< Hosea 8 >
1 “Wekeni tarumbeta midomoni mwenu! Tai yuko juu ya nyumba ya Bwana kwa sababu watu wamevunja Agano langu, wameasi dhidi ya sheria yangu.
Let there be a trumpet in thy throat like an eagle upon the house of the Lord: because they have transgressed my covenant, and have violated my law.
2 Israeli ananililia, ‘Ee Mungu wetu, tunakukubali!’
They shall call upon me: O my God, we, Israel, know thee.
3 Lakini Israeli amekataa lile lililo jema, adui atamfuatia.
Israel hath cast off the thing that is good, the enemy shall pursue him.
4 Wanaweka wafalme bila idhini yangu, wamechagua wakuu bila kibali changu. Kwa fedha zao na dhahabu wamejitengenezea sanamu kwa ajili ya maangamizi yao wenyewe.
They have reigned, but not by me: they have been princes, and I knew not: of their silver, and their gold they have made idols to themselves, that they might perish.
5 Ee Samaria, tupilieni mbali sanamu yenu ya ndama! Hasira yangu inawaka dhidi yao. Watakuwa najisi mpaka lini?
Thy calf, O Samaria, is cast off, my wrath is kindled against them. How long will they be incapable of being cleansed?
6 Zimetoka katika Israeli! Ndama huyu: ametengenezwa na fundi, si Mungu. Atavunjwa vipande vipande, yule ndama wa Samaria.
For itself also is the invention of Israel: a workman made it, and it is no god: for the calf of Samaria shall be turned to spiders’ webs.
7 “Wanapanda upepo na kuvuna upepo wa kisulisuli. Bua halina suke, halitatoa unga. Kama lingetoa nafaka, wageni wangeila yote.
For they shall sow wind, and reap a whirlwind, there is no standing stalk in it, the bud shall yield no meal; and if it should yield, strangers shall eat it.
8 Israeli amemezwa; sasa yupo miongoni mwa mataifa kama kitu kisicho na thamani.
Israel is swallowed up: now is he become among the nations like an unclean vessel.
9 Kwa kuwa wamepanda kwenda Ashuru kama punda-mwitu anayetangatanga peke yake. Efraimu amejiuza mwenyewe kwa wapenzi.
For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath given gifts to his lovers.
10 Ingawa wamejiuza wenyewe miongoni mwa mataifa, sasa nitawakusanya pamoja. Wataanza kudhoofika chini ya uonevu wa mfalme mwenye nguvu.
But even though they shall have hired the nations, now will I gather them together: and they shall rest a while from the burden of the king, and the princes.
11 “Ingawa Efraimu alijenga madhabahu nyingi kwa ajili ya sadaka za dhambi, hizi zimekuwa madhabahu za kufanyia dhambi.
Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin: altars are become to him unto sin.
12 Nimeandika kwa ajili yao mambo mengi kuhusu sheria yangu, lakini wameziangalia kama kitu cha kigeni.
I shall write to him my manifold laws, which have been accounted as foreign.
13 Wanatoa dhabihu nilizopewa mimi nao wanakula hiyo nyama, lakini Bwana hapendezwi nao. Sasa ataukumbuka uovu wao na kuadhibu dhambi zao: Watarudi Misri.
They shall offer victims, they shall sacrifice flesh, and shall eat it, and the Lord will not receive them: now will he remember their iniquity, and will visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.
14 Israeli amemsahau Muumba wake na kujenga majumba ya kifalme, Yuda amejengea miji mingi ngome. Lakini nitatuma moto kwenye miji yao utakaoteketeza ngome zao.”
And Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and hath built temples: and Juda hath built many fenced cities: and I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the houses thereof.