Hosea 8
1 “Weka tarumbeta katika midomo yako! Tai anakuja juu ya nyumba ya Bwana kwa sababu watu wamevunja agano langu na waliasi dhidi ya sheria yangu.
Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
2 Wananililia,'Mungu wangu, sisi katika Israeli tunakujua.'
Israel cries out to Me, “O our God, we know You!”
3 Lakini Israeli amekataa mema, na adui atamfuata.
But Israel has rejected good; an enemy will pursue him.
4 Wameweka wafalme, lakini sio kwa shauri langu. Wamewafanya wakuu, lakini sikuwa na habari. Kwa fedha zao na dhahabu wamejifanyia sanamu wenyewe, ili wakatiliwe mbali.”
They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.
5 “Ndama yako imekataliwa, Samaria. Hasira yangu inawaka juu ya watu hawa. Kwa muda gani watakuwa na hatia?
He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 Kwa maana sanamu hii ilitoka Israeli; fundi aliifanya; si Mungu! Ndama ya Samaria itavunjwa vipande vipande.
For this thing is from Israel— a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria.
7 Kwa maana watu hupanda upepo na kuvuna kimbunga. Mbegu zilizosimama hazina vichwa; haitoi unga. Ikiwa itakomaa, wageni watakula.
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.
8 Israeli imemezwa; sasa wanalala kati ya mataifa kama kitu kisicho na maana.
Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel.
9 Kwa maana walikwenda Ashuru kama punda wa mwitu pekee. Efraimu ameajiri wapenzi kwa ajili yake mwenyewe.
For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Hata ingawa wameajiri wapenzi kati ya mataifa, sasa nitawakusanya pamoja. Wao wataanza kupotea kwa sababu ya unyanyasaji wa mfalme wa wakuu.
Though they hire allies among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to diminish under the oppression of the king of princes.
11 Kwa maana Efraimu imeongeza madhabahu kwa sadaka za dhambi, lakini zimekuwa madhabahu kwa kufanya dhambi.
Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning.
12 Niliweza kuandika sheria yangu kwao mara elfu kumi, lakini wangeiona kama kitu cha ajabu kwao.
Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.
13 Kwa ajili ya dhabihu za sadaka zangu, hutoa nyama na kuila, lakini mimi, Bwana, siwakubali. Sasa nitafikiri juu ya uovu wao na kuadhibu dhambi zao. Watarudi Misri.
Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt.
14 Israeli amenisahau mimi, Muumba wake, na amejenga majumba. Yuda ameimarisha miji mingi, lakini nitatuma moto juu ya miji yake; itaharibu ngome zake.
Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has multiplied its fortified cities. But I will send fire upon their cities, and it will consume their citadels.
