< Hosea 2 >

1 “Waambie ndugu zako, ‘Watu wangu,’ na pia waambie dada zako, ‘Wapendwa wangu.’
So call your brothers, My People, and your sisters, Compassion.
2 “Mkemeeni mama yenu, mkemeeni, kwa maana yeye si mke wangu, nami si mume wake. Aondoe sura ya uzinzi katika uso wake na uzinzi kati ya matiti yake.
Accuse, accuse your mother: for she is not my wife, and I will not be her husband. Let her put her acts of infidelity out of her sight, and her lovers from between her breasts,
3 Kama sivyo nitamvua nguo zake awe uchi na kumwacha uchi kama siku ile aliyozaliwa. Nitamfanya kama jangwa, nitamgeuza awe nchi ya kiu, nami nitamuua kwa kiu.
else I will strip her bare, expose her as she was on the day of her birth, make her like the wilderness, let her become like a parched land, and let her die of thirst.
4 Sitaonyesha upendo wangu kwa watoto wake, kwa sababu ni watoto wa uzinzi.
And on her children I will have no pity, since they are children of adultery,
5 Mama yao amekosa uaminifu na amewachukua mimba katika aibu. Gomeri alisema, ‘Nitawaendea wapenzi wangu, ambao hunipa chakula changu na maji yangu, sufu yangu na kitani yangu, mafuta yangu na kinywaji changu.’
for their mother has become a prostitute, she who conceived them has behaved shamefully. She has said, “I will go after my lovers who gave me my bread and my water, my wool, my flax, my oil, and my drink.”
6 Kwa hiyo mimi Mungu nitaizuia njia yake kwa vichaka vya miiba, nitamjengea ukuta ili kwamba asiweze kutoka.
That is why I am going to hedge up her ways with thorns, and build a wall about her, so that she cannot find her paths.
7 Gomeri atawafuatia wapenzi wake lakini hatawapata; atawatafuta lakini hatawapata. Kisha atasema, ‘Nitarudi kwa mume wangu kama kwanza, kwa maana nilikuwa na hali njema zaidi kuliko sasa.’
She will pursue her lovers, but will not overtake them. She will seek them, but not find them. In time she will say, “I will go back to my first husband, I was better off then than now.”
8 Gomeri hajakubali kuwa mimi ndiye niliyempa nafaka, divai mpya na mafuta, niliyemwongezea fedha na dhahabu waliyoitumia kwa kumtumikia Baali.
She herself did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the sweet wine, and the oil, who lavished on her silver and gold – that they used in worshipping Baal!
9 “Kwa hiyo nitachukua nafaka yangu wakati itakapokomaa na divai yangu mpya wakati itakapokuwa tayari. Nitamnyangʼanya sufu yangu na kitani yangu iliyokusudiwa kufunika uchi wake.
So I will take back my grain at the harvest, and my sweet wine in its season. I will withdraw my wool and my flax, given to cover her nakedness;
10 Basi sasa nitaufunua ufisadi wake mbele ya wapenzi wake; hakuna yeyote atakayemtoa mikononi mwangu.
and so I will strip her naked before her lovers, and no one can deliver her out of my hand.
11 Nitakomesha furaha na macheko yake yote: sikukuu zake za mwaka, sikukuu za Miandamo ya Mwezi, siku zake za Sabato, sikukuu zake zote zilizoamriwa.
I will end all her celebrations, her yearly feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths, all her festivals.
12 Nitaiharibu mizabibu yake na mitini yake, ambayo alisema yalikuwa malipo yake kutoka kwa wapenzi wake; nitaifanya kuwa kichaka, nao wanyama pori wataila.
I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she says, “These are my wages which my lovers have given me.” I will make them a thicket, and the wild animals will eat them.
13 Nitamwadhibu kwa ajili ya siku alizowafukizia uvumba Mabaali; alipojipamba kwa pete na kwa vito vya thamani, na kuwaendea wapenzi wake, lakini mimi alinisahau,” asema Bwana.
In this way I will punish her for the days of the Baals, in which she made offerings to them, and decked herself with earrings and jewels, and went after her lovers, but forgot me, – declares the Lord.
14 “Kwa hiyo sasa nitamshawishi; nitamwongoza hadi jangwani na kuzungumza naye kwa upole.
So I am going to court her, bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
15 Huko nitamrudishia mashamba yake ya mizabibu, nami nitalifanya Bonde la Akori mlango wa matumaini. Huko ataimba kama alivyofanya katika siku za ujana wake, kama siku zile alizotoka Misri.
I will give her from there her vineyards, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the days when she came up from the land of Egypt.
16 “Katika siku ile,” asema Bwana, “utaniita mimi ‘Mume wangu’; hutaniita tena mimi ‘Bwana wangu.’
At that time, declares the Lord, you will call me your husband, and will no more call me your master.
17 Nitaondoa majina ya Mabaali kutoka midomoni mwake, wala hataomba tena kwa majina yao.
I will remove the name of the Baals from her mouth, their names never again uttered.
18 Katika siku ile nitafanya Agano kwa ajili yao na wanyama wa kondeni, na ndege wa angani, na viumbe vile vitambaavyo ardhini. Upinde, upanga na vita, nitaondolea mbali katika nchi, ili kwamba wote waweze kukaa salama.
On that day I will make for them a covenant with the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the creatures that crawl on the earth. I will break the bow and the sword, banish battle from the land, and I will make them lie down in safety.
19 Nitakuposa uwe wangu milele; nitakuposa kwa uadilifu na haki, kwa upendo na huruma.
I will take you for my wife forever, I will take you for my wife in righteousness, in justice, in kindness, and in mercy.
20 Nitakuposa kwa uaminifu, nawe utamkubali Bwana.
I will take you for my wife in faithfulness, and you will know the Lord.
21 “Katika siku ile nitajibu,” asema Bwana, “nitajibu kwa anga, nazo anga zitajibu kwa nchi;
On that day I will answer – declares the Lord, I will answer the empty skies, and they will answer the dry earth.
22 nayo nchi itajibu kwa nafaka, divai mpya na mafuta, navyo vitajibu kwa Yezreeli.
The earth will answer with grain, and new wine and oil, and they will answer Jezreel,
23 Nitampanda katika nchi kwa ajili yangu mwenyewe; nami nitaonyesha pendo langu kwake yule ambaye nilimwita, ‘Si mpenzi wangu.’ Nitawaambia wale walioitwa, ‘Sio watu wangu,’ ‘Ninyi ni watu wangu’; nao watasema, ‘Wewe ndiwe Mungu wangu.’”
and I will plant her in the land. I will have compassion to No-Compassion, I will say to Not-My-People, “You are my people,” and they will say, “You are my God.”

< Hosea 2 >