkosi; ngoba sebeqe isivumelwano sami, baphambuke bemelene lomlayo wami.
Put the trumpet to thy mouth! Like an eagle cometh an enemy against the house of Jehovah, Because they have transgressed my covenant, And have rebelled against my law.
2 Bazamemeza kimi: Nkulunkulu wami, thina, uIsrayeli, siyakwazi.
They shall say to me, My God, we know thee, we, thine Israel!
3 UIsrayeli walile okuhle; isitha sizaxotshana laye.
Israel hath cast away what is good; The enemy shall pursue him.
4 Bona babeke amakhosi, kodwa kungengami; bamisa iziphathamandla, kodwa ngangingakwazi; ngesiliva sabo legolide labo bazenzela izithombe, ukuze baqunywe.
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 themselves idols, That they may be brought to destruction.
5 Ithole lakho, Samariya, likwalile; intukuthelo yami iyavutha imelene labo; koze kube nini ukuthi banganelisi ukuba msulwa?
An abomination is thy calf, O Samaria! Mine anger is kindled against them; How long will it be ere they can attain to purity!
6 Ngoba laleli livela koIsrayeli; umbazi walenza, njalo kalisuye Nkulunkulu; kodwa ithole leSamariya lizakuba yizihlephu.
For from Israel it came; The workman made it, and it is no God; Yea, into fragments shall the calf of Samaria be broken.
7 Ngoba behlanyele umoya, bazavuna isivunguzane; kakuyikuba lamabele emiyo; ihlumela kaliyikwenza impuphu; uba mhlawumbe lingayiveza, abezizwe bazayiginya.
They have sown the wind, And they shall reap the whirlwind. They shall have no standing harvest; The ear shall yield no meal; If perchance it yield, strangers shall devour it.
8 UIsrayeli useginyiwe; khathesi baphakathi kwezizwe, njengesitsha okungelantokozo kiso.
Israel is swallowed up; Soon shall they become among the nations As a vessel which no one desireth.
9 Ngoba bona benyukele eAsiriya, ubabhemi weganga oyedwa ngokwakhe. UEfrayimi uqhatshe izithandwa.
For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a solitary wild-ass; Ephraim hireth lovers;
10 Yebo, lanxa beqhatsha phakathi kwezizwe, sengizabaqoqa; yebo, bazaqala ukuba balutshwana ngenxa yomthwalo wenkosi yeziphathamandla.
But though they hire among the nations, Soon will I gather the nations against them; Then shall they rest a little while from the burden of their king, and their princes!
11 Ngoba uEfrayimi wandise amalathi ngawokona, amalathi azakuba ngawokona kuye.
Ephraim hath built many altars for sin, Therefore shall he have altars for sin.
12 Ngimbhalele izinto ezinkulu zomlayo wami kodwa zabalwa njengento yemzini.
Though I write for him many laws, They are accounted as a strange thing;
13 Mayelana lemihlatshelo yeminikelo yami, bahlaba inyama, bayidle, kodwa iNkosi kayithokozi ngabo. Khathesi izakhumbula ububi babo, iphindisele izono zabo; bona bazabuyela eGibhithe.
As to the sacrifices which they should offer me, they slay flesh and eat it; Jehovah hath no pleasure in them. Now will he remember their iniquity, And punish their sins; To Egypt shall they return.
14 Ngoba uIsrayeli umkhohliwe uMenzi wakhe, wakha amathempeli; njalo uJuda wandisile imizi ebiyelweyo; kodwa ngizathumela umlilo emizini yakhe, ozaqothula izigodlo zakhe.
For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and builded palaces, And Judah hath multiplied fenced cities; But I will send a fire upon his cities, And it shall devour his palaces.
