Hosea 9
1 Usifurahi, Israeli, kwa furaha kama watu wengine. Kwa maana haukuwa mwaminifu, umemuacha Mungu wako. Unapenda kulipa mshahara kwa kahaba kwenye sakafu zote za 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 Lakini sakafu na divai hazitawalisha; divai mpya itampungukia.
[But soon] there will not be enough grain [MTY, PRS] and wine [MTY, PRS] for you.
3 Hawawezi kuendelea kuishi katika nchi ya Bwana; badala yake, Efraimu atarudi Misri, na siku moja watakula chakula kichafu katika 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 Hawatamtolea Bwana sadaka za divai, wala hawatamfurahisha. Dhabihu zao zitakuwa kwao kama chakula cha matanga wote wanaolila watakuwa wamejisikia. Maana chakula chao kitakuwa chao pekee; hautakuingia nyumbani mwa 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 Utafanya nini siku ya sikukuu iliyowekwa rasmi, siku ya sikukuu ya Yahweh?
At that time you will not [RHQ] be able to celebrate the feasts and sacred festivals.
6 Kwa maana, angalia, wamekimbia uharibifu, Misri itawakusanya, na Nofu itawazika. Maana hazina zao za pesa za fedha zitakuwa nao, na miiba itajaza hema zao.
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 kulipiza kisasi zinakuja. Waisraeli wote wajue mambo haya. Nabii ni mpumbavu, na mtu aliyevuviwa ni mwendawazimu, kwa sababu ya uovu wako mkubwa na uadui mkubwa.
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 ndiye mlinzi wa Mungu wangu juu ya Efraimu. Lakini mtego wa ndege ni juu ya njia zake zote, na uadui umo 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 Wamejiharibu wenyewe kama siku za Gibea. Mungu atawakumbusha uovu wao, naye atawaadhibu 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 Bwana asema, “Nilipoikuta Israeli, ilikuwa kama kutafuta zabibu jangwani. Kama matunda ya kwanza ya msimu kwenye mtini, nimewaona baba zenu. Lakini wakaenda Baal Peori, nao wakajitoa kwenye sanamu ya aibu. Walikuwa chukizo kama sanamu waliyoipenda.
[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 Na kwa ajili ya Efraimu, utukufu wao utatoka kama ndege. Hakutakuwa na kuzaa, hakuna mimba, wala achukuaye 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 Ingawa wameleta watoto, nitawachukua ili asibaki hata mmoja. Ole wao nikiwaacha!
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 Nimeiona Efraimu, kama vile Tiro, alipandwa katika mlima, lakini Efraimu atatoa watoto wake kwa mtu atakayewaua.
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, Bwana-utawapa nini? Wape tumbo lenye kuharibu mimba na matiti ambayo haitoi maziwa.
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, ndivyo nilipowachukia. Kwa sababu ya matendo yao ya dhambi, nitawafukuza nje ya nyumba yangu. Sitawapenda tena; maofisa 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 ni mgonjwa, na mizizi yao imekauka; hawazai matunda. Hata ikiwa wana watoto, nitawaua watoto wao wapendwa.
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 kati ya 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].”
