< Hosea 9 >

1 Usifurahie, ee Israeli; usishangilie kama mataifa mengine. Kwa kuwa hukuwa mwaminifu kwa Mungu wako; umependa ujira wa kahaba kwenye kila sakafu ya kupuria nafaka.
[You people of] Israel, do not shout joyfully [during your festivals] like [people of other] nations do! [I say that] because you have (not been faithful to/abandoned) me, your God. At every place where the people thresh grain you have [presented gifts to your idols like men] pay money to prostitutes.
2 Sakafu za kupuria nafaka na mashinikizo ya kukamulia divai havitalisha watu, divai mpya itawapungukia.
[But soon] there will not be enough grain [MTY, PRS] and wine [MTY, PRS] for you.
3 Hawataishi katika nchi ya Bwana, Efraimu atarudi Misri na atakula chakula kilicho najisi huko Ashuru.
And you people will not remain in the land that I, Yahweh, [gave to your ancestors]. You will be [captured and] taken to [Assyria], [where you will become slaves like your ancestors were] in Egypt; and in Assyria you will be forced to eat food that Yahweh has forbidden you to eat.
4 Hawatammiminia Bwana sadaka ya divai wala dhabihu zao hazitampendeza. Dhabihu kama hizo zitakuwa kwao kama mkate wa waombolezaji; nao wote wazilao watakuwa najisi. Chakula hiki kitakuwa kwa ajili yao wenyewe; kisije katika Hekalu la Bwana.
You Israelis will not [be able to] give wine offerings to him, or bring sacrifices to him. None of your other sacrifices will please him; they will be unacceptable to him, like [SIM] food that is touched by people at funerals, and everyone who eats that food will become unacceptable to him. They will be permitted to eat that food themselves, but they will not [be permitted to] bring it into the temple.
5 Mtafanya nini katika siku ya sikukuu zenu zilizoamriwa, katika siku za sikukuu za Bwana?
At that time you will not [RHQ] be able to celebrate the feasts and sacred festivals.
6 Hata ikiwa wataokoka maangamizi, Misri atawakusanya, nayo Memfisi itawazika. Hazina zao za fedha zitasongwa na michongoma, nayo miiba itafunika mahema yao.
And even if you escape and are not killed [by the Assyrians], you will be captured by [the army of] Egypt, and you will [die and] be buried in Memphis, [the capital of Egypt]. Briers will [grow up and] cover your treasures of silver, and thorns will grow in your [ruined] tents/houses.
7 Siku za adhabu zinakuja, siku za malipo zimewadia. Israeli na afahamu hili. Kwa sababu dhambi zenu ni nyingi sana na uadui wenu ni mkubwa sana, nabii anadhaniwa ni mpumbavu, mtu aliyeongozwa na Mungu anaonekana mwendawazimu.
It is now the time for Yahweh to punish you, to pay you back for all the sins that you have committed. You people will [soon] know that. You have [committed] very many sins, and you very much hate Yahweh. You consider that the prophets are foolish, and you think that those who proclaim messages from him are crazy.
8 Nabii, pamoja na Mungu wangu, ndiye mlinzi juu ya Efraimu, hata hivyo mitego inamngojea katika mapito yake yote, na uadui katika nyumba ya Mungu wake.
My God appointed [me and the other] prophets to be [like] [MET] watchmen [to warn] you people of Israel, but everywhere that we go, [it is as though] people set traps for us and people are hostile [to us, even] in the temple of our God.
9 Wamezama sana katika rushwa, kama katika siku za Gibea. Mungu atakumbuka uovu wao na kuwaadhibu kwa ajili ya dhambi zao.
The sins that the Israeli people have committed are as awful as [what the men of] Gibeah did long ago; [so] God will not forget the wicked things that they have done; he will punish the Israelis for [all] those sins.
10 “Nilipompata Israeli, ilikuwa kama kupata zabibu jangwani; nilipowaona baba zenu, ilikuwa kama kuona matunda ya kwanza katika mtini. Lakini walipofika Baal-Peori, walijiweka wakfu kwa ile sanamu ya aibu, nao wakawa najisi kama kitu kile walichokipenda.
[Yahweh says], “When I first started [to do things to help] Israel, it seemed to me as though [SIM] I had found grapes in the desert. Your ancestors were [delightful], like [SIM] the first figs that grow on fig trees [each year]. But when they came to Peor [Mountain], they worshiped that disgusting idol Baal, and they became as disgusting as the idol that they loved.
11 Utukufu wa Efraimu utaruka kama ndege: hakuna kuzaa, hakuna kuchukua mimba, hakuna kutunga mimba.
The things that cause Israel to be great will disappear like [SIM] a bird that flies away; [most of their women will] not become pregnant [DOU] or give birth to children.
12 Hata wakilea watoto, nitamuua kila mmoja. Ole wao nitakapowapiga kisogo!
Even if their children are born and start to grow up, I will cause all of them to die [while they are still young]. Terrible things will happen to them when I abandon them!
13 Nimemwona Efraimu, kama Tiro, aliyeoteshwa mahali pazuri. Lakini Efraimu wataleta watoto wao kwa mchinjaji.”
I have seen Israel become beautiful and prosperous like Tyre [city] was [before it was destroyed], but now the people of Israel will [be forced to] take their children to be slaughtered [by their enemies].”
14 Wape, Ee Bwana, je, utawapa nini? Wape matumbo ya kuharibu mimba na matiti yaliyokauka.
Yahweh, [I do not know] [RHQ] what I should ask for my people. So I ask that you do this one thing: Cause the women who are pregnant to have miscarriages and unable [to nurse their babies].
15 “Kwa sababu ya uovu wao wote huko Gilgali, niliwachukia huko. Kwa sababu ya matendo yao ya dhambi, nitawafukuza katika nyumba yangu. Sitawapenda tena, viongozi wao wote ni waasi.
[Yahweh says], “Because of all the wicked things that my people did at Gilgal, that is where I started to hate them. [And now], because of [all] the sinful things that they have done, I will expel them from my country. I will not love them any longer; all their leaders rebel [against me].
16 Efraimu ameharibiwa, mzizi wao umenyauka, hawazai tunda. Hata kama watazaa watoto, nitawachinja watoto wao waliotunzwa vizuri.”
Israel is like [MET] a grapevine that is dried up; [like a vine] [MET] whose roots are withered and that produces no fruit. Even if the [women of Israel] give birth to [more] children, I will cause those children, whom they love, to die.
17 Mungu wangu atawakataa kwa sababu hawakumtii; watakuwa watu wa kutangatanga miongoni mwa mataifa.
The people of Israel have not obeyed me, their God, so I will reject them. [As a result], they will wander among the [other] nations, [searching for a place to live].”

< Hosea 9 >